Juanito and Linda Read a Story

Founder and Executive Director, Linda Smith, reads with Juanito – the younger brother of two Reading Village Leaders and Readers graduates.  

Across Guatemala there are two million youth who cannot afford to be in school. We believe that is two million too many. Thanks to you, Juanito will never be part of this statistic.

Juanito is one of five brothers but the first to grow up with regular access to storybooks and reading time. In rural, indigenous Guatemalan households it’s not unusual to find parents who cannot read or write, and even more common to see youth drop out of school because they lack the basic literacy skills to succeed. Juanito’s family went into debt to put their oldest son through high school. The next two sons were able to finish school thanks to a scholarship from Reading Village. Last month, his brother Victor completed four years in our Leaders and Readers program and graduated from high school. Meanwhile, his other brother Carlos is putting his leadership training to work as a teaching fellow at the innovative Asturias Academy with plans to open the first-ever branch of Asturias. Thanks to the precedent these brothers have set, Juanito already knows how to read and write and has access to books to continue to build on these skills and spark his imagination.

This holiday season give the gift of literacy and education and join our Two Million Too Many matching campaign to prepare more youth like Juanito to defy the odds.  Every single donation we receive will be doubled and will prepare more youth like Juana for success against the odds. We cannot thank you enough for your partnership in this good work.

GIVE BEFORE DECEMBER 31 FOR 100% MATCH

WWW.READINGVILLAGE.ORG/DONATE

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Category: Our Impact