Eight remarkable teens will join the 2010 Reading Village team of reading promoters. Living in an agricultural community they came to their interviews having quickly spruced up from their work in the fields. Some came with wet hair, others picking dirt from under their fingernails, and all in their best clothes. They told me of their dreams and how hard they struggle to accomplish things that are just handed to us in the US, like K-12 education. Here's a bit of what I learned about them...
Victor Saminez Cosiguá: This charming boy loves to talk! Though his parents didn't complete elementary school, he wants to be a teacher, and I think he'll make a great one. His work with Reading Village will be good preparation for him.
Johana Sequec Cos: She was a shoe-in for next year as she participated alongside our reading promoters all this year without receiving one centavo in scholarship funds.
Maribel Juracán Solís: This sixteen-year-old's face completely lights up when she talks about how much she has learned already in the workshops associated with our selection process and can't wait to begin reading to children.
Olivia Lopic Tos: She didn't make the cut in 2009 because she was just so painfully introverted. But she has been watching her sister Rosmery in our program and attended some of our workshops. She has come out of that shell!
Luís Xitamul Balam: He nearly cried as he told me he failed a year of school for lack of the $1 daily bus fare to get to class, yet he hasn't given up on his dream of becoming a music teacher.
Carlos Juracán y Juracán: He's one of those thoughtful quiet types -- you can see it in his eyes, can't you? He's got a talent for taking things apart, wants to become a mechanic and open a shop in his town.
Laura Bocel Lopic: The youngest of five siblings (none of them educated), she stood up to her father and told him she wanted to study. This girl's got determination!
Antonio Coxolcá Sequec: Eleven people live in his very humble adobe home. He wants to become a professional so he can help his family.
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