The project Melody School “melodyschool.org" Located in Chimaltenango, Guatemala

The school principal and the force behind the project is Igor Xoyon. Igor was born and raised in Guatemala and in 1996 moved to Canada. He later graduated from from The University of Toronto with a mechanical engineering degree. Igor returned to Guatemala in 2005 to help his parents run My Melody.

Melody School is a private school (not-for-profit) located in Chimaltenango, Guatemala for children from 2 to 14 years old. The idea is to give free quality education to children who live in extreme poverty so that they can break the cycle of poverty through education. In an area where less than 55% of the inhabitants are literate, Melody School’s children are all able to read and write by age six.

The goal is to expand the school each year improving the lives of more children and families.

Helping with this endeavour is where my sister, Laurie and two close friends, Michele Perrow and Kim Hickman entered the picture. These ladies had previous experience working on other development projects in various 3rd world countries. They were referred to Igor and the Melody School Project in 2013 and ever since having been leading crews of volunteers to this particular project twice a year.

To-date there have been over 120 participants in the actual builds along with number of generous donors, which has helped significantly with Igor’s dream.

So back to me, I have been a supporter in the past and this year, for the first time, a participant in the January build. Now that I have been "bitten by the bug”, I plan to return again and again. I also feel impelled to introduce others to The Melody School, if not as a participant perhaps as a donor.

To witness first hand the impact Igor and his school is having in this small corner of the world, is extremely gratifying.