Renace, a Benchmark of Innovation

Technology, which grows at a rapid pace, constantly revolutionizes the world and accelerates the rhythm of life to such an extent that those who do not keep up fall behind. Education is also joining this technological wave, providing great benefits but also widening the differences between places without access to it. All information is now reduced to a computer or a mobile device.

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Guatemala is a country with many needs, among them education and access to technology. That is why Hidroeléctrica Renace, together with Fundación Telefónica and Fundación Juan Bautista Gutiérrez, has implemented two technology classrooms in the communities of Chiacam and Sacsi Chiyó, Alta Verapaz, as part of the Educational Excellence program. The program consists of providing infrastructure for community schools, delivering school supplies, educational kits for teachers, scholarships, and equipping technology classrooms to break the digital divide. In other words, tools that contribute to the development of low-income communities.

“The program is effective. Boys and girls now have the possibility to conduct research on their own. Before, the person in charge of the Internet center was the one who did all the research.”

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The classroom in Chiacam has 20 computers used by elementary and middle-school students from eleven different communities, with approximately 3,500 people using the facilities each month. In total, 26 villages benefit through different groups.

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To meet the educational needs of these communities, it was necessary to develop material in Qʼeqchiʼ. For this purpose, community leader Javier Tiul Gualná created an instruction manual for proper computer use, which is used by both students and teachers.

“Parents are happy because they want to move forward and improve. They have realized that their children learn many things through technology.” — Amilcar Maaz, Technical Coordinator, District Administration

The classrooms have been well received by community residents, who affirm that this is an alternative that will bring development to their communities.