A graduation of sorts.

Here in Guatemala, the school set-up is a little different. Once they finish grade 9, they are officially done with public school. They are required to pick a career and then finish another 3 years headed toward that goal. But that schooling is done in a private school.

But just to get to grade 9 is a big accomplishment here. Even though school is supposedly accessible to everyone, most kids don't reach this level.

Last year the government said that for public schools, it wasn't necessary to wear uniforms. The cost of the uniform was what held back a lot of poor families. So now they just had to buy pencils and notebooks, which would still prove too much for many families. As well, many children are needed at home. The boys stay home to work in the fields (or other manual labor) and the girls stay home to take care of the other siblings. Then they get married young and start having babies. It is such a vicious circle.

The other problem was that the classes were suddenly and instantly more than overloaded. Many kids had never been to school before and now that they had the chance, many parents wanted to send their children. But there weren't enough teachers and they ended up with huge class sizes and were turning kids away.

So you put all of these problems together and you get very few kids who finish this level of schooling. We had 2 of our kids finish this year!!! We are so excited and proud of Miguel and Lesly.

Miguel is 18 and has lived with us for many years now. He started attending a private school near us 2 years ago when it opened. This school was started by an American and the standards are much higher than normal. He pushes them to do well in every subject and expects a lot from his teachers. The director talked to me after the ceremony and told me that when Miguel came he was not doing very well in his classes due to his previous schooling. He works hard, really applies himself, and is very smart. So when he graduated a couple of weeks ago, he was basically the head of his class.

Now his plan is to continue studying for the next three years learning to repair micro-processors. I don't know exactly. That is what I got from what he said. And since I know nothing about computers I could have just said something really dumb. Oh well. It is something to do with computers.

Lesly is the oldest daughter of our house parents Rodolfo and Graciella. She is 15 and has been fortunate enough to attend school from the beginning. She is thinking she would like to go to school to study to be a bilingual secretary. She took English classes at the school she was at. She would like to continue studying along those lines. But every time I wanted to practice English with her, she was too shy!

Here are some pictures from the ceremony. By the time it was done, it was dark and very cold.

Lesly, Rodolfo and Graciella waiting for the procession to start.

Miguel was given the honor to be the flag bearer.

Miguel was accompanied by Conchita, a friend from church and the youth group leader.

Miguel received 3 medals for different achievements. He was also chosen to make a farewell speech. I had helped him write it, but as he only wrote it an hour before he had to leave he hadn't memorized it like he had planned. It was cute anyway. He was really nervous!

It will be exciting to watch as these teens change and grow into young adults. My prayer is that they will grow into honest young adults who want to serve the Lord. Please pray with us as they make this big transition in their lives.