When we launched our Alternative Education Program in 2022, we knew there were countless students in rural Guatemala who had dreams of completing their education—but life had gotten in the way. What we’ve discovered since then has been both heartbreaking and inspiring: the reasons people leave school are as diverse as the students themselves, and given the right support and flexibility, they’re eager to return.
Today, 1,403 students are enrolled across Guatemala and Honduras, attending classes once a week while balancing work, family, and community responsibilities. Here are five of their stories.
Erick David Jiménez Tax is 17 years old and in his first year with the program. Like many young people in his community of Pamesebal, he faced an impossible choice: work to help his family survive, or go to school. There simply weren’t enough hours in the day for both.
“Before, I hadn’t studied because I had to work and didn’t have time,” Erick explains. Now enrolled in the second stage of PEAC (the Alternative Education Program), he’s found a way to do both. With classes meeting just once a week, he works the other days and completes his homework in the afternoons when he returns from his job.
The program also provides school supplies—a seemingly small detail that makes an enormous difference for families living on the edge. “My family told me to continue in the Alternative Education Program since this opportunity exists, and this way I can become a professional,” he says.
At 19, María Tax Tum has already experienced profound loss. After her mother passed away, her aunt and uncle brought her to live with them in Pamesebal III. Now she’s pursuing her Bachillerato (high school diploma) while working alongside her uncle tying thread to help cover household expenses.
“I like studying here in the Alternative Education Program because it gives me time to work, and during my breaks I do the homework that the teacher leaves us,” María shares. The flexibility allows her to contribute to her new family while still pursuing her education—something that would be impossible in a traditional school setting.
“Thanks to the support of School the World, I’m completing my studies and I will be a professional,” she says with quiet determination.
Francisco López Vicente’s story illustrates a reality that’s easy to overlook in education discussions: some people never had a chance to learn to read and write at all.
At 31, Francisco had already lived a full life. He’d worked since childhood, walked two hours to pursue commerce opportunities, and served as president of his community’s COCODE (Development Council) and as a member of the school’s parent organization. But throughout all of it, he carried a burden: he couldn’t read the documents he was supposed to be managing.
“Because I didn’t know how to read or write, I had to bother my friends to help me with the documents I needed to process,” Francisco explains.
Now in his first year of the program, studying the second stage of PEAC, Francisco is finally gaining the literacy skills he needs—and discovering that learning can happen at any age. He’s particularly excited about the computer literacy training the program has provided. “I feel very happy… thanks to the institution’s support with my materials, it gives me more desire to continue studying.”
Vilma Marisol Socorec Flores represents another group often excluded from education: mothers. At 28, she’d been out of school for a decade—she married at 18, had children, and found herself caught in a familiar trap. She wanted to study, but her babies needed care. The demands simply couldn’t be reconciled with a traditional school schedule.
“When I had my babies it became complicated and I didn’t have the necessary time to study,” Vilma remembers.
But circumstances change. Her children are older now, and Vilma has realized something crucial: “Now to be able to work they require having a degree, so I want to take advantage of the opportunities that come in the future.”
The once-weekly class schedule makes it possible. She can attend her Alternative Education Center classes, care for her family, and even participate in the school’s parent organization—all while pursuing her Bachillerato diploma. “I want to thank you for the support that the institution gives us because it’s very helpful.”
Perhaps no story better illustrates the variety of barriers students face than Keyla Noemí Tum López’s. At just 12 years old—an age when most children are still in primary school—Keyla had already dropped out.
The reason? Bullying. Her classmates made school so unbearable that her parents made the painful decision to pull her out. Instead of learning, Keyla went to work in her parents’ tortilla shop in San Pablo Las Delicias.
Then her family discovered the Alternative Education center. “They accepted me and I received support from my classmates and I liked studying here,” Keyla shares. “I feel happy because I was able to continue studying where I get along well with my classmates.”
Now Keyla studies one day a week, helps in the family business the other days, and does her homework in the evenings. She has what every child deserves: a safe place to learn and the chance to build a future.
What connects these five students—from 12-year-old Keyla to 31-year-old Francisco—is that traditional schooling failed them, not because they lacked ability or desire, but because their lives didn’t fit into rigid structures designed for children with no work responsibilities, stable home situations, and safe learning environments.
Our Alternative Education Program operates on a different model. Weekly in-person instruction combined with independent learning means students can work, care for families, manage households, and still progress toward recognized academic credentials. Digital literacy training and life skills development prepare them not just for tests, but for opportunity.
The program provides school supplies, removing financial barriers that force impossible choices. It offers computer training, opening doors to modern employment. And perhaps most importantly, it creates communities where students support each other—whether they’re 12 or 31, whether they’re escaping bullying or learning to read for the first time.
“I want to give thanks for this support you’re providing us,” Francisco says—and his gratitude is echoed across all 1,403 students who’ve found their way back to education through this program.
Because it’s never too late to learn. It’s never too late to dream. And given the right support, people of every age and circumstance will choose education—if we can meet them where they are.