Please help support this great cause, Indian Church is a small village of 250 about a 45 minute drive south of Orange Walk. S...

Hello Friends of Indian Church Village Children!

It's that time of year when the children from Indian Church Village, Belize are making their plans for the upcoming school year. Last year the Indian Church Village Scholarship Program helped 12 students from Indian Church Village to attend high school. Of those 12, one moved away but continued high school in Cayo, one quit school, and Leslie Arevalo graduated on June 11th. The scholarship donations pay the tuition fees and book costs for these children and in addition the children also receive a monthly allowance to help with their room and board costs. This allowance will continue next year for these remaining 9 scholarship students only (unless we get a LOT of donations!), as we feel committed to seeing these students through high school.

The Canadian organization, S.H.A.R.E., will again be contributing to the scholarships, but it takes more money than this. There are 6 additional children from the village who have requested assistance from the scholarship program for the upcoming 2005/06 school year. Three of these children submitted their scholarship applications by the deadline and will receive a scholarship for tuition and books only, as we can not be certain we'll raise enough funds to promise a room and board allowance for the new students. The other 3 children will be able to participate in the book program and borrow the books they need for the school year, as we have set it up so that all books are inventoried, labeled and will remain the possession of the scholarship program for re-use by next year's students.

It is exciting to see so many children from the village interested in furthering their education. School registration is taking place right now and funds are needed to continue the scholarship program. Many of you have sent a donation in the past and the children are truly grateful for the help they are being given. Please help fund the scholarship program for the upcoming school year by either donating money or passing this e-mail on to friends or family who have gone to Belize or Indian Church Village/Lamanai and may be interested in learning about this program. This is the best way I can think of to increase the number of donors.

I'll keep this message short and mention only that the Belize government does not provide free education beyond Standard 6, or 6th grade, and the average cost to send a child to school for a year is about $2,000.00US. Of course there are many variables and I'd be happy to provide more details if you request them. This cost is beyond the means of most families in Indian Church Village.

In order to plan for the upcoming school year and purchase new books we need donations now.

Arrangements have been made so that donations to the Indian Church Scholarship Fund can be tax deductible in the USA and Canada. Please send your checks to one of the following organizations.




In the USA:

Evergreen Christian Church

PO Box 427, Evergreen, CO 80437, USA

E-mail: [email protected]

Note on checks: "Indian Church Village Education Project".



In Canada:

"S.H.A.R.E. Scholarship Fund", S.H.A.R.E. Agricultural Foundation

1544 Countryside Drive, R.R. #4, Brampton, Ontario L6T 3S1 CANADA

Website: www.shareagfoundation.org. Please be sure to indicate that the money is for "Indian Church Village "

[Linked Image]
FIRST PHOTO: INDIAN CHURCH VILLAGE SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS 2004/05
Front Row L to R: Jorge Eduardo Ruano, Irene Ruano, Leslie Arevalo, Emilsa Rosibel Useda, Rutilia Useda, Areli Ramos, Marvin Ruano
Back Row L to R: Brenda Johanna Arevalo, Sandra Lorena Garcia, Karen Elena Gonzalez, Elizabeth Regalado. Not pictured: Edgar Oroman

[Linked Image]
SECOND PHOTO: a very special party hosted by the children in February 2005.

[Linked Image]
THIRD PHOTO: scholarship girls trip to Rio Frio Cave