Spotlight On: Lan Vwa, “The Voice”
By Frances Figart
About 150 miles east of Guatemala City in the Sierra Madres Mountains lies the village of Joconal, population about 400. Until recently, education ended with sixth grade for most townspeople here. In order to continue to the seventh through ninth grade, the few students who were tenacious enough walked three hours round-trip each day to another village.
Things are different now, thanks in large part to the efforts of Kelly Waugaman, of Swannanoa.
Kelly made several visits to both Guatemala and Haiti with a church group in the late 2000s. Just after the 2010 earthquake hit Haiti, she met some young women living there who had limited access to education as a result of the destruction. She designed a program that utilizes an online platform to connect a physical classroom of students to teachers wherever they may be. The teacher, at an accredited school, logs in from their location and instructs the students in a remote classroom.
The next year, Kelly was visiting Joconal when she learned of the educational barriers due to a lack of qualified local teachers. Traveling with her as a translator was Karina Leiva, whose father had grown up in Joconal, but left for Guatemala City as a young man.
“Knowing that if her father had stayed there, both he and she would not have had as many educational opportunities, Karina had a vision to create a school in Joconal,” Kelly says. “With the successful cyber classroom model up and running in Haiti, I told her we would do it.”
In 2012, as both projects developed, Kelly formed and became the executive director of the nonprofit Lan Vwa, which means “The Voice” in Haitian Creole, based near Warren Wilson College. It focuses on providing access to education for students in developing regions, and now has cyber classrooms in both Guatemala and Haiti. Each project is tailored to the needs of the region where it is based and is completely free to the students.
“I wasn’t looking to start an organization, but the need found me,” says Kelly, who has a degree in interior design. “I realized that my desire to create meshed well with my desire to make a difference in the world.”
Joconal’s two classrooms are set up in the family home where Karina’s father grew up. The house sits on a farm that now produces shade grown coffee, which is his effort to help improve the village economically. Two onsite instructors help 25–30 students in several grades connect virtually to a nationally certified school in Guatemala City, where Karina and other instructors teach every subject—from English and social studies to math and science—online. Computers were either purchased by funds raised or were donated from businesses, such as Target in Guatemala City.
This October, Kelly will travel to Joconal for its inaugural graduation ceremony for students completing eleventh grade—a higher grade than existed here before. “These students are going to be the first in their village to realize their dreams,” says Kelly. “This is huge, not just for them, but for the village itself, which is beginning to appreciate the value of education.” Several leaders in the community have asked Lan Vwa to expand its reach to other areas in Guatemala. To meet this need, Kelly and her team are developing a plan to create six new virtual schools by 2020 and educate more than 6,000 students by 2025.
“In order to grow, we need support,” she says. “We are looking for people who love what we are doing and want to join us. That help could be in the form of financial support, volunteering, attending an event, or sharing our mission.” The local community can support Lan Vwa by participating in the third annual Jumping for Java 5K/10K fundraiser on October 1 in Black Mountain (details at jumpingforjava.com).
Kelly works online daily with Karina, who directs the program in Guatemala. “The village of Joconal is carrying this project through because kids are not seeing life the same way they did before,” Karina told Kelly on a recent phone call. “They have dreams now, and they see that education is important.”
Lan Vwa’s next virtual open house is July 14 at 6:30 p.m. Attendees can register online and login from anywhere to meet the students and see the classroom. Learn more at lanvwa.org, by calling 724.777.0877 or on Facebook or at twitter.com/lanvwa.
