“Look, the students are carrying CoEd books!” a volunteer shouted. As our bus wound through the rural community of Jilotepeque, nestled in the highlands of Guatemala, we grabbed our cameras and crowded towards the windows to check out the scene.
Action shot!
Much to the delight of these Project Tour travelers, we drove through Jilotepeque as the students were carrying their books home for the day!
Thanks to you, books are now a part of every day life for these Guatemalan students.
Earlier in the week, volunteers delivered boxes of these textbooks to other schools and heard CoEd’s Textbook Program staff speak to the students about the importance of caring for their books by (repeat it with me if you’ve been on tour before!):
1. Covering the books.
2. Not writing in the books.
3. Carrying the books in the plastic bags provided to protect them during the rainy season.
When we encountered the students walking home, we had the pleasure of seeing the books out of their boxes and in the hands of the students. Every single student was using their plastic bag! It was a wonderful surprise to see them taking care of their precious cargo.
Kudos to our textbook team for really driving home the importance of taking care of the books!
Good work, kids. Gold stars for everyone.