The Villa Kunterbunt kindergarten in San Pedro El Alto is the oldest of our projects. It was begun in 2002 by two kindergarten teachers from Hamburg and very quickly drew children of more than fifteen nationalities. The goal of the school has always been to make possible a good basic pre-school education. As we see it, all children need a space free from fear in which they can learn how to play, learn, experience and act independently. Only in this way can they gain the enormous self-confidence and creative freedom of action. Precisely for children of poverty is the Villa Kunterbunt often the first place in which they experience unrestricted attention and directed support.

The intercultural mix and particularly the mix of children from various and diverse social classes that are present in our kindergarten makes our work so valuable and interesting. With us, all the children learn right away that differences are commonplace, that poverty does not make a person worse or less worthy, that language barriers exist only in the heads of grown-ups, and that intercultural cooperation is something wonderful. What’s more, the children gain an enormous amount of self-confidence and learn to take care of themselves in an independent and creative way.

The kids often astound us with their ability to find solutions that we would never have come up with on our own. The Villa Kunterbunt is a space where children from many countries (coming from family of development aid workers from around the world as well as from Guatemalan families) also remind us to tear down our prejudices. The children in Villa Kunterbunt help in all aspects of the work that takes place every day in the kindergarten: preparation of breakfast, cooking and baking, taking care of the garden, washing the dishes, making out shopping lists, painting, building, hammering, sawing, and even making fires for cooking.

 

And in the dynamic interaction, even the youngest see for themselves that even they can already do “everything”!

We try to make Villa Kunterbunt accessible to all children. It is obvious to us that not all the families of the children can afford the same fees. Therefore, we take into account the families’ financial conditions in assessing fees. Still, we consciously do not provide our services entirely free. We do this so that the value of the services provided is properly appreciated. Even the relatively low transportation costs are an extreme burden for parents from the lower class, so that we rely on sponsorships from Germany for children from the poorest families. Kindergarten costs run about 800 quetzals (U.S. $100) dollars per month per child in order to cover such costs as rent, materials and supplies, food, and the kindergarten teachers’ salaries. Some families pay the entire fee, while others pay partial fees. Through sponsorships, the difference between the partial fees and the actual costs can be made up. It is quite important to us that all children in the kindergarten receive the same treatment, so the sponsorship money is distributed to cover costs for all children: we don’t want a two-class school. All the children get the same, quality education