Five highlights from 2016

1. Luz y Vida (Light and Life) celebrated their sixth graduation ceremony: This year’s class was large with 26 students graduating from sixth grade. See more photos on their Facebook page here. In the words of Director Carlos Pérez: “Light and Life today is an active institution with clear goals that function in harmony with its educational purpose. [It is] an institution that profoundly values what has been accomplished through the years and pushes itself to respond in an effective way to the new challenges it faces.”

2. AGAPE began teaching in a new class site called La Taña: La Taña is one of the most remotely located communities where AGAPE has taught. This year they began the youth program there, with students participating from four different churches. The curriculum covers three units of discipleship, theology and leadership. All of AGAPE’s Leadership programs at a glance (2016):

• 8 Community class sites
• 28 Communities represented
• 20 Congregations participating
• 6 Full-time staff
• 4 Volunteer staff
• 149 Adult and Youth students

3. We began a program to support middle school students and their teachers: In May we introduced Run:Hope, a project designed to holistically address some key barriers to education attainment in three communities of Quiché. The program began with a teacher’s conference in Nebaj at the end of June this year where we focused on what it means to develop a philosophy of education. Read about FAQ on Run:Hope here and learn more about our first teacher conference here.

4. Neri Ajiataz joined AGAPE as a teacher: Neri gives 110% to everything he does – from managing AGAPE’s social media to preparing lesson plans and engaging with students. Like everyone in our HOPE/AGAPE team, he wears a lot of hats. Neri has also been instrumental in the development of Run:Hope, helping with protocol drafts and meeting with school directors in the program. Check out our September interview with Neri here to get to know him a little better.

5. Eri Alas became director of AGAPE: He started working with AGAPE in 2001 as a youth volunteer and became a key developer of the leadership programs. At the beginning of 2016 we interviewed him on his new role, changing perceptions of leadership in the communities where AGAPE teaches and the tremendous increase in access to technology in Quiché. You can find our interview with Eri from the beginning of the year here.