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Karla

Education • Guatemala • 2025
“At the project I study, play and visit places.”

In Guatemala City, the Caminar Juntos ("Walking Together") project supports children to resume their education. Project staff are certified to teach the PRONEA curriculum, a national programme offering flexible and accessible learning for young people who face challenges in attending regular school. The team provide regular guidance and support to students like 16-year-old Karla (pictured above).

Karla's family moved to Guatemala City from a village outside the capital when Karla was four. She has been working in her family’s tortilla business since the age of eight. Rising at 4am each day, she helps prepare the dough, cook tortillas, and deliver them to local restaurants and businesses.

When Toybox’s partner, Puerta de Esperanza, first met Karla, she was unable to read or write. She shares, "I met Puerta de Esperanza when I was about five years old." Thanks to their continued support and encouragement and the alternative education programmes offered through PRONEA, Karla has now learned these essential skills and progressed to Grade 5. This is an incredible achievement, especially considering that at one point, Karla had contemplated leaving school to fully support her mother in the family business. However, with the project’s guidance, she has managed to balance her responsibilities at home while continuing with her studies. She shares, "My life revolves around working and taking care of my siblings. In the project, I study, play, and visit places. My dream of the future is to move forward by helping my mother and studying."

For many children like Karla, who help support their household’s income and for whom traditional school isn’t a feasible option, the Caminar Juntos project offers a crucial alternative. It opens doors to essential skills and knowledge they would otherwise miss, giving them a chance to dream of a brighter future.

Pictured below: (L) Karla is supported with her studies. (R) Karla with her mother.

Find out more about our work in Guatemala

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