My name is Maira Elizabeth Peñate. I have been director of CE Refugio de la Paz for four years, and have been a teacher for 28 more. When I arrived, everything was in chaos. There was no organization, we had $23 in the bank, and we had to start everything from scratch.  We spent a full year re-organizing, but the resources were still low and our needs were huge. Then, like manna from heaven, Glasswing arrived, and proposed a new academic blueprint that beneffitted everyone. I submitted the proposal to the school board, and they accepted. Glasswing immediately brought in Transactel as a sponsor, and later, the support of USAID.  With their generous donations, we have seen changes on every level: infrastructure, academic environment, public spaces, and academic.

We have worked for a year and half with Glasswing, and we make an excellent team.  The teachers are happy to see the obvious benefits the clubs have on student performance.  Students are now more open, participate more, and have significantly improved self-esteem and self-confidence.

The community has realized the benefits of our work, and are now seeking us out.  This year, parents of families have come to enroll their children in our school after hearing about the clubs. The students remain longer in the school, which pleases both parents and the government, and we are now the only full time school in Santa Tecla!   We are so grateful for the hard work of our volunteers and I wish that all of the schools of El Salvador could work like this.  Nothing makes us happier than seeing the volunteers come looking for the kids in their club, and the students waiting anxiously for their volunteer to arrive.

The benefits are long-term as well, because, at the end of the day, we see succesful students with a better education and more productive lives.  We want our students to become volunteers themselves, to replicate our workshops and tutor the younger students in turn. Thus, when they leave school, they will understand that they can be volunteers no matter where they go.