“I grew with the project, everything I am now is what I’ve learned over the years and all the challenges I’ve faced. The project has become my life, it made me realize what I wanted to do, what my passion was. I don’t remember not being a part of the Foundation. The love and the passion that I see in the staff and the families we work with have helped me become a better person” – Sophie Mckee, and ex-Project Director
When I travelled here originally at 18 years of age, I had no idea how many years of my life that “short trip” was going to take over. Now as I move myself and my family across an ocean, I can only reflect on how much Guatemala has given to me when all I had dreamt of was improving my Spanish and broadening my perspective of the world.
Although public education is technically free here the reality is that many families cannot provide the material and uniform costs needed. I originally volunteered at a small school in Jocotenango which provided these resources to students who could not afford public schools. In 2003 I was back in Guatemala and due to lack of funding and poor accounting the school I had volunteered at was on the brink of collapse and many students were simply ending up on the street after graduating, without the means of attending secondary school. This reality broke my heart. So, I called my dad, who quickly sprang into action, and with his support The Education for the Children Foundation (EFTC) was formed.
Since then EFTC has learnt and grown with the community around us. We opened the doors to our own school, The School of Hope, in the same neighbourhood back in 2005. Our first day in our current building was an incredible milestone, as it united us as an integrated team, all working toward the same cause under the same building. We have had triumphs and tribulations, and many setbacks, but always together.
It has now been 16 years since EFTC was formed. This foundation has outgrown anyone ́s predictions of what the future held, even my own. From a small funding organisation, to our original school of just over a hundred students to today when we run not only a school but all the other needed support such as nutrition, health care and psychological care (to name a few), to ensure out students have the chance at an education and the future they deserve.
EFTC is only going to continue to grow. I am leaving behind an amazing team of individuals from diverse backgrounds all working towards the same goal, to support our students in any way possible. That is the reason the Foundation is the mix of departments it is today; they are created as we respond to need. When I first arrived, Jocotenango was a stark reality of poverty, violence, malnutrition, unstable housing, crime and drugs. That is changing. In part, I hope, due to EFTC.
We are incredibly lucky to have the support of the wide network we do. Not only our passionate supporters, who began based in the UK but now come from every corner of the globe, but also our staff. EFTC has many employees who began as teachers with the original school who have grown with us, today overseeing their own departments. Finally, the biggest support of all, our students. The reason all of this exists and will continue to exist for long after I have left.To learn more about EFTC check out their website: https://www.eftc.org.uk/
