Story of Guatemala Trip
June 6-13, 2026
For the second year, Cotinga Foundation took a team of 6 teachers to Chiquimula, Guatemala. We partnered with Eyes Wide Open Ministries, who invited us and have made it possible for us to work with the teachers there.
Saturday is a full day of travel, since we leave St. Louis on 6 a.m. flight and arrive at the hotel in Chiquimula at 8 p.m. We stayed in a wonderful hotel, so we got settled in.
On Sunday, we were able to attend church at El Morral at Esau’s church: Iglesia Evangelica de Remanente Juda (Evangelical Remnant Church of Judah). Esau works for EWO, plays the guitar, and preaches at the church. It is a wonderful cultural experience to attend with them.
After the service, we went to the clinic building at EWO. Our shipped box (500 lbs) and our suitcases of supplies (600 lbs) were all there, thanks to the EWO guys. We sorted everything. Some started putting together the 280 books that we had copied, along with the tests and worksheets that went with them. Others in the group started grouping the Amazon wishlist readers by grade levels, so that we could hand them out appropriately. There were 405 books, which included 54 Dictionaries so that each school received one. We found out that 60 teachers were coming on Monday (double from last year), so we started dividing all of our supplies into two groups: Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Because we were able to ship so many pounds of supplies, we copied everything in the US and shipped it. That allowed us to give each teacher many handouts about each topic. It was so much better for the teachers. Very few of them have access to a printer or even a computer, so they appreciate the resources.
Monday: CEICA
We started the week at CEICA, which is a private Christian school. There were 60 teachers, 15 of those were directors of the schools, 5 EWO, 3 other translators, and 6 Cotinga teachers. Forty-eight of the teachers were new this year. (The teachers from last year were not allowed to cancel school and come, since there was a festival the week before.) The new teachers were from rural schools and rode a bus an hour to attend. They were wonderfully engaged and asked many questions.
Morning Seminar
After attendance, every teacher received a blue Cotinga notebook, Cotinga pen, and business card. The business card allows them to email Cotinga Foundation with questions. We put candy on each table. A QR code was posted that gives them access to all of the documents from the seminar.
The seminar consisted of: Welcome, explaining Cotinga, rules of the seminar and schedule of the day, Classroom Management, Dignity in the Classroom, Data and data folders (how to track students’ progress).
At small group time, each Cotinga teacher (with a translator) taught a grade level by giving them a data folder and explaining the contents. A coffee break snack was provided while each teacher was given a zippered pouch: fat markers, skinny markers, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, highlighter, refillable dry erase marker. All of these supplies are things that teachers need, have to provide themselves and usually can’t afford.
Continuing our presentation included: Reading/Writing, Math, Curriculum Strategies and
Assessment Strategies. Overall, they were given 16 handouts, plus a folder with 12 data collection
pages.
In our main focus this year, we taught the teachers to include ALL students in their teaching and
assessing. They have many students that cannot complete the curriculum at their grade level, so we
taught them to adapt their teaching and tests.
At the end of the morning, the school directors were called to the front. They were given: a Dictionary
for each school to share, a flashdrive with all the contents of the seminar, a Cotinga keychain
expressing our motto ‘unto the least of these’ and a Cotinga pencil for every child in the school.
All the attendees received a certificate, signed by Terry Lancaster (Cotinga Foundation) and Daniel
McIntyre (Eyes Wide Open). Each teacher picked two picture books for their classroom from a grade-
appropriate box.
Almost all of the teachers stayed for the afternoon session. We provided lunch, which was cooked
locally. They were given a sheet to list 5 things that they would like to have copied and/or laminated
during the afternoon session.
We created 5 Cotinga stations. The teachers were grouped by grade level. Each station was 15 minutes
long, then the Cotinga teachers moved to the next grade level. We covered: Vision/multi disabilities,
Autism/lower functioning students, Curriculum strategies, Reading/Writing, Math.
At each station, they were given a ‘prize’ for taking part, giving them more resources for their
classroom. Then there was free time to continue to ask questions, while they got things copied and
laminated. They all stayed until long past the scheduled end of the day.
At the end of the morning session, I was introduced to Rosy (a director from the ministry of
education). She complimented our presentation. She was only stopping by first thing in the morning,
but wound up staying all morning. She oversees 32 schools. I gave her a flashdrive of all the
information. She said that she is going to share it with the other directors, wants us to come back
soon and will get more directors and teachers to attend.
The Director (Mitzi Yulisa Monroy Rios) of the Special Education School (Rayito de Luz) in
Chiquimula was there all day. She was only able to bring one of her teachers. She invited us to visit
her school on Friday to give ideas and suggestions.
Tuesday: El Morral
There were 10 teachers and no school directors but represented 4 schools. They were not allowed by
the government to close the schools again due to the festivals the week before, so none of the teachers
from last year attended. Along with taking their attendance, we gave them the sheet to request some
copying and were able to give them extra copies of things as the morning progressed.
The morning seminar was the same as Monday.
The two teachers from El Morral Middle School invited us to visit their school on Thursday afternoon.
They were very excited about the ideas.
These teachers were unable to stay for the afternoon, due to their other jobs, so we gave supplies and
copies throughout the morning. They were given the Dictionary for each school to share, a flashdrive
with all the contents of the seminar, and a Cotinga pencil for every child in the school. Each teacher
picked two picture books for the appropriate grade level.
Wednesday: Veguitas
There were 28 teachers, 6 schools, 6 school directors, and 1 director from the ministry of education
(Juan Carlos). 20 of the teachers were new this year.
The morning seminar was the same as Monday. The lunch and afternoon sessions were the same as
Monday. They all stayed for the afternoon session. Juan Carlos (director from the Ministry of
education) requested that he talk with me, so I spent two hours in the afternoon with him and the 6
school directors. Juan Carlos came just to see what Cotinga was all about, but was more interested as
the day went on. He was particularly interested in our work in Ecuador. During my time with the
directors, we discussed:
The difficulty of including all students. We talked about the strategies to adapt the curriculum. It is
very time consuming, but can be used every year.
The difficulty of getting the students to pass the exams. I pointed out: they write the exams, and
Juan Carlos clarified that no one in the government checks the exams, THEREFORE they can create
3 different tests for their class, so that everyone can pass. They didn’t seem sure that they could do
that. I talked about sharing tests among teachers – about the government allowing them time to get
together. Every school said that this is a struggle for teachers. Juan Carlos said that he wanted me to
go to his boss and to the Minister of Education and share these ideas. I told him I needed to be
introduced first. So he said he would bring someone to Rayito de Luz Friday.
Thursday: San Morral/San Antonio
They set up in a large gymnasium with desks. This is an area that cannot attend unless we go there.
There were 20 teachers (all new), 4 schools, 4 school directors.
The morning session went as usual. The teachers were very engaged and asked a lot of questions.
Since we weren’t having an afternoon session, we gave out items throughout the morning time. We
gave away all of our extra copies. Each teacher wound up getting 5 picture books for their classroom.
They were really pleased. We weren’t able to laminate anything, since there wasn’t enough electricity
in the gymnasium.
In the afternoon, the team went to El Morral Middle School to visit. There are 68 students and 2
teachers. They took extra pencils and supplies to them. The Cotinga team was very impressed: the
two teachers each had a group working independently while they were teaching the other group. They
said they learned all of these ideas from Cotinga.
I went with a translator to CEICA to meet with Jendrick and Claudia, who are in charge. They had
attended all day on Monday. They asked about my goals for CEICA and in Guatemala. After hours of
discussion, we decided: CEICA will be the model school for Guatemala, with the goal of training
teachers from other schools in the future. They would like to help other schools as part of their
ministry. I will write a 5 year plan for training to make that happen. I will go to Guatemala at other times of the year to train their teachers. January is when their teachers go back to school for two
weeks before the students. I will make a presentation for the directors of the regions. Claudia will
take it to the directors to recruit the teachers and schools for next year’s training. We will have Pre &
K on Monday, Elementary on Tuesday and Middle and High on Wednesday, with only 150 spots for
teachers each day, so they must commit ahead of time. We need a database of previous attenders, so
we can track. Over 100 of the teachers were new this year and we need repeat teachers. We ended
with us all praying – for guidance for God’s plan – and for finances for Cotinga.
Friday: Rayito de Luz, Escuela de educación especial, Chiquimula
Last year we didn’t know that this school existed. It is the only sped school in the whole state of
Chiquimula. It is too far for most students to attend. They have 40 students, but they don’t all come,
plus 7 teachers and the director, who invited us. The team went from room to room visiting with the
teachers. We were very impressed with their sensory walls, their academic wall decorations, and their
spirit with the kids. The more severe students had a family member with them.
I met with three people:
Ministerio de Educación Dideduc Chiquimula
Dirección Departmental de Educación de Chiquimula
Claudia Patricia Ramos Salguero (their boss)
Orientadora Pedagógica Itinirante de Educación Especial
Kevin Marcoleny Guzmán Pérez
Orientadora Pedagógica Itinirante de Educación Especial
Juan Carlos Marroquin Nájera (who was in our Wednesday seminar)
Orientadora Pedagógica Itinirante de Educación Especial
There is a special education staff of 19 in this region. Claudia asked me what Cotinga does and why. I
gave a description and told them what we had done in Ecuador. From what I can tell, they know little
to nothing about special education, especially inclusion. They seem to know a little about severe
disabilities, but nothing else. They asked when I could come back to train the 19 staff. Claudia was
very interested, complimentary and sincerely wants help to figure out how to include all students.
They are given these tasks to train teachers and have no idea how. We discussed a zoom seminar that
I could do with them in October. They could gather together with a translator and I could teach them
ideas at that time. That might be something that I could do on an ongoing basis. She was also really
interested in when we will be coming back.
After my session with them, the team started answering questions from the teachers at the school.
We gave them some resources and showed them how to use them. We gave them each a pouch with
lots of things in them. We gave each student a washcloth, a pouch of supplies, including a pencil.
There were a lot of interesting questions that made the lack of training obvious. They are all scared of
the word ‘autism’ and don’t know what to do with those students.
After leaving the school, we sorted and packed. We had a celebration dinner with the EWO staff.
They played such a tremendous role in our trip. We could not do it without them. We gave them gift
bags with many items, plus money as a thank you for everything they did for us. Everyone gave
speeches. Everyone cried. Everyone hugged. Everyone took pictures. It was beautiful.