NOVEMBER UPDATE TUTORING NEW HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

We just started our tutoring classes for our high school scholarship applicants. We were excited to see that we had 18 motivated students applying this year, which is more than usual! What would normally be a full week of classes has now been split in two; students come to CECAP three days, and the rest of the week, they have online classes. This decision was made to ensure that our students are taking the necessary safety precautions while considering that access to the internet can be limited for some of them. The students have been divided into three groups to guarantee that they keep the proper distance between each other and the teacher. They are also wearing masks, keeping good airflow in the room, and their temperature is measured and recorded before every class.  We're excited to see so many young people motivated to keep studying and graduate from high school, despite the difficulties and lack of access to educational resources that many youth faced here in rural Guatemala this year.

#GivingTuesday is One Week Away! GivingTuesday is just around the corner! This is an opportunity for people worldwide to stand together in unity - to use their individual power of generosity to remain connected and heal.  The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, DECEMBER 1st, all donations will be doubled by a generous donor up to $20,000! Help us reach our goal to continue empowering youth to break the cycle of poverty in Santa Cruz. Can't wait? You can donate right now and note 'Giving Tuesday' in the memo to have it doubled on Tuesday.

A Mushroom Business that Keeps Growing You might remember Tomasa as the woman who helped us train our new mushroom business entrepreneurs in 2017. Despite the economic strains that everyone in Santa Cruz faced this year, Tomasa grew her business and continued being a successful entrepreneur. Her business is going so well that she has run out of space to incubate and harvest mushrooms.  The place where she was incubating the mushrooms was not ideal. This was an open space, and eventually, rats started to come in to eat the mushrooms. She was so worried about her harvest that she even spent some nights guarding the mushrooms. When we found out about this, we helped her out by expanding the harvesting module and enclosing the incubator to keep the mushrooms safe.  We just finished the renovation. Now she has room to keep growing her business, and she can sleep knowing that her mushrooms will be okay. Take a look at her latest harvest!

Virtual Talent Show Builds Children's Self-Confidence Our Early Education students keep surprising us with their creativity from home! During the first weekend of November, our students participated in an online talent show - with singing, dancing, poetry, and more. The talent show turned into a family activity when the parents and siblings got involved decorating their homemade stages and filming the participants.  The annual Talent Show is a favorite in the village. Children and their families didn't want to miss it this year, even with COVID. Our Early Education Team found a way to keep the students engaged and motivated, even while social distancing. Check out the Early Education Facebook Page if you want to see videos of some of these performances yourself!

amigosdesantacruz.org info@amigosdensantacruz.org

‌ ‌