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Plant Trees and Learn Spanish!
Flor del Maiz is a Spanish language school in San Pedro, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. We teach all levels of spanish and offer many activities to our students, including participation in our ecological community project, weekly documentary screenings and communal dinners, workshops, and camping trips. San Pedro is a traditional Mayan town on a beautiful lake, but it also has a sizeable tourist community, lots of activities, and an active nightlife!
Background:
The school is called “Flor del Maiz” because this is the Spanish translation of “Tzutujil”, the
name of the indigenous Mayan people from San Pedro. We students and offer intensive classes in Spanish, different activities, and the opportunity to live with Mayan families. We hold workshops about the cultural, political, economic, education and social systems in San Pedro and Guatemala.
Within the program there are different activities offered.
Documentaries: watching and discussing the documentaries with the teacher helps the student learn Spanish and also understand the Latino culture.
Workshops: the teachers and people from our community discuss the history of Guatemala, our traditions, the Mayan people and related subjects.
Excursions and walking in the village: this helps the students get to know the village, the people, and a bit about the history of San Pedro. Student can learn about the work done here, to make tortillas or to work in the countryside. During the week there are other activities available, for example: preparing shared meals of typical food, kayaking, fishing, and weaving (there is an extra charge for these activities).
Our philosophy:
Flor del Maiz Spanish School is a project that combines teaching Spanish and strengthening of our Tz’utujul culture. We wish to encourage people to respect the environment and all peoples.
Our vision:
The teachers at Flor del Maiz are Tz’utujil, descendants of the Mayan people. Our vision is that the school expresses the sentiments important to our culture. In this way we hope to rescue the values that we feel are being lost in society.
Our mission:
At Flor del Maiz, we strive to create balance, harmony, and peace in both human culture and the environment. We work to restore confidence in our own Mayan culture, and respect for human values common to all ancient cultures. In Mayan culture we believe everything in the universe has a spirit and deserves respect. To help heal the local environment, we have a reforestation project and organic gardens with vegetables, coffee and fruit trees. We also have a project that supports a number of children from the poorest families in San Pedro so they can go to school.
Our goal:
Through the participation of the people who work at the school, the students, and the community of San Pedro, we want to help rescue our Tz’utujil culture and educate others in the Mayan ways of life.
Also we want to create a good atmosphere for our students so that they have the opportunity to get to know the different teachers at the school and to be part of a local Mayan family.
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