PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango
In San Juan Alotenango, indigenous children with physical or mental disabilities and learning difficulties often lack access to traditional educational institutions. This exacerbates the stigma and discrimination they already face because of their ethnicity. The devastating effects of the 2018 volcanic eruption further restricted already limited educational opportunities, worsening the already precarious situation for children who were already facing enormous challenges.
With the opening of the PATRIZIA Inclusive School, this situation has fundamentally changed. Together with our local partner Fe y Alegría Guatemala, a safe, inclusive learning environment has been created that now provides 650 children with a high-quality and reliable education. The school not only offers a space for learning but also creates stability, belonging, and new future prospects for children who have long been excluded from the education system.
“The community is looking for us, trusts us, but we can’t grow with more students because we don’t have the classrooms and infrastructure…”
Jessenya Sicajol
School principal
Accessible pathways, modern classrooms, inclusive education
The previously temporary facilities in rented rooms provided by the parish and the city administration have been replaced by the new PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango. With seven classrooms, a therapy room, a library, an office, storage rooms, accessible restrooms, and a school kitchen serving hot meals daily, the school now offers optimal learning and care conditions.
All pathways and entrances within the school are barrier-free, and the first phase of construction, focusing on inclusion, is now complete – celebrated with a grand opening. The school’s implementation and further development are supported by our 25-year program through our partnership for quality improvement, including impact monitoring and evaluation.
Education for all: inclusive, digital, future-oriented
With the opening of the PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango, the 650 children have not only gained a permanent learning environment. For these children, digital education is often the only way to learn to read, write, or do arithmetic – at their own pace, according to their abilities. That’s why we are working with the Ready for the Future project “Digital Bridges for Inclusive Education” to bring a digital learning environment with digital teaching methods and assistive technologies into the classroom.
The project aims to provide students with high-quality laptops and tablets, assistive technologies such as screen readers, special keyboards, and hearing aids, as well as a reliable internet connection. This enables children with disabilities, learning difficulties, or delayed school attendance to actively participate in lessons. Teachers also benefit: targeted training in digital and inclusive pedagogy equips them with the necessary tools to provide individualized support for all children. This is complemented by tailored learning materials in Spanish and Kaqchikel that take into account the children’s cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
In this way, the PATRIZIA Inclusive School becomes a model for inclusive, future-oriented learning, with an impact extending far beyond Alotenango. With the Digital Bridges project as a pioneer, learning is designed to be dynamic, interactive, and individualized – an approach that can be implemented in other schools throughout the country in the future. Subsequently, the model will be transferred to other Fe y Alegría schools and adapted to their specific contexts.
Enable digital accessibility for an entire school – through adaptive equipment, assistive software, and satellite internet for reliable connectivity, everywhere. Donate now!
Our promise:
100% of your donation goes directly to our projects.
We thank our supporters!
A huge thank you goes to BILD hilft e.V. “Ein Herz für Kinder” and the Bernhard Waldinger Foundation for their invaluable financial support. This allows us to create a better future for the children in Alotenango. We thank them on behalf of the children.
Please also support the PATRIZIA Inclusive School Alotenango and give children with special needs access to education. Thanks to your support, the school is now an accessible learning environment. With further donations, we can expand the facilities, provide digital learning resources, and give even more children a hopeful future.