Volunteer Teacher at the NUFED School

Aleta Leigh, our first Alaskan volunteer, (shown here with some of her students), has been working as an Ix-canaan volunteer for over a month now teaching English at the NUFED School. The NUFED School is a technical institute here in the village that teaches grades 7, 8 and 9 to students who have little chance of furthering their educations. English is a very important subject for them, since many of the jobs locally are in the tourism industry, and their services will be much more in demand if they are bilingual.

The NUFED School meets for full day classes every second week (most Guatemalan schools are in session either in the morning or in the afternoon) so that the students do not have to pay for transportation or rooming fees for the entire month. During the weeks when the school has been out of session, Aleta has found time to act as the interpreter for the group of dentists that were here for a week, she helped out with the unpacking and organizing of medicines that the pre-med group brought down, and now she is working with the Women’s Group to reinstate their garden initiative.

Here she is with her Grade 7 class. (Note that the school building has no doors or windows, unfinished walls and a dirt floor).