The School

The Humberto Corzo Guzman School in San Pedro La Laguna is the only public school in the area that teaches Mayan culture and philosophy, conducting lessons in both T´zutihil (the local Mayan language) and Spanish to more than 390 children. It also functions as a cultural centre, supporting and organising evening and weekend activities for the local Mayans, and is owned by the parents of the local children. The school is situated next to a 300 year old market that constitutes the livelihoods of a number of artisans from the surrounding mountain region.

The public school has chosen to remain financially independent of evangelic funding, as it is not prepared to sacrifice its cultural identity. As a result, it is under severe threat from the local Mayor and Municipality that wish to demolish it in order to build a larger tourist market.

On 15th November 2006, the school was severely and violently vandalized by the local Mayor and police. All of the windows were destroyed and the classrooms left in ruins; throughout this destruction the teachers and children were inside the premises.

However, the people of San Pedro do not want their school to be demolished. Although all government funding has been stopped due to the influence of the Mayor, and water supplies have been cut, el Escuela Uniqua Publica refuses to capitulate in the face of extreme pressure. Every Thursday the parents and children from all over the town and mountains bring their own water to school in containers in order to fill up the tanks for the toilets. Most of the teachers now work for free and during school holidays, a 24hr camp is set up to ensure that the building is still standing when the children return from vacation.

If you would like to donate to Humberto Corzo Guzman (el Unico Escuela Publica), please visit www.down2earthdown2us/pages/donate.html. We are aiming to provide 25 computers to the school by October 2007 as well as raise money to pay for necessary repairs to the school’s doors and windows.