Visiting our friends “Amigos de Santa Cruz”

On our trip to Santa Cruz La Laguna, we had the honor of visiting and learning about the programs of our friends from the NGO Amigos de Santa Cruz, who have already managed three GGs for their education and economic development program. We were told that the organization has been contributing to the village for the past 27 years.

Santa Cruz is one of the smallest towns around the lake. It is really difficult to get there by land due to the really bad condition of the road and the easiest way is by boat. It has no more than ten thousands inhabitants.

We were welcomed by the two directors who manage the two main programs of Amigos de Santa Cruz. They gave us an impressive tour and we were able to visit their private school called “Colegio Siqajam” which currently has 20 students and 2 levels: pre-school and first grade. They are expecting to have more grades in the future. It’s worth mentioning that the school uses a highly successful educational system to help children participate more actively in class and express their ideas freely. Some of the teachers were part of the scholarship program of Amigos de Santa Cruz and some of them have already an associate degree in Education. According to the school director, the same facilities are being used for the tutoring program, which is primarily for students attending the only public school in Santa Cruz. Students come four times a week, from Monday to Thursday, to receive reading tutoring. They are currently serving more than 40 students every week.

We were also able to visit the facilities of the “CECAP” Training Center of Amigos, which offers various technical and trade courses to promote the town’s economic development. These include carpentry, culinary arts, computing, dressmaking, hand embroidery, weaving, and more. They have a store where all the artisans work are being sold and a restaurant where all the food is made by graduated students from their program. Amigos de Santa Cruz has achieved what is difficult for many organizations to achieve: unifying efforts with community authorities.

This program seeks to empower those people who prefer to drop out of school after completing middle school, as well as those who lack the resources to pursue their education and dreams. Without a doubt, Amigos de Santa Cruz has served as a channel for those people who were able to participate in their program and achieve their dreams.