William M. Botnan School Is Connected to the World

It was a dream that the leadership at the William M. Botnan School Santa Avelina wanted for some time--a dream to connect to the world through  technology--and that dream came true in March 2006, thanks to grants from HELPS donors and Fundo Unido in Guatemala, when HELPS installed a computer lab in the William M. Botnan Primary School. 

Computer lab time is regularly scheduled in classes for students in the  4th, 5th, and 6th grades, with internet technology making the world finger-tip accessible to them.  Ten computers, networked through a domain server linked to the internet via satellite and well protected by a heavy duty firewall,  have opened up the educational process in Santa Avelina.  The computers are also available to teachers, and community members who pay a small fee to use them.

Technology is a useful tool for rural, isolated communities to bridge geographical isolation; technology enhances economic development because it allows the rural poor access to technicians.  But in an educational setting, HELPS believes that technology does not take the place of sound classroom instruction taught by dedicated human beings, and that  children respond best to teachers who speak their own language.