Student Sponsorship
Making it possible for one child to afford an education
Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Every opportunity to educate someone should be taken! There are many deserving kids identified by partners we trust that have asked for our help in finding sponsors for their educational needs. All of the kids in our scholarship program have limited resources and would not attend school otherwise. And they all desire to attend school and work hard to earn good grades. You can’t help them all, but you can help one!
Meet the Students!
Please look at the students in this image carousel and consider becoming a sponsor! The youth are ordered by age. If you hover over an image, the slides will pause. Please let us know if you would like more information on any of the students shown here. It is very easy to feel drawn to a particular student based on something you have in common! (We have sponsored based on a name, an age, favorite subject in school, and any variety of similarities.)
Wilson is a little boy that will start preschool in 2025. He likes playing with his toys. He is an only child being raised by a single mom.
If you cannot afford a monthly scholarship, please consider recruiting a friend or family member to share in the joy of sponsorship! There is no way we can provide support to all children in Guatemala needing an education, but if you can help just one, just think of the possibilities!
FAQ
You can choose to pay a month at a time, every two months, quarterly, for an entire year, or whatever makes most sense for your budget. We can even help you set up a recurring payment if you’d like. Easy! Payments are made to Guatemala Service Projects online (PayPal, Venmo or Zelle) or through the mail with a check. We are a 501c3 charitable organization, and as such, we will issue a tax receipt at the end of the year for all sponsorship donations.
Yes! If you would like to email letters or photos, Diego will see to it that your sponsored student receives them. In addition, during each time that Guatemala Service Projects visits Chichicastenango, we’d be happy to hand-deliver letters or small gifts for your student and get photo updates for you.
For students covered by the Diego Xirúm Scholarship Fund, it covers registration and tuition fees, uniforms, school supplies, plus a contribution toward school building maintenance, participation for the Independence Day parade, and (at the higher levels) transportation costs to get to the school that specializes in the area of study. For students attending university, sometimes housing or extra materials or project fees are being requested.
Yes! If you travel to Guatemala on a service trip with Guatemala Service Projects, we can arrange for you to meet your sponsored student!
Once I have sponsored a student, can I find out what other specific needs the student or family has?
There is never the expectation that a sponsor would contribute toward other needs the student or family might have, but yes, if the student does not have a bed or stove or water filter, as an example, we can arrange for the sponsor to contribute toward something like that, if desired.
Cost varies based on grade and location, from $25+ per month
Diego Xirum Scholarship Fund
Diego has hand-selected young people that would take full advantage of opportunities to continue their education and become shining examples for their community. Diego has reiterated that the best way to lift an entire community is to inspire its young people to become educated and share opportunities to lift others in return. It is clearly a plan that he has executed in his own life and now he is, himself, advocating on behalf of his neighbors. We have a goal to provide sponsorship for students in Diego’s community in each student classification: primaria (1st-6th), básico (7th-9th), diversificado (10th-12th, during which a student specializes in a career path, such as nursing, accounting, teaching, secretarial, etc.), and university. The cost of monthly sponsorship will vary based on the grade level of the student, and, for the higher grades, how far away they live from the school that specializes in the discipline chosen. For students in Diego’s community, there is no support net. If they do not get sponsors, they will not attend school. Instead, they will likely get jobs to contribute to the family income and the cycle will continue. Diego’s motto is: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.“
Primaria –> $25 per month
Básico –> $50 per month
Diversificado –> $80 per month
University –> (varies, but roughly $200 per month depending on career path and transportation needs)
Supporting a Specific Child
Some people love the idea of sponsoring a specific student — having the connection to a person with a name and a face — someone to which you can personally relate. If you are matched with a specific student, you will be a padrino/madrina/patrocinador and will receive updates about your student and, from time to time, photos or letters/cards. If your sponsored student leaves school, leaves the Chichicastenango area, or fails to progress to the next grade at the end of the year, they will no longer be eligible to remain in our program. If that were to happen, you would be notified immediately and encouraged to transfer your support to a different student desiring the opportunity to study.
Supporting our General Education Fund
When a student comes to Diego asking for a sponsor or for the opportunity to study, we immediately begin an economic needs evaluation, ask the student and parent/guardian to fill out an application, produce an ID card and last report card (if applicable) and then, if everything checks out, we begin the search for an individual sponsor. Sometimes, especially with students at the higher levels whose monthly economic needs are higher, it is hard to find individuals that can commit to the cost.
However, we do not want to turn our backs on these students! When donors don’t care about being matched with an individual student, or can’t afford a full scholarship, we ask for support of our General Education Fund. We also have fundraisers specifically to rebuild our reserves of this fund! We use the General Education Fund not only to support student scholarships but also for libraries, technology in the schools, etc.
You can break the cycle of poverty!
To make a donation to our General Education Fund, please use this “Give Now” button. You will have the opportunity to leave a note as to how we should direct the funds, for example: student scholarships, libraries, technology support, etc. Thank you!
Here are some things are students are saying!
Student Feedback
Thank you for the support you have given us, we thank you with all our heart. We hope that God continues to bless you, also that He fills you with happiness, peace and love, we hope to have your great help for next year.
Thank you so much for my scholarship. My parents have very little economic means and can’t afford my education. Thank you for the opportunity you have given me. I will work hard to realize my dreams and be in a position to support the education of my children in the future.
I want to be a nurse in my future, specifically a nurse in the rural community. I will be able to use the K’iche’ language to communicate with my patients and make them feel more at ease. Right now, elders in my community are afraid to receive medical care because they do not understand what the doctor is saying.
With your support, I will be the first one in my family to graduate. I have no words to express my thanks, and I cannot currently repay your kindness. But, I will will very hard on my studies and will strive to make you and my family proud.
The “right” opportunity arose when I learned about a travel opportunity for adoptive families which would include volunteer work and cultural sightseeing. Being members of that team had a profound impact on me, Lillian and Andrew. Not only were we able to make a real connection to our son’s birthplace, but we met incredibly warm and generous people, all of whom we now consider to be a part of our “family.” In addition to the volunteer work I shared with the Team, I also was able to “give back” by performing as my alter ego, “Farfel the Clown” at a barbecue for children of The Backyard School. It will remain one the proudest and happiest memories of my life.