What is the project? “Kinderchance y Handwerk 3000”?

It is now a school with a daycare center and kindergarten that looks after and educates 500 children and young people every day. The youngest children are just two years old: the oldest are graduating from high school. The children come from the surrounding area and are brought to school every day by school buses.  Most of them come from poor, indigenous families who would not be able to afford a good education without this opportunity and would otherwise be trapped in the vicious circle: “No education, no vocational training. Without a job, no future” and would remain stuck in poverty.

Why don’t the children go to a public school?

In Guatemala, school attendance is now compulsory. However, the public schools in rural areas are very poor: up to 60 children are taught in one classroom, where they are taught for a few hours for a few days a week. Even today, around 60% of the indigenous population, who make up 40% of the population, are illiterate. Their average schooling is 2.5 years.  That is not even half the schooling time of non-indigenous children.

How did the project come about?

In 2000, Mrs. Brunhilde de Grajeda, together with Herrmann Oßwald, bought a plot of land in the mountains (at an altitude of 6,000 ft) near the town of San Juan de Sacatepéquez, an hour’s drive north of the capital Guatemala City, and opened a kindergarten. Ms. de Grajeda already had 30 years of experience in Guatemala at the time. She had moved there in 1972 with her husband, Dr. Ernesto Grajeda, who had worked at the university hospital in Ulm and later became head physician at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City. Dr. Grajeda was assassinated in 1981. As a widow, Mrs. de Grajeda worked for eight years as an art teacher at the German school in Guatemala City. After a long illness, she decided to dedicate her life entirely to poor indigenous children. She has lived on the school grounds since 2000 and runs the project. Every year she travels to Ulm for a few weeks to collect donations. She not only collects money, but also donations of school furniture, school supplies and anything the school can use. Almost everything on the school grounds is from Germany.

Where does the funding come from?

You can help here! The school receives a small amount of tuition from parents. Most of the funding comes from the non-profit organization “Kinderchance y Handwerk 3000”, most of it from sponsorships. Another share comes from one-time donations, which are often earmarked for a specific purpose, e.g. the purchase of a school bus or the furnishing of the school.

Why the name “Kinderchance y Handwerk 3000”?

Originally, the school was intended to offer both school education up to a high school diploma and training in a skilled trade in the 3rd millennium. It has grown enormously since then and leads many students to graduating high school every year. Unfortunately, it has not been financially feasible to offer training in skilled trades so far.