Why We’re Helping a Very Special “Garden of Love”
As an educator and as a father of two young children, educating kids is important to me. That’s why I founded Big Bunny Workshop: To raise money to help children. Because I believe that educating children is one of the surest ways to improve their lives and to eliminate global poverty, I donate 100 percent of the profits from sales of Big Bunny Workshop books to projects that provide children with the kind of education that can change their lives forever; projects like the “Garden of Love” in Santa Maria de Jesus a short drive from La Antigua, Guatemala. The video below, produced by Yasmine Ernst, tells the project’s story.
Among the world’s children, those of Guatemala have particularly urgent needs, needs that are underscored by the United Nations ranking the Guatemala Human Development Index as the second lowest in all of the Americas (second only to Haiti), and by the fact that more than half of the country’s population lives in poverty, or in extreme poverty.
Their ability to rise out of poverty is hindered in part by a lack of government-mandated education for children above the sixth grade level. Unfortunately, according to the United States Agency for International Development, only three in 10 children make it through the sixth grade; making matters worse, the World Bank reports that many of these children drop out after first grade. Even if children are fortunate enough to make it past the sixth grade, families must bear the cost of post-secondary education themselves; that is, if they live near a private school, or can even afford it.
Constru Casa (ConstruCasa.org), a wonderful organization that provides basic housing to Guatemalans who live in extreme poverty, has addressed this shortcoming by working with families who receive new homes to ensure that their children pass sixth grade, and by offering scholarships to secondary schools. But much work remains to be done to improve the level of education among Guatemala’s poor indigenous population.
One area needing special help is the small village of Santa Maria de Jesus perched on a hilltop about 10 kilometers outside of La Antigua. This quiet pueblo––populated by poor families who eke out a living mostly by growing or selling crops––is much like its neighbors, but with one compelling drawback: It has only one school which, despite being hugely successful, is bursting at the seams.
Jardin de Amor (Garden of Love) is an education project in the village that enrolls more than 100 children ranging in age from six to sixteen. Two classes are held each day, taught by local mothers or by other volunteers, some from as far away as England and Norway. In addition to being taught math, writing, and science, the children are fed and given the chance to engage in the kind of play that is virtually impossible given the work they must do when not in school (such as working around the house, working in the fields, or watching younger siblings while their parents work).
The project was started only five years ago by a young Guatemalan man, Julio Cesar Garcia Reyes, who saw the need for a free school for the children of Santa Maria de Jesus. While their education is free, parents must provide basic school supplies and commit to volunteering at the school. While Julio has done an extraordinary job of educating these precious children and managing the project, his Garden of Love can’t accommodate any other students. “I have to turn away families because I have no more room here,” he said through our translator during our visit. “My ultimate goal is to raise enough money to buy some new land and to build a bigger school,” he said.
I can’t tell you how impressed I was with what Julio has managed to accomplish in only four years with very limited space and equally limited resources. I was impressed also with the dedication of the volunteers, and with the facilities themselves. That’s why 100 percent of Big Bunny Workshop’s profits are donated to Julio to help him operate Jardin de Amor, to help him fund a new school, and to help him improve the lives of the children of Santa Maria de Jesus.
Thank you for helping me help these very special children! Muchas gracias!
––Jeffrey Maciejewski
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