El Hato Literacy Center
Humane Education Approach
Our two projects, the Garden of Hope and the El Hato Literacy Center, share a common approach to teaching: the use of humane education. Humane education is an "approach to teaching that draws connections between human rights, animal protection, and environmental sustainability with the goal of preparing people to be compassionate ...". When students struggle with relationships, we encourage them to strive to understand others and engage in peaceful discourse. We incorporate readings, videos, and games that reinforce the benefit of this compassionate approach to interacting with the environment, animals and other people.
El Hato Literacy Center
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El Hato is a poverty-stricken, marginalized, largely Mayan community overlooking Antigua. The people there are hardworking and friendly but unfortunately education is not always valued and, when it is, it is not always readily obtained.
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At Asociación Juntos Podemos, we want to give El Hato's children the opportunity to succeed in their studies. For that reason, we have rented a house near the local public school so that we can offer a variety of literacy services, including:
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Tutoring: In conjunction with our local partner Las Manos de Christine, the Literacy Center has two tutors who work daily to provide El Hato's children with help in understanding the concepts they need to learn for school.
Library: We have a nice collection of books that children and other El Hato residents can borrow. Our library also has computers and an internet connection that older students can use to help them complete more in-depth projects. (The internet is not readily available to many families in El Hato.)
Vacation Camp: Our work doesn't stop when the school year ends each October. That's when we start our annual Vacation Camp, where children participate in fun, daily educational activities for the following six weeks.
