The Escuela Integrada is a K-9th public school located in Antigua. However, unlike other public schools in Guatemala, Integrada covers 90 percent of the cost of going to school for each of its students. It is free to attend public school in Guatemala, but students must purchase their own uniforms, textbooks, school supplies, food, etc., so while it's technically "free," only the rich kids go. Integrada was started by two missionaries - Andrew and Rebecca - who moved to Guatemala nine years ago. Andrew said he and his wife came to Guatemala because there is a severe shortage of biblically-educated pastors. Once down here they realized basic education was one of the best ways to influence the trend of uneducated religious leaders. They started Integrada, which is a state-run public school. However, they and their supporters in the U.S. pay for almost everything so the children's families do not.
Integrada calls itself a school for "niños trabajadores," which means worker children. This title actually serves as a repellent for rich families because they feel above the "worker" class, and do not want to send their kids to such a school. And so the vast majority, if not all the kids at Integrada come from families well below the poverty line, yet they receive as good an education as they would get at any other public school.
Mission Discovery works with Integrada to find poor families who need their homes repaired. We also send a small group three days of the week out into rural communities to deliver food and care packages to Integrada families who have next to nothing.
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