{"id":4107,"date":"2007-03-01T13:42:20","date_gmt":"2007-03-01T17:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=4107"},"modified":"2017-11-09T13:31:49","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T18:31:49","slug":"bba-weekend-class-reaches-out-to-better-the-lives-of-children-in-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2007\/03\/bba-weekend-class-reaches-out-to-better-the-lives-of-children-in-guatemala\/","title":{"rendered":"BBA+ Weekend class reaches out to better the lives of children in Guatemala."},"content":{"rendered":"

Just south of the Mexican border, small villages dot the mountainous areas of rural Guatemala. The inhabitants, mostly Mayan families, have overwhelming needs but almost no access to resources of any kind.<\/p>\n

\"BBA+
BBA+ Weekend Group 22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Education for many Guatemalan children is rudimentary at best. Health aid, sufficient food, adequate housing, clean water\u2014life\u2019s most basic necessities\u2014are out of reach for most.<\/p>\n

Some much-needed relief is on the way\u2014thanks to members of the 22nd BBA+ Weekend class, who have selected to support the Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala organization as the community service project for its Business in Society<\/em> class.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for a unique project\u2014one that would enable us to reach out into the world and do what we can to improve the lives of others,\u201d said Patrice Prescott<\/strong>, who is the project leader and primary liaison between the group and Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala, Inc.<\/p>\n

The mission of Adopt-a-Village is to empower the Mayan people of northwest Guatemala by providing training and resources so that they can develop improved education and health conditions in their communities.<\/p>\n

Since its founding in 1991, the Miami-based Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala organization has completed more than sixty major village projects, including the construction of primary schools, the provision of aid to middle schools, and the building of a training and development center for higher education. Water systems and roads also have been built. Many health programs, including a treatment program for children and adults suffering from tuberculosis, have been initiated.<\/p>\n

\u201c\"\"We are committed to giving our time and talents to help the children and their families in these Guatemalan villages,\u201d Prescott said.<\/p>\n

She, like most of the students in the BBA+ Weekend program, already is balancing the demands of school with hectic work and family schedules but is willing to take on more responsibilities for this worthy cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelecting this project was the result of careful research and group consensus,\u201d said Robert Hogner<\/strong>, associate professor, Department of Management and International Business, coordinator of the college\u2019s Civic Engagement Initiative, and the instructor of the course. \u201cI\u2019m impressed with their choice of a global project that is very much in harmony with their coursework in management and international business. Their selection truly reflects the international personality of the college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Group determines the best way to offer the most help today\u2014and tomorrow.<\/em><\/p>\n

After some deliberation, the students decided that the best way for them to support the Adopt-a-Village organization was to launch a fund-raising campaign. They set an ambitious\u2014but they believe realistically attainable\u2014goal: to raise $10,000 before the end of March, 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first we thought we could purchase some of the items that were really needed for the schools in Guatemala, such as school books and even book cases, directly,\u201d Prescott said. \u201cWe soon realized that it would be more cost-efficient to raise money here and enable Adopt-a-Village to buy what they needed locally in Guatemala.\u201d<\/p>\n

The classmates are tackling fundraising in multiple creative ways. One group is pursuing corporate donations. Another is advertising and selling tasty breakfasts and lunches to other students attending Saturday classes at the college. A third is conducting a raffle\u2014with a new iPOD as the prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy group is selling \u2018World\u2019s Finest Chocolates\u2019\u2014and I have to say they are selling like crazy,\u201d Prescott said. \u201cAcross the board, our fundraising activities are going very well, and we are on track to meet our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Hogner, the students also are considering developing longer-term projects to support Adopt-a-Village beyond when this class and their degree program are completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a vision to help Adopt-a-Village in rebuilding their infrastructure so that the local citizens will be able to progress on their own eventually,\u201d Hogner said.<\/p>\n

He went on to explain that this type of project demonstrates experiential learning focused on the kind of civic engagements that many of his students will go on to organize and participate in after graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are developing the skills and sensibilities needed to build strong, positive connections between business and community at both the local and global level,\u201d he said. \u201cIn many ways, that\u2019s what Florida International University is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stress how critical this project is as part of the international vision of the college in reaching out to the Am\u00e9ricas,\u201d said Donald Roomes<\/strong>, director of the BBA+ program. \u201cAlso, it is an important program goal to instill in our students service learning as part of their commitment to lifelong learning. I am not surprised to see the interest that many have shared in continuing this effort beyond their BBA+ experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the BBA+ Weekend program, visit https:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/undergraduate\/professional-bba\/<\/a>. To learn more about the Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala organization, visit http:\/\/www.adoptavillage.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just south of the Mexican border, small villages dot the mountainous areas of rural Guatemala. The inhabitants, mostly Mayan families, have overwhelming needs but almost no access to resources of any kind. Education for many Guatemalan children is rudimentary at best. Health aid, sufficient food, adequate housing, clean water\u2014life\u2019s most basic necessities\u2014are out of reach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,13],"tags":[290,625,666,2084,2157],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29607,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions\/29607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}