Guatemala, February, 2011. Agroamerica was the winner of an award given annually by the Guatemalan American Chamber of Commerce, AmCham, on February 10th at the Hotel Princess Reforma. The corporation’s work and dedication was recognized in the educational category with the award, “Contribution to the Community.”
Agroamerica participated with their project, “Learning with the Computer.” The goal of this project was to create a functioning computer lab for students in a public school in San Francisco Madre Vieja, a village located in Tiquisate, Escuintla. The school already had sixteen computers which had been previously donated, but the computers were in need of repair and the school lacked a room to adequately house the computer lab. Agroamerica, in partnership with the Sergio Paiz Foundation -FUNSEPA- repaired the existing computers, outfitted a new computer lab with educational DVDs and educational software programs, repaired and upgraded the lab’s electrical wiring, painted the facilities, and installed air conditioning to keep the machines at the appropriate temperature and extend their functional life. Now, the school has an appropriate setting in which the children may learn using computers.
The President of Agroplantations, thanked the representatives from AmCham when he received the award on behalf of Agroamerica. “Thank you for this recognition. Through our corporate responsibility programs, we support a variety of schools. “Learning with the Computer” was one of our pilot programs in San Francisco Madre Vieja village, a small town with very few resources. It was very successful because the children had never had the opportunity to work and study with computers before.
Carolina Castellanos, Executive Director of AmCham Guatemala, believes that these awards help to encourage businesses to participate in community development projects. “Because the awards are given in a variety of different categories, the participating companies can plan and develop projects which will benefit the communities where they do business and where their employees live and work.
These awards recognize AmCham member companies who participate in social programs that support community development in environmental, educational, and social fields. This is the eighth year AmCham has given out these awards.
AmCham is the largest business and trade organization in the world. It has many international branches that promote free and unfettered global commerce.
Agroamerica cares about its employees and the communities where they live. Above all, they care about children and the quality of the education they receive. That is the reason why the company develops projects whose goals are to improve the quality of life for both children and the communities in which they live.
“With our award-winning project -Learning with the Computer-, we helped students and teachers learn to use the latest technology with the hopes that they, in turn, would pass on that knowledge to their community”, stated the president of Agroamerica.
