Written by Antonia McGrath, educate. Director and Co-Founder During a recent trip to Honduras, the first of the educate. libraries I visited was in the La Alegria community. La Alegria is a 45 minute mototaxi ride from the town of Trinidad: down into the valley, up the main road, and then off a dirt track … Continue reading La Alegria’s Library in the Mountains
After a year of lockdown, our community library projects have been re-ignited. Last week, three communities in the municipality of Trinidad, Honduras recommenced their community meetings, working towards three new school-based community libraries that will open this year. Project Coordinator Walter Dubon attended the community meetings, guiding communities in the first steps of the process: … Continue reading Community library projects re-starting after a year of lockdown
Every year, 19 teachers from across Honduras are recognised for their exceptional qualities and achievements as teachers and educators. These teachers are chosen from the roughly 60,000 educators across the country, and are individuals who stand out for their passion and dedication in teaching Honduras’ youth and driving change in the educational sector. This year, … Continue reading Two educate. teachers amongst this years’ 19 “Teachers of the Year” in Honduras!
In 2019, 60% of educate.’s funding came from fundraising activities. With the coronavirus lockdown preventing us from physically getting together for our usual fundraising events, this whole section of our funding has been temporarily on hold. Luckily, educate.’s events team have been astonishingly creative and persistent in coming up with creative ways to continue bringing … Continue reading Online Fundraising During Lockdown – A Recap
Even if you haven’t yet heard the term ‘voluntourism,’ you almost certainly are familiar with the phenomenon it refers to. Its imagery and advertising are everywhere – resume-building, perspective-changing opportunities to build a well/teach English/help at an orphanage somewhere in the global South, for a price. Such a combination of volunteering and tourism appeals to … Continue reading The dark side of voluntourism: why development work needs to prioritize local leadership
Monday March 23rd was educate.'s third birthday. This exciting day came at a time full of challenges. With everything going on surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, there are shifts taking place all across our community. In Honduras, schools and universities have closed down, and in Amsterdam our teams have switched to virtual meetings. In the midst of it all, … Continue reading Covid-19: We need your support, now more than ever
This past summer, two new educate.-funded libraries were inaugurated in Honduras. Both were located at small, rural public primary schools, where one teacher has all students from first through sixth grade in a single classroom - no small feat, especially with the limited resources both of these schools struggle with. Both projects were also led … Continue reading Two new libraries once again show the power of community leadership
(Versión en Español mas abajo) La Lima, a small city in Honduras, is steeped in history. In the 1960s, most of the North Americans from the banana corporations that flourished at the time lived here. The Tela Railroad Company, part of the well-known Chiquita brand, was also based here at the time, and one of … Continue reading “For every 100 students who enroll, most don’t make it to the end”: Bringing books to La Lima, Honduras
Versión en Español mas abajo On a sunny Thursday morning in Honduras, a truck laden with the books and desks rumbled its way up through the Honduran coffee-farming countryside to the rural town of Trinidad. Far too big for the town’s narrow streets, the truck barely made it to the school’s entrance, where the carpenters … Continue reading “Viva la Biblioteca” at Escuela Guadalupe Ulloa
Along the colourful streets of Trinidad, Santa Barbara, just out of the centre, is a small one-story building covered in brightly painted murals. Trinidad’s only kindergarten has just over 100 children, and though resources are limited, the posters and paintings that cover the walls both inside and outside create a warm, friendly atmosphere. Though it … Continue reading Closing the Gap in Early Literacy
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