Point-of-Rental Systems Provides Technology for Guatemala School
Rental industry software provider Point-of-Rental is sponsoring DAR, a non-profit school in Retalhuleu, Guatemala, that caters to students living in extreme poverty. POR CEO Wayne Harris recently visited the tuition-free school, whose students primarily come from families with household incomes of less than $100 per month. The mission of DAR is to educate the whole child and their families, by teaching nutrition, hygiene, and character as well as academics.
Point-of-Rental has chosen to sponsor the DAR project “Technology in the Classroom.” The project consists of three stages, which will occur during a two-year period. Stage 1 is to install a dedicated link and Wi-Fi connectivity to optimize teachers’ ability to access the Internet. Stage 2 will cover the purchase of tablets for each teacher and the principal and provide training to use them within their classrooms. Stage 3 will integrate tablets into the curriculum and provide 45 tablets for rotating use among the classrooms.
“We are extremely happy to be able to help this school in an area that is important to us as a company,” said Harris. “DAR fully expects their students to grow up to be world changers, and it is exciting to us to provide tools to help them access the world. It is truly a privilege to partner with an organization that is empowering children to overcome their circumstances.”
The poverty rate in Guatemala is at 53 percent, with the worst poverty conditions being in rural areas of the country. Lack of education is a major reason for this, with an average 4.1 years of education per person ranking it 158th among other countries in the world, according to a United Nations Development Program repot. Many children from Central American countries who cannot afford private school are forced into organized crime or sex trafficking, tempting them or their parents to make the harrowing journey to the United States to provide a better life for their families.
