CBC 2011 Team

CBC 2011 Team
CBC 2011 Team: Cherri, Nick, Lana, Diana, Karie, Christy, Sherry, Rebecca, Steve

COUNTDOWN TO GUATEMALA

"Live a life worthy of the calling you have received." — Ephesians 4:1

International School Project

We are traveling as educators for the International School Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

We have been invited by the National and Local Guatemalan Ministry of Education to conduct a teacher-training seminar in Guatemala City.

The overall purpose for this trip is to:
1) give the public school teachers a curriculum that they will use to teach their students about Christ and Christian ethics. 2) The Leadership Development Conference allows the invited, previously trained teachers, to discuss & share together how the ISP curriculum is changing their students’ lives, how they might develop more lessons, and how they might grow spiritually at a personal level.

All of these elements in combination give the teachers the encouragement and tools they need to have greater impact for Christ in their classrooms and communities.

Education

The government runs a number of public elementary and secondary-level schools. These schools are free, though the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, and transportation makes them less accessible to the poorer segments of society and significant numbers of poor children do not attend school. Many middle and upper-class children go to private schools. Only 69.1% of the population aged 15 and over are literate, the lowest literacy rate in Central America.

Economy

According to the World Bank, Guatemala has one of the most unequal income distributions in the hemisphere. The wealthiest 20% of the population consumes 51% of Guatemala’s GDP. As a result, about 51% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and 15% on less than $1 a day. Guatemala's social development indicators, such as infant mortality, chronic child malnutrition, and illiteracy, are among the worst in the hemisphere.

USA--Guatemalan Relations

Most U.S. assistance to Guatemala is provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) offices for Guatemala. USAID/Guatemala's current program builds on the gains of the peace process that followed the signing of the peace accords in December 1996, as well as on the achievements of its 1997-2004 peace program. The current program works to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives by focusing on Guatemala's potential as Central America's largest economy and trading partner of the United States, but also recognizes the country's lagging social indicators and high rate of poverty. The three areas of focus for USAID/Guatemala's program are modeled after the Millennium Challenge Account areas--ruling justly, economic freedom, and investing in people, and are as follows:

More responsive, transparent governance, through:

  • Strengthened justice
  • Greater transparency and accountability of governments.

Open, diversified and expanding economies, through:

  • Laws, policies, and regulations that promote trade and investment;
  • More competitive, market-oriented private enterprises
  • Broader access to financial markets and services.

Healthier, better educated people, through:

  • Increased and improved quality of social sector (health and education) investments
  • Increased use of quality maternal-child and reproductive health services, particularly in rural areas.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Convocation - Day 2 Zacapa

Today was an awesome day! We went over life maps. The small groups put the story of their life on paper and told the story. I shared mine first and many of them were very supportive through the difficult part and all of them were willing to share. Everyone in my group has bonded and opened up. They are like sponges and very eager to put this curriculum to work in their classrooms.
Here's an update from one of our directors:
"Buenas tardes from sunny Zacapa!
Our morning began with early breakfast outside, followed by a team meeting and prayer time for the activities of the day. The very first thing for the teachers this morning was the showing of the film “The Story of JESUS for Children”. Once again the auditorium was nearly filled, even without all of our team members present. The film was in Spanish so our workshop teams elected to train during this time.
Following a break, Dr. Ray Albrektson presented his 2nd talk on world view, this one titled “Tools for Analyzing Worldview.” And the last speaker of the morning was Paul Neumann, taking the audience through the book of Genesis with specific words put to hand motions to help them remember this historical book of the Bible. As always, the teachers were completely involved with this learning technique. We ended the morning with a total count of 352 teachers, and those working the registration tables said at least 32 of this number had not been here on Day 1.
As I wandered through each workshop I heard lots of discussion, laughter, and groups thoroughly engaged in various activities: learning cycle demonstration, singing a song from the curriculum, life maps, drama activities and more. It is always such a wonderful sight to see the teachers enjoying this time in their small groups and tracks. One teacher attending the conference, a principal of a private school, canceled school for the week to allow her teachers to all be at the conference. She said “I don’t want them to have any excuse for not being here!” Our final count this afternoon for all three tracks was 344 teachers, with an additional 37 interpreters, many of those teachers as well!
This evening our team is being treated to a special evening of cultural entertainment by the regional educational officials. This is usually such a fun and interesting time as we are exposed to many of the traditional costumes and dances of this region.
Tomorrow is Day 3 of this conference ALREADY! So hard to believe after all the months of planning and preparation for our team to be here. But so far it is going so well, and we have all of our supporters to thank for this. We know, without a doubt, that we could NOT continue on, day after busy day, without your prayer covering for us. Thank you for joining us on this journey by your support. We are so very thankful to each of you for your care and concern for our team.
Dios te bediga,
Linda
For all the team in Zacapa"
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Natural Disasters

Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Stan in October 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people. The damage was not wind related, but rather due to significant flooding and resulting mudslides.

A town along the Pan-American Highway and in close proximity to a volcanic crater

Guatemala's highlands lie along the Motagua Fault, part of the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. This fault has been responsible for several major earthquakes in historic times, including a 7.5 magnitude tremor on February 4, 1976 which killed more than 25,000 people. In addition, the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone lies off the Pacific coast. Here, the Cocos Plate is sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, producing volcanic activity inland of the coast. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, four of them are active:Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in 2010.

Natural disasters have a long history in this geologically active part of the world. For example, two of the three moves of the capital of Guatemala have been due to volcanic mudflows in 1541 and earthquakes in 1773.

Volcano Pacaya

On Thursday May 27, 2010 (05-27-2010) the Pacaya volcano started erupting lava and rocks on Thursday afternoon, blanketing Guatemala City with black sand (and forcing the closure of the international airport). It was declared a "state of calamity." The Pacaya volcano left about 8 Centimeters of ash and sand through all of Guatemala City. Cleaning works are in progress.