Language lessons come alive

Students at an Essex school are getting to know their newest ‘classmate’ – a five-year-old Guatemalan boy called Rudy - who they are sponsoring as part of a school project.

A Spanish class in Year 8 of Helena Romanes School, Great Dunmow, sponsor Rudy through Plan.

Their teacher, Alison Wraight, recently visited Rudy to report back on his life in the tiny Central American country.

Ms Wraight explains: “We became the proud sponsors of Rudy as there is a real emphasis in schools on citizenship and for the Year Eight project we decided that sponsoring a child would be ideal.”

The 12-13 year-olds at Helena Romanes are able to exchange letters and photos with Spanish-speaking Rudy.

“It’s good for the foreign languages department and while I was visiting Guatemala, as I used to work there, I thought I’d pop in and see him,” says Ms Wraight.

It was quite a welcome in Rudy’s town of El Progreso, 40 miles from the capital Guatemala City, for Ms Wraight and local Plan staff.

“They’d made a big effort and decorated their house with palm leaves, which I understand is something quite special in Guatemala,” she recalls.

“They’d also laid on a meal for us - a vegetable stew because they knew I was vegetarian, which was lovely.

“The family home was very basic but it was clear Rudy had a very loving and supportive family. We gave Rudy a toy car and he loved it – he was absolutely captivated.”

While in El Progreso, Ms Wraight was shown Rudy’s school and a water collection point, both supported by Plan.

“It was very nice to see the school although it was obviously very different from ours” says Ms Wraight.

“I met a teacher or two and some of the children, although they were just leaving for the day.

“We also saw a Plan water collection project whereby rain water from the roof was channeled down into a tank below.”

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For more information on how your school or college can benefit from being involved with Plan, please follow the links below.

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