We arrived at Chepe’s house at 6:55 p.m. just as the sun was beginning to set. He welcomed us and offered us seats while fiddling with the knobs on his radio.

Chepe, 29, is a proud participant in a Coffee Kids-supported literacy and education program managed by the Association for the Sustainable Development of Paraxaj (ADESPA) near the town of Acatenango, Guatemala. Coffee Kids has worked with ADESPA since 2006 to support quality of life initiatives in and around Paraxaj.

Chepe’s wife placed a small lantern on the table alongside a set of well-worn pens and a workbook. She said that Chepe and their son go through a lot of pens doing their homework together.

This year, ADESPA began offering radio-based education to adults in the communities they serve. Students listen to listen to ½ hour lessons five days a week and meet with a teacher once a week to clarify doubts and take tests.

“I really like this system of learning by radio because it works with my schedule,” Chepe said. “I learned basic reading and writing when I was a child, but only had two years of school. I had to leave my studies because the school was too far away and my family was very poor. We all had to work to survive.”

Chepe was born on Finca Santa Felisa in Paraxaj and still lives there in a humble one-room home with his family. By 7 a.m. each day, Chepe is at work in the coffee fields of the finca. After work, he spends time tending to his small parcel of corn and cares for his cow before evening classes begin.

“My wife was able to finish her primary schooling when she was a child and she’s very surprised,” Chepe said. “She says that I know more than her and I’m just barely at the fourth grade level.”

See photos from our latest visit in Guatemala on our Flickr page!