Bilingual Education in a Mam community in Guatemala

ICAmigos has been collaborating with a bilingual Mam-Spanish school in the indigenous community of Cabricán since 1992. In Guatemala, there are over 20 indigenous languages spoken, and the bilingual education project is one effort to support the continued use and knowledge of indigenous languages, cultures, traditions, and customs. In Cabricán the academic year is approximately 10 months, from January to October of each year, and classes are offered from 7:45am to 12:30pm, Monday through Friday. The community is quite rural and volunteers will live with a homestay family and will have the opportunity to learn not only about education in Guatemala, but the realities of rural life more generally.