While many schools in Honduras offer bilingual education, most of them are reserved for the elites of society.
Mayatan is a rural non-profit K-12 school, founded by local mothers, that offers financial assistance to almost half of its student population. It has a very low student-teacher ratio (6-20 children per teacher) that ensures a high quality of education.
Volunteer teachers from Honduras and the USA reach students who come from low-income and diverse social backgrounds. Native English speaking teachers provide high-level skills in English which prepares Honduran students for foreign higher education. The diplomas students receive are valid both in Honduras and the US.
Assistantships to students include half to full tuition, meals, transportation, and uniforms. Students who can pay full tuition themselves help fund the education of their fellow underprivileged classmates, while those students on scholarships add to the diversity of the school population.
In addition to foreign teachers, Mayatan receives a lot of international funding and assistance in the form of advice and project planning while remaining firmly rooted in community-based work. Thus, many local Honduran staff members have joined and have remained with Mayatan since its earliest days. Support from the local community and business sponsors has helped to increase the number of students who enroll in Mayatan and ensure its long-term success.
What do students do after they graduate from Mayatan?
Until 2012, the highest graduating class was 9th grade. Most of these students went on to complete their education in bilingual schools across Honduras, and some of them are currently enrolled in college in the US.
In 2012, the first high-school class of 6 students graduated from Mayatan. Five of them are enrolled in universities in Central America.
The most recent news from Mayatan: three seniors have been accepted in colleges abroad. Sayda has been accepted to Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Jose and Henry Danilo have been accepted to Rock Valley Community College in Rockford, Illinois, where they are currently applying for tuition waivers.
Creative Commons Love: daviditzi on Flickr.com
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