The job placement statistics for our 2009 graduates are in, and they clearly show that the 3,000 hours of hands-on training students receive in our vocational training school pays off. 45 students graduated with degrees in sustainable tourism and 43 with degrees in Rural Well-being. 100% of these students are now working, either in restaurants, governmental agencies, NGOs, with Ak’Tenamit, or within their own communities where they are implementing what they learned. For more information about Ak’Tenamit’s innovative vocational training program please visit http://www.aktenamit.org/education/work-study-program.php.
Please also consider sponsoring a student’s education so that our current students can continue their studies and acquire the skills that are helping our graduates find jobs. They depend on your support and just $1 a day makes all this possible.
Interns at BugaMama restaurant in Livingston
Rotary Clubs in the United States and Guatemala have long supported Ak’ Tenamit, but the spirit of “Service Above Self” was especially evident last January, when 48 volunteers from Rotary District 6440 descended upon the Rio Dulce and accomplished a remarkable amount of good.
That international good will mission brought together volunteers from 11 Rotary Clubs in District 6440, of northern Illinois, who worked hard in the humid, tropical heat for the benefit of the area’s indigenous people. They divided into two teams of 24 each and worked alongside Ak’ Tenamit students on projects to improve their campus.
Using funds they raised themselves, the group built a much-needed library and bunk beds that increased the existing dorm’s capacity by approximately 33%. They also built computer desks for the 25 new computers that they had carried down with them for the school’s computer lab. The volunteers also raised more than $4,000 for the purchase and assembly of 80 water filters, which they helped distribute to families in surrounding Maya villages. Those filters will save lives, since there is a scarcity of potable water in the region, where local children sometimes die from gastrointestinal infections caused by drinking contaminated water.
Together, Rotarians and students build a new library
Rotarian Jean Vayssier, AKA the Riding Dutchman, spent the month of June motorcycling across the United States – from Washington DC to Seattle – to raise funds for for Ak Tenamit’s high school, the FR. Tom Moran Education Center. Vayssier asked people to sponsor his ride at $10 per mile, to be donated to the Guatemalan Tomorrow Fund for transfer to Ak’ Tenamit. He gave presentations about Ak Tenamit along the route. His ride was a memorable tour of America from the urban East to the open spaces and National Parks of the West. His blog is well worth a visit: http://transamericatenamit.blogspot.com/
Jean's ride stops in Death Valley
