Learn About Our Program
Our Program
In many indigenous villages in Guatemala, once children finish primary school, education is no longer free. The cost of registration, tuition, uniforms, and school materials makes school unaffordable for many, if not most, indigenous families. By high school, it’s estimated that at least 75% of students in San Pedro have dropped out. But donors’ help has kept this from happening for a group of students from the most impoverished homes.
Our sponsored high school students attend specialized schools to prepare them for careers in nursing, teaching, business administration, and tourism. We also provide scholarships for middle school children and in some cases we sponsor students at the university level.
In 2026, the Atitlan Alliance is providing scholarships for 44 students who are in junior high, high school and university. We are also helping 34 elementary students to attend school by purchasing shoes, backpacks and school supplies. Sometimes a child does not even start school for lack of shoes to wear! Our vision is that no child is prevented from attending public elementary school for financial reasons. Most of our students come from families where the Mayan dialect of Tz’utuhil is spoken. Elementary school is where children learn to speak, read and write Spanish. Although the preservation of the Mayan culture and language is essential, Spanish fluency is necessary to succeed in modern day Guatemala.
We are transforming the lives of not only the students, but their families and their whole village. Imagine when these children become well educated. Some will be tradespeople and some will be professionals. Imagine the contribution they will make to their families and communities. WE ARE BUILDING LEADERS.
We echo their words of thanks–Muchísimas gracias!
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Your donation sponsors a child's education for the duration of the school year.
Our history
Supporting Atitlan Alliance Means Supporting Your Community
Our project has been many years in the making. In May 2008, Laura Emery and Ellen Craine spent two weeks at a Casa Rosario Spanish language school on the banks of Lake Atitlan in the village of San Pedro La Laguna. www.casarosario.com
Laura’s teacher, Rosario, generously offered to show us around town and introduce us to the poorest families of the village whom she and her family were helping with cash donations. We contributed money to their project while in the country and for a few months after returning home. At this time, however, there was no direct way to get money to them, and we were unsure if the checks we sent ever arrived at their intended destination.
In January 2020, Ellen returned to Guatemala with her friend Anna (now one of our sponsors). Before leaving Ashland, Laura gave Ellen some money to give to Rosario for the poor families in town. Ellen was unsure she could locate Rosario after all this time, but it turned out to be easy. Cell phones have made a big difference in the intervening years! Shortly after returning to the States, the pandemic hit, and the tourist-oriented economy of San Pedro took a severe blow. Thanks to Zoom, Rosario and her sister, Silvia, were able to offer online Spanish classes. We were the first to sign up.
Through our regular contact with our teacher, we learned of the plight of many families whose source of income had dried up once tourists had stopped coming and severe pandemic restrictions had been put in place. At first, several of us sent money so that Rosario could buy food to give to families in need–many of them headed by single mothers. When a mudslide devastated the nearby town of San Marcos, we also helped with some financial support. But by 2021, an idea was forming to raise money for education.
Laura and Ellen, along with Laura’s husband, Bill Emery, and Delores Nims, formed a steering committee for this purpose. Calling ourselves “The Atitlan Alliance,” by summer ‘21 we had decided on a program to help specific students attend school. We agreed to invite some friends to join us in sponsoring individual students. At the least, we figured we would provide scholarships to three or four students. What a delight it was to witness the outpouring of support from 28 individuals from all over the U.S. that resulted in 19 students receiving financial assistance!
With the support from new donors, the number of junior high, high school and university students sponsored in 2026 was 44--with an additional support for 34 elementary students-- and our hopes to increase that number each and every year.
