Conservation and Agroecology Leadership Training Program and CCFC Scholarships

CCFC's CALT workshop and agroecology work-study scholarship can change a life and transform a village.

Thanks to your donations in 2011, young women from eleven remote villages that border the cloud forests of Guatemala are continuing their educations in the 2012 school year. These 7th -12th grade students earned their tuition* by participating in a 25-day Conservation and Agroecology Leadership Training workshop and service-learning camp during their end-of-term vacation.

For most young women in the rural villages of Alta Verapaz, education beyond the sixth grade is out of reach. Facing limited resources, many parents send only their sons away to school. CCFC’s scholarship program provides young women the dignity and pride of earning their own tuition, and the Leadership Training camp also builds their self-esteem and confidence. Learn more about gender equality in education. Be a part of CCFC's 50/50 initiative.

Of all that CCFC does to alleviate poverty and protect cloud forests, education is paramount. The agroecology service-learning camp gives students hands-on experiences that translate into usable life skills in their home communities. Students learn and practice: human nutrition, soil conservation, organic fertilizer production, integrated pest management, basic garden ecology, vegetable production, propagation of traditional crops, fruit tree management, and production planning. CCFC employs teachers who share the same cultural and language background as the students, including some scholarship program alumni.

Each donation of $150 provides a young woman with a scholarship. To make a donation via PayPal, click on the CCFC donate icon and you will be transferred to the PayPal donation page. Or you can send a check to the address below.** Either way, your donation is 100% tax deductible in the United States.

Chus Macz is a teacher at the only secondary school in the cloud forest village of Xucaneb. He is excited about CCFC's scholarship program and how it can transform his school. Chus wants his school to serve as many young women as it does young men. Chus also has a vision for a major reforestation project on the Xucaneb mountain. He wants the students from his school, in collaboration with CCFC, to reforest the areas around over 200 springs and waterways in his village.

History of CCFC’s Agroecology Work-Study Scholarship Program

In November of 2007, CCFC enrolled seven young women, all of whom had completed 7th grade, in the first agroecology service-learning camp in San Juan Chamelco. All seven young women later graduated from "basico", the equivalent of middle-school, and all went on to higher education.

In the fall of 2008, eight scholarships were awarded to four young men and four young women. These eight young people, together with their instructors Ricardo Ical Chub and Enrique Coc Caal, prepared garden beds, learned about the use of organic fertilizers, and created a banana circle gray water system for the agroecology center. They planted 20 banana plants, 58 malanga plants, 20 casava plants, and 25 fruit trees. At the end of their service-learning camp, the group visited a museum of Maya artifacts in Coban. One student described her experience as life-changing, saying that she had learned so much and grew in her understanding.

In the fall of 2009, twenty-nine students earned CCFC scholarships. Split into 3 camps of approximately 10 students each, these scholarship recipients worked in tree nursery management, organic gardening, soil conservation, and integrated pest management. They also visited the cloud forest and a museum of Maya archeology. Students worked in three agroecology campuses and visited communities involved in reforestation projects.

How did this program develop? See scholarships: a prehistory.

CCFC scholarships celebrate student achievement.

Young women can now afford to go to school.

Seeds are sprouting.

Gardens are growing.

Minds are being educated and empowered.

More than a scholarship program,

this is a landscape transforming,

carbon capturing, oxygen producing,

life changing chance to make a difference.

The best way help these girls:

to become these girls:

is to give them this opportunity:

* The scholarship program is designed to dovetail with several schools that offer room and board to students that come from distant communities. With this scholarship they can earn their tuition for the year plus some extra for materials. Some students choose to go to more expensive schools with the help that the Agroecology Work-study scholarships provides. Some students opt for less expensive schools. The scholarship conditions are the same for all students, regardless of school choice.

**Make checks payable to:

Community Cloud Forst Conservation

send to:

Community Cloud Forest Conservation

3059 Hampshire Blvd.

Grand Rapids, MI 49506