Astronomy Outreach in Guatemala
Children of La Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta in Finca Le Merced
My father is from Guatemala and my mother is from Texas. I have fond memories of traveling every summer to Guatemala to visit my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I hadn’t been back to visit in almost 6 years until this past Thanksgiving. We traveled with our whole immediate family and brought our 3 daughters. It was great to see family again, especially for our 9 and 7 year old to connect with relatives and a culture that is part of their heritage.
It has been a dream of mine for a long time to travel to other countries and share my knowledge of astronomy and my programs with other people. The week of February 15th this dream will become a reality. I will be traveling to Guatemala to teach some night time astronomy to children at the school on the coffee plantation Finca La Merced in San Martin Jilotepeque, Guatemala. I am purchasing a telescope to gift the school. Join us in inspiring children and adults that work in the coffee plantation and surrounding community by donating toward the purchase of 2 Orion 4.5″ Astrodazzle Dobsonian telescopes and supporting items such as astronomy books in Spanish and a laser collimator. I will continue supporting the school in their use of the scope via Skype after I return to the US.
All donations will go strictly to the purchase of the telescope.
I am proud to announce that Astronomers Without Borders has accepted this project to be supported through their BIG (Big Impact Giving) project through which they organize “microfunding” crowdfunding campaigns on the crowdfunding platform, Fiat Physica. Campaigns are limited to 500 US dollars – See more info about them at: Astronomers Without Borders BIG Project .
You can donate through through
https://www.fiatphysica.com/campaigns/telescope-to-guatamala
and
https://www.youcaring.com/la-escuela-oficial-rural-mixta-of-san-martin-jilotepeque-503218
Thank you to all past students, family and friends who have donated to support this project so far. I can’t wait to make a post about it with photos!