Hello friends, 
These last few days I have been reflecting. (Since the months of November and December I have used it in order to plan action for the coming year) I have seen how the product of the work that has been a dream has been put together during 10 years and that you through your work and strength have touched and changed the lives of so many children and young people who day by day have become good men and women. This achievement I believe from a distance is imperceptible, the level of the impact this has had on so many families in Guatemala cannot be measured. Families that today see their future as different, their future is thanks to the opportunity they have had in their lives. I see daily each year groups of students that leave with great expectations thanks be to God for the opportunity that you have given to me to touch their lives. 

You: Sue, Jane, Phil and so many more that support our young people in Guatemala, are an important part in the rescue of many lives of many families, and have been the light in a dark world for our youngsters. There are almost 400 young people that during these last 10 years have graduated and been supported in LBG, every time our facilities become smaller because of the amount of families that look for the opportunity in order that their sons and daughters can study in our centre. 

Our project touches lives, our project changes lives and transforms futures. 

You do NOT know the happiness that you see when you arrive in a hotel and a chef greets you, or a cashier in an office attends to you with a happy smile, or a receptionist in a bank with a cheerful greeting remembers you and the good moments due to the education that they received in our college. And all this I only have because of you, a Thank you and I never get tired of saying to you THANK YOU. 

Friends, friends, finally I am using these words that Jesus said: “I give you the truth, each one of you has something for my brothers and sisters more humble, also you have it for me” Matthew 25-40. Blessings for your lives. 

With much love, Eduardo

Review
The last year for Study Guatemala and El Liceo Britanico Guatemalteco has been one of consolidation and continuation to achieve academic excellence and offer free access to education for those children with most limited resources.

Given the enormous effort that had gone into raising funds to achieve the build of the school, the board of Trustees reviewed their approach going forward, to move into a more financial self sustaining and secure future.
It was together with our inspirational Chairman Phil Melling, that the Charities purpose and objectives were redefined in July 2011; Study Guatemala would now support only a defined number of students, guarantying their free education. Together with our director Eduardo Estrada, we agreed that for the three years to follow, we would assure funding of 35 students, a number to be reviewed should income permit this

Study Guatemala now supports a defined number of students, 35, on 100% grants, thereby guaranteeing their free education and allowing the school itself to focus on further developments locally. When we reviewed our plan, we agreed that should more funds become available we would then explore the possibility of funding more students. At the present time, however, we have remained focused upon these 35 students. With some small additional income, we have been able to offer support for some minor developments to the fabric of the building – including improvements to the toilets and to the rooftop space.

In spite of the great gap left by Phil Melling's very sad death, the Trustees are pleased to report that El Liceo Britanico Guatelamalteco continues to thrive and produce excellent support for those in most need of financial support to undertake their education.




Objectives and activities
Building upon the previous developments, the achievements of the school have continued to be outstanding.

• The number of students attending is now 181 in total, 81 girls and 100 boys

• The measures of success continue to be evidenced through very high academic achievements. Of the total students, 85.5% achieved passes at the conclusion of this academic year. 82 boys and 71 girls. There are a number of children who completed their studies but needed to undertake resits in order to progress to the next year: those results are awaited, but it is expected the overall pass rate will be 93%. Once again the primary reason for those not achieving successful outcomes is the difficult circumstances in which they live, and the impact this has upon all aspects of their lives.

• Of the 35 students on grants from Study Guatemala, 34 graduated, 1 student did not complete her education. This was Heydey whose mother had been murdered early in 2011. There had been great concern for her psychological wellbeing, Ultimately this proved to be too difficult for her, and she chose to cease her studies.

• Three of the 35 students supported by Study Guatemala achieved awards for the their high academic achievements

• The school band continues to maintain a significant role in the community; they receive invitations to play in various venues and continue to enter different competitions: they have received 6 Trophy’s and many Diploma’s as well as other recognition from the Communities in which they play. Should we achieve extra income the band sorely need help with instruments which we will endeavor to support.

• The theatre group has grown in the last year, performing most notably in an event for the office of Human Rights hosted in the Theatre of “Bellas Artes” . They received many commendations for this activity, and El Liceo Britanico Guatemalteco gained much from the event. The play performed was titled “the stigmas of God”, written by the Director Eduardo Estrada. This theme particularly looked upon the issues in Guatemala of religion, diversity and the discrimination of some groups - a very real challenge in Guatemala given its cultural and religious mix.

• Sporting activities continue to go from strength to strength, and with the support of an ex student, (now a teacher in Physical Education) the school has made particular strides in basket ball and football.

Of our students leaving El Liceo, two students have going on to study industrial careers, two are moving into medical studies, five into computing, two into commercial secretarial careers, and ten into some form of accounting/administration.

Trustees plans
The trustees have reviewed the past year and the continued progress of the school and its students with much pleasure. Whilst recognizing this is a very challenging time financially for the Charity, and for Guatemala, we feel that the progress and outcomes have reflected the very solid base upon which Study Guatemala was established - the integrity of its objectives remaining very much intact.

The strategy that those pupils not supported by Study Guatemala should make some financial contribution to their education has indeed enabled the school to flourish and make great achievements.

In our annual report of 2012, we had shared the plan for supporters to sponsor individual students. As yet we have failed to achieve this closer link between out supporters and individual children, but it is, however, something that we intend to achieve over the forthcoming year.

Finances and Fundraising plans
The financial support we receive has been really valuable. As well as individual donations, we have been very lucky to have the support of the Open Shaw Trust. These donations, which are in addition to the regular financial contributions from our supporters, have made a significant impact to the school.

The Board of Trustees are very proud of the fact that we can report 100% of all donations goes directly to the school. We trust that this should make you, the supporters, confident that your donations make a huge difference to the lives of children and their families.

We are embarking on a new phase of fundraising and looking forward to new activities which may bring in more income. We welcome any support in this, but especially wanted to tell you of an “auction of promises” to come later this spring. We will be circulating the promises to be auctioned, in the event that you have any interest in any of the lots. If you or your friends and family are able to raise any funds for Study Guatemala, or can alert us to any additional funding opportunities, we would be most grateful.

Finally, we are again reviewing the cost of supporting individual students, which last year we fixed at £20 a month. Given the high cost of living we know that this is very tight, and would welcome any small additional contributions that you might be able to make to help us tackle this challenge.

We have a Just giving site to the project in the event that any supporters wish to use this.

Individual Case Studies

We ask Eduardo, the Director of the school, to provide us with an outline profile of the pupils we support, and three of these are described below. They typify the difficult background circumstances of our pupils, but equally exemplify the way in which the pupils take advantage of the opportunities offered by the support from Study Guatemala.

Ismar Joel Galindo Gramajo- 14 years
Ismar lives with his parents in very difficult circumstances. His mother lost her sight following a fall, leaving his father, previously working as a professional, unable to continue in his position, having to care for his wife for much of the time. This has been their position for the past two years.

This leaves the family with very limited resources, in a very poor area, where they have insufficient money to basic existence. Joel has received a grant for the past two years, with the most support this last year. In the holidays of school in 2012, Joel worked to enable the family to have sufficient income for their costs. He worked as a vegetable seller in the daytime, and at night, he worked alongside his father as a waiter at festivals and receptions. The family is very poor and have only the minimum food.

Ismar is devoted to his education, gaining the place at the top of his year for his achievements and behavior - he was honoured and awarded for this by el collegio and received great acclaim.

Isam loves to cook and has taken opportunities to cook food that can be sold. Because of their extremely difficult circumstances, the family was on the point of ceasing his education and it was only for the help from his grant that he was able to continue. He is a very intelligent and studious young man, with great potential. Last year he undertook a course in public speaking, oratory which enabled him to represent the school in a number of public events, including the National Festival for the office of human rights.

Possibly the highlight for Ismar Joel in the past year has been his contact with the British Embassy. He, with other students, participated in a drawing competition for the Embassy, where amongst 80 paintings were submitted. A great achievement for El Liceo was when they gained first and second places, Ismar being awarded second place. This led to him being invited to the Embassy for lunch with his co-student, where they feasted with the Guatemalan Olympic athletes. For Ismar this was an unforgettable experience – eating and having his photo taken with Ambassador is something he was thrilled to be part of.

Sara Noemi Mezquita Acevedo – 13 years old
Sara is a very bright girl who has achieved many accolades from El Liceo for her achievements. She has been at the school for two years being brought by her mother originally, in secret, because her father refused to allow her to continue in school: He stated that education was “only worthwhile for boys” and refused the funds for her to go to school.   As a result of her attending school, her father refused to support her mother at all and Sara has had no contact with him. In spite of the many difficulties that she has faced as a consequence of attending school, she has achieved greatly, and is both delightful and very studious.

Delmili Paola Moran Panadero – 13 years
Delmili is the youngest of all her siblings and lives with her father. Her parents separated as her father has a problem with alcohol. However her mother met another partner, who began to abuse her, and because of this she chose to go to her father. Her father has since ceased to use alcohol and is now working, however with very limited income. This small unit has since been joined by Delmili’s brother and when understanding the difficulties they faced, left his studies to help with the family. Both are committed to support Delili with her studies, She is a very sweet child, loving the social interaction she gets from school. She is also a talented artist and loves to paint and draw.

Conclusion
The school continues to thrive and grow. Having moved into a new phase has been challenging for all who support the Charity, however we are delighted with the progress that has been made.
Study Guatemala’s inception, was largely due to the dream of Phil Melling, and his belief that a vision of such enormity, was achievable. We have missed him greatly over the past year, with his very sad death,
The board of Trustees continues to work to do justice to all that Phil helped us to achieve, and feel that we are moving to a very positive position where the goal of self sustainability will become a reality. The students as ever are committed to their education and highly value all that is offered.
At this time of annual reporting the trustees, Director and all the students, wish to express their huge appreciation of all that Phil has brought to fruition. Reflecting on the year and the students who benefit from the Charity, we continue to celebrate the great achievements, and the huge difference that Phil Melling especially, has made to the lives of many. We will be introducing this year the “Phil Melling” award for one boy and one girl, to celebrate and remember his contribution.

None of these achievements would have been possible without your fantastic support, and the Trustees wish to share their thanks.

We are looking forward to the year ahead, and anticipate much to celebrate over the next twelve months.

Jane Aitman
Sue Melling
Study Guatemala

Following the completion of the project to construct a purpose built school in March 2010, El Liceo Britanico Guatelamalteco moved in its entirety - pupils, teachers, furniture and equipment - from its rented premises to the new building two miles away. Liceo Britanico Guatemalteco now houses 156 students (81 girls and 75 boys) in a purpose built centre which is incomparably better than the building it previously occupied.

Building upon the previous developments, the achievements of the school have continued to be outstanding. We continue to have outstanding measures of success as demonstrated by the high academic achievements. On average, 86% of pupils achieved the required pass rates and 80% of pupils progressed to the next grade. When pupils have failed to reach the required pass rates, or have not progressed to the next grade, this had largely been due to the extremely difficult circumstances of individual students and their families. Many of these families have continued to receive support from the school in a more informal way. The curriculum continued to expand, and now includes business planning and industrial art, subjects which increase career and job opportunities for the future.

This year the school celebrated its 7th anniversary by holding a ‘Cultural Week’ with a range of activities including dance, drama, and music, and in which both students and their families alike participated.

The School band continues to be a source of much pride for all, and has participated in many activities in the local community and across the country. The band comprises of 70 pupils (and past pupils) and were ranked in 24th place out of the 200 bands throughout the whole country – a tremendous achievement!

Trustees plans
In the summer of 2011, the board of trustees met to review and plan for the way forward of Study Guatemela. The major target of building a purpose-built school had finally been achieved. This had consumed much of our energy and focus over the past few years, and our supporters have helped significantly to add to the funds required to achieve this. It has always been the objective of the Charity to achieve a level of at least partial long-term sustainability. Now the building was complete, we agreed to review our strategy to achieve this long-term sustainability.

We agreed that the way to do this was focus our support in a much more targeted way, and have therefore agreed to use our supporters’ contributions to fund individual students. As from the start of 2012, Study Guatemala is now supporting 37 students on full grants. It costs £20 a month for a student to complete his or her studies. . The remainder of the students make some financial contribution towards their education. Two of the trustees visited the school in February 2012 to discuss further these plans with our Director. Whilst we all recognize that this transition will be a challenging one, we do know that it is the only way to ensure the long term future of the school. Study Guatemala’s focus now is to encourage new supporters to sponsor individual children, which we know will change their lives and the lives of their families.

Feedback from the visit
The February visit was a revelation for us. Neither of the trustees had seen the school for twelve months and the developments are fantastic – we have included some photos to show this, and uploaded a short very amateur video onto Youtube . Whilst our fundraising now focuses on individual grants for students, we are still hoping to make possible more improvements to some areas of the school which still need (or have) to be achieved.
We continue to support those children most in need. We include below some of their stories to help all our supporters know what a huge difference your support makes.                                                                                              

Rebecca, 13 years old, lives in an “area marginal” where great poverty marks her life. She started her studies late following representation by her family who couldn’t get her into school in any way without the help of a grant. Following a long illness, Rebecca’s brother sadly died of cancer. The costs of the medicines, treatments, and the funeral have left the family, who were already financially struggling, with an enormous debt that they are still struggling to find a way of meeting. Rebecca is a shy young girl bu has now commenced her studies and is very enthusiastic.

Keren, 13 years old, now lives with her grandparents in very difficult circumstances. Her mother left for the United States a year ago, traveling through Mexico to try and find work to send money home in order to try to improve the lives of her family. However her mother was detained at immigration and her father has disappeared, leaving Keren abandoned by both parents. Keren is the oldest of five siblings with much responsibility for their care. Her grandmother, who is now 70, cleans and irons during the week to have enough money to feed the family, and at the weekends grandmother cleans offices. Keren, when not at school, cleans offices with her grandmother, to try and get the money for the family survival.

Keren was not going to study this year, because the family had no funds to pay for her education. She was going to give up her education and work in a shop in order to earn a little money and pay for her lunch. Study Guatemala’s support has meant she can focus on her education and earn some additional money outside of school time.

Heidy Alezano – 13 years

Heidy, another 13 years old girl, also lives in an “area marginal” where life is very difficult and marked by great poverty and violence. She lives with her grandmother, because last September, her mother, returning from work, was murdered when thieves searched for her mobile phone. Her mother was the only source of income for the family, who are now left in the care of her elderly grandmother. Grandmother now works, with Heidy’s older siblings, making tortilla’s to earn enough money for them to survive.

Heidy’s father disappeared seven years ago, and nothing is known of what happened to him.

Heidy is a very introverted child, very dedicated to studying but in many ways struggling with her life. The school have engaged the support of their psychologist to help Heidy, and offer some counseling to address the emotional trauma she is trying to come to terms with.

Conclusion

This past year has been one of much sadness for the charity and all its supporters. Whilst the supporters of the charity remain committed to its purpose, they feel Phil’s loss greatly. The trustees wish to express their huge appreciation of all that Phil has brought to fruition.

The Charity, however, must continue to celebrate the tremendous achievements of the school, its pupils, and its teachers. We must also recognize the immeasurable contribution made over many years by the school’s Director, Eduardo            . Under his direction, and with the on-going commitment of its supporters, the school continues to thrive and grow.

Thank you to all of our supporters. Much has been achieved, many challenges have been encountered and overcome, and we look forward to the opportunities and challenges we are likely to face over the forthcoming 12 months.

Jane Aitman

Sue Melling

Study Guatemala

The trip will be organised by The Ultimate Travel Company (Charity Challenges) in London.

Our itinerary and application form are available on this web site. As well as our trek into the mountains we will also include a visit to the school in Zone 5, Guatemala City. The target for each person to fundraise will be £2,600, plus a deposit of £199.

Guatemala is a country of outstanding natural beauty with five distinct eco systems and a year-round, Mediterranean climate. The area in which we trek is part of the lower, Western Highlands. We visit at a time of the year when there is minimal rainfall and daily temperatures hover between 70-80 degrees. The trekking route is not normally used by organized groups or tourists and takes us through village communities and mountain settlements. We trek at altitude but not high altitude (between 5000 and 10,000 feet), from early morning to late afternoon on a normal day. The trek is led by guides and our heavier belongings are carried by porters.

I have walked in this area of Guatemala and the scenery is stunning. I also think the trek is unique because it offers an opportunity to see a slice of life in an unusual and staggeringly beautiful country. Unlike similar ventures run by other charities, those taking part will see exactly where their money goes. As we have stated, they will have the opportunity to visit the school and talk to the children whom we support.

I hope you will think seriously about joining us. Please feel free to bombard us with any questions you like.

The intrepid trek covered 160 km at an altitude of around 9,000 feet and began outside the town of Quetzaltenango. From there we walked through the villages and volcanoes of the Alaska region in Western Guatemala until reaching the village of Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan. We did not hike on a conventional trekking route and camp sites were arranged for us in villages which supplied us with food and facilities along the way.

Everyone completed the main itinerary and some of us even managed the San Pedro Volcano in the foothill of Lake Atitlan after a 4 o’clock morning start with our guide, Ivan Morales. At the start of the trek we were strangers to each other but along the way - through blind panic, or the fear of waking each other up by snoring too loudly – we became firm friends.

The crew we had was truly sensational, especially the two guides, Ivan and Emmanuel, and the crew who cooked and set up camp. Injuries were treated expertly by Pat and Kath and special mention should be made of the following efforts: Cheryl for braving her disintegrating feet; Pete a football injury sustained in a secret place whilst playing at 8,000 feet; Jessica for her killer instincts when tackling Mayan hit men in the above game; Pat for her rapport with the Guatemalan police force; Laura for singing; Georgina for climbing the volcano on empty; Catherine for never breaking her vow of silence in preparation for joining the Carmelite nuns; and finally Gareth who in spite of rumours to the contrary, refused copious amounts of booze that were offered to him on his honeymoon.

Soon after returning from the trek, we heard that The Waterloo Foundation, in Cardiff had agreed to award us a further £30,000 to help us buy our own land and build a school. During the Spring and Summer of 2008 land was found and purchased. This funding, combined with the money we raised from the trek has enabled us to commence the construction of a new school building. All being well the school will be ready by June 2009. During this period we were offered, free of charge, the services of a lawyer and architect. Meanwhile in January 2009 and March 2009 we will be welcoming two interns from Dame Alice Owens School in London, who will assist us in the teaching of English and Sports. This is a very important to us and draws on the excellent work done by Claire North who visited from London and worked as an intern at the school in the Spring of 2008.

Academically, the students have had another successful year. The school has now made a name for itself within the City and continues to be used as a centre for Adult Literacy classes at the weekends. In May this year we had a student qualify in the finals of a Public Speaking competition, another student was in the final of a drawing competition and a team of choreographic dancers made the finals of a competition in which 37 colleges from Guatemala participated. The football team was again successful, the girls’ team reaching the quarter finals of a major competition where, unfortunately, they lost on penalties. The school band has become very successful and has been invited to participate in many parades throughout the city. In July this year the band won the prize as THE BEST BAND in the “Parade of Market Associations” held in the city centre. Mention must be made here of the welcome that the band gave to all the trekkers who visited the school after the trek. Streets were blocked off and the band played and marched in our honour. It was an emotional time for everyone and will not be forgotten after all the hard work.

During the last year we again received fantastic support from a huge number of individuals and organisations such St. Mary’s Rotary Club, Swansea, the Swansea Latin American Association and a number of schools throughout the country – Driffield School, Hull, Dame Alice Owens School, London. We also had donations from a Charity Concert held in London and various friends in lieu of birthday presents. As well as this many other people continue to support us with standing orders, fund raising events and private donations. The support of St. James’ Funeral Home in Swansea has been particularly gratifying. Whatever the amount, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Study Guatemala in 2008. Without your assistance – and especially the people who came on the trek – we could do little, if anything to help the children in need who live in Guatemala City..

Liceo Britanico Guatemalteco has become a place of pivotal importance in the community of Zone 5. The money you give to us transforms the life of a huge range of children who come to us from across the city and who, until now, have had no real expectation of schooling beyond the age of 11.

If anyone is planning to visit Guatemala and would like to visit the school please get in touch with us. You would be more than welcome to see at first hand some of the things we are trying to achieve with the children of Zone 5, Guatemala City.

Levels of commitment are very encouraging. From 2005-2006 we lost only one student, and then unavoidably, when the family decided to move to another province. In the final examinations in 2005, which are externally graded, the average mark in Grade 1 was 80% (A grade) and in Grade 2 70.5% (B grade). Only 3 students in the school got average marks below 70% and each of these took their resits later in the year and passed.

In August 2005 the school was re-validated. In November, the Director, Eduardo Espel, received news from the Supervisor of the Ministry of Education that our school had been selected as one of the best educational establishments in Zone 5. We were congratulated on the progress we had made in just 2 years and received a special commendation for Academic Achievement and Pupil Behaviour. Given the background of many of our students this achievement is a remarkable testimony to the hard work and professionalism of our teachers.

During the annual summer competitions in 2005 which take place amongst all schools in Guatemala City students won gold medals and diplomas in the following fields: public speaking, art and theatre. In sport, the girls’ soccer team was the star turn (eclipsing even the boys who reached the semi-finals of the schools competition). The girls managed to get to the finals but, heartbreakingly, lost out on a penalty shoot out. Nevertheless, given the length of the competition and the number of teams that participated, this was a wonderful result. This year both the girls and boys soccer teams have reached the quarter-finals of their respective competitions and are looking good to make it all the way and win the final.

We should also mention that this year we opened our doors to an organization called CONALFA, the National Literary Committee of Guatemala. Throughout the year the school premises opened at the weekends as a centre for adult literacy. These were very well attended and provided an important facility for adult learners in Zone 5. The computers donated to us by Swansea City Council still provide a fantastic resource and are helping people at all levels to overcome the blight of illiteracy and educational need.
In May 2005 we were invited to a British Council reception by the ambassador, Richard Lavers. We need to maintain our links with the Embassy. We are the only British school in the City. For this reason we hope the Embassy will continue their interest in a practical way by creating a network to support our efforts..     
In January we had discussions with the Director on budgets, student intake, resource management and long-term funding. These discussions were extremely valuable. What emerged from them was a strategic plan which allows us to monitor the progress of the school over the next 5 years and achieve the goal of sustainability. Issues such as accommodation remain critical. Currently we are choc-a-block and because of our growing reputation have been forced to turn students away. This is desperately sad but we do not have the room to expand indefinitely and maintain current academic standards. In the long term we aim to reduce our budget and increase our levels of financial support. If we do not, the hope of funding bigger premises is not realistic. At the moment rentals are high in Guatemala City. This is the nation’s capital and even in a deprived area such as ours the going rate is $500-$600 per month for a reasonably-sized property. Ideally, we would love to have a property of our own but unless we can secure a large donation this is unlikely to happen. Our primary objective remains the reduction of overall costs and an increased involvement by the local community in fundraising projects. The Director fully agrees with this.

In February 2006 we sent our first interns to the school – Robbie Cowbury and Laura Ousley, from London. They worked in the school from February to April teaching English, theatre studies and sports. From the reports we have received the work they did was hugely beneficial. According to the Director, neither the interns nor the students wanted the project to come to an end. We believe it is important to continue the programme. As a result, our proposed intern for 2007 is a graduate in Spanish and French from the University of Swansea.

Fundraising continues and remains our biggest domestic priority. St. Mary’s Rotary Club in Swansea was exceedingly generous in the support it gave us over the past eighteen months, as was Driffield School in Humberside. Since 2003 Driffield School has nominated Study Guatemala as their named charity and regularly hold fund raising discos and school events. In the future, we hope to begin a letter exchange scheme between the two schools. Special thanks to Julie Blencoe.

The charity has also received support from those who have named us as their preferred charity at Golden Weddings, funerals, birthdays and social events. Members of the Board and their families have promoted the charity with ‘Spanish Language days’, parachute jumps, marathons, coffee mornings and garden parties. In 2005 the Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra held an outdoor concert on our behalf in The Galleries in Wigan. This was very successful in bringing our charity to the attention of the wider public. We also received support and donations from the Disabled Children’s Trust – North West Branch, in Wigan. We were also pleased to complete our film of the school, for which a huge thankyou should go to Peter Seel from the University of Colorado. Peter did a wonderful job of filming and editing. Copies are now available on DVD and video.
In November 2006 our first intake of students graduate from Liceo Britanico Guatemalteco. The thirty five students in Grade 3 will have completed three years in full-time secondary education. Throughout their time at the school these students have passed examinations and been awarded diplomas by the Ministry of Education. After November the students will move on into higher education or take up full-time or part-time employment in the city. It will be a testing time for all of them and we intend to monitor their progress carefully.

Overall, this has been a positive year for the charity. We have a minimum annual budget of £13,000 and are grateful to those of you who have worked hard to help us meet our targets. We remain as we started, a small, independent charity operating in an area of real need in an often forgotten part of the world. Guatemala City is a place of enormous deprivation where, ordinarily, children have very little chance of escaping the cycle of poverty into which they are born. Unlike some charities we do not levy an administration charge. All our work is voluntary. Every penny donated goes to the school. Of course we always need to increase our level of support and improve on our fundraising work. Lottery support and Comic Relief would be wonderful. We tried the former but the fact remains that it is extremely difficult to break through the stranglehold which the big charities have on theses organizations, especially at a time when so much attention seems to be on Africa and Asia. Brutally speaking, Guatemala is not the most fashionable country in the world to support. It is often regarded by donor agents as a back-burner country and a place that falls within an American sphere of influence. Back-burner or front-burner, however, it remains a place of desperate need – the city especially. Look at the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. Read what they say in their publications: “The best thing about Guatemala City is still the bus station. Get out of there as fast as you can.” And so it goes.

We remain the only British-based, educational charity in Guatemala City and the only charity who offer the children a free education from ages 11-18. Many thanks for your continuing support. We really appreciate everything you’ve done.