Thanks to the Rotary Club of Woodside/Portola Valley, California Riecken Guatemala has received its first shipment of Kindles loaded with ten books in Spanish for various age groups. Below Riecken staffers, Israel Quic, director of the San Juan La Laguna library and Luis Quino, Projects Manager for Riecken Guatemala have their first look at the new Kindles. The Kindles offer us the ability to add books to the libraries for a nominal cost as a purchased book can be loaded on six Kindles at one time. Just as cell phones helped the developing world leap frog in terms of communication the Kindle offers the developing world the opportunity to have books and discover their world at a reasonable cost. The Riecken staff is currently working on developing a plan to integrate Kindles into the rural libraries. 
Many thanks also to the Woodside/Portola Valley Rotary Club for funding two additional computers for the Xolsacmaljá library and an internet connection for the library in San Carlos Sija. Click on the link below to read about the story of little Juliana who spends much of her time in the San Carlos Sija library. There are so many Julianas in Guatemala who need the support of our learning centers.
Do you have a child or grandchild studying Spanish who might like to connect with Juliana or another Guatemalan child or teen? We are looking to develop partnerships with school Spanish programs that have an interest in a living Spanish lab to augment their Spanish language programs.
GPS Mapping of Mayan Cultural Sites
In February representatives of MACHI (machiproject.org) and the UK software company, Helveta, initiated GPS mapping of Mayan cultural sites with two libraries, San Juan La Laguna and Xolsacmaljá. MACHI is doing this project in conjunction with the Finnish Embassy of Central America as part of their joint efforts to preserve the cultural heritage and identity of the indigenous communities. The first step in mapping cultural sites was to train all age levels in each library how to use the GPS mapping devices which were configured with over 200 icons to make it possible for the less than fully literate to participate. The icons represent cultural heritage objects and sites (such as Mayan ceremonial sites) and natural resources such as fresh water springs. Once everyone was up to speed on how to manage the mapping devices the village residents went to the cultural sites that they were already aware of and punched in the appropriate picture to record GPS coordinates so that, going forward the location of these sites can be recorded as part of the cultural history of the area. Youth groups are now being trained in the recording of the data and uploading it into an online system which will create maps reflecting each community’s heritage.
Leverage
A $10 donation will pay for ten Kindle books in Spanish which can go on to six different Kindles thus $10 will pay for 60 books. Now that is leverage!
A $138 donation will pay for one more Kindle that can hold several hundred books.
A $500 donation will help to add one more computer to one of our 11 libraries so that users don’t have to huddle together over one computer.
A partnership with a Rotary Club or other service club can help us to grow and expand our network offering the “spark of discovery” to more and more Guatemalans.
Two years ago none of the people in these photos had seen a Kindle, a computer, a GPS mapping device or even a library. Please help us to keep the “spark of discovery” alive. Though Xolscmaljá is not yet known to Google its residents are discovering Google’s Earth.
With just a few clicks on the donation links on this blog you can help young Guatemalan girls to find a safe haven in a Riecken learning center. You can help youth to learn about the world around them and you can help their families get connected to the global community and to feel that their children will have opportunities that they never had.
Please contribute whatever you can. Gracias!