Asociación Centro de Estudios de Español Pop Wuj

Applications must be submitted at least 3 weeks before intended program departure. Please e-mail or call before you send in your application as the summer sessions fill up fast!

Program Website: http://www.pop-wuj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=34
Program Location: Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala
Program Duration: At least four weeks. This program is offered year round, beginning the first Monday of each month.
Program Cost: The cost is $150 for the registration fee and $1000 for four weeks for the months of January, February, April, June, July and August; and $800 for 4 weeks of tuition for the rest of the year. Room and board are included. Part of the extra money serves to offset the additional costs of medical conferences, materials and scheduling. The remainder is put into a fund supporting the Pop Wuj medical clinic.
Program Eligibility: Students from all health professions are encouraged to apply.
Program Description: Since June 2002, Pop Wuj has offered a health and medical education and work placement program for medical students, providers, public health professionals, and other healthcare practitioners (e.g., doctors, medical students, nurses, paramedics, physical therapists). For years we have attracted a growing number of healthcare students and professionals. Pop Wuj has successfully helped connect them with local volunteer opportunities in the medical and healthcare fields. After much experience in this field, we were ready to provide students with a more formal program of study. One of the most important goals of Pop Wuj's Medical Program is to increase students' cultural competency in addition to their language skills. To deliver healthcare in a compassionate way, with the knowledge of the culture and history of the population one works with, is an essential value to Pop Wuj's vision of the Medical Program.
The way the program is structured is all that students have 4 hours a day of individualized language instruction and participate in the medical program the other 2-5 hours a day. During the beginning of the student's stay, the medical program consists more of the supplemental curriculum including cultural competency lectures, workshops, and observation at clinics. It is important that patients encounter compassion and understanding, in accordance to their own traditional beliefs and value systems, which every human being deserves. For this reason, Pop Wuj offers cultural competency lectures in the first week. Topics include historical, socio-cultural, and economic information in relation to healthcare delivery and issues in Guatemala. This information complements what is learned in the classroom and clinical placement. It is important to know that the school will provide networking for clinical placement only to those who have received the cultural competency lectures. As mentioned before, cultural competency is an important part of the mission of Pop Wuj - to be dedicated to the respect and understanding of the beliefs, values, and traditions that form the foundation and survival of the people of Guatemala.
Program Specific Contact: Shelley Peery, PhD, medical@pop-wuj.org

Applications must be submitted at least 3 weeks before intended program departure. Please e-mail or call before you send in your application as the summer sessions fill up fast!

Program Website: http://www.pop-wuj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=35
Program Location: Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala
Program Duration: A minimum time commitment of 4 weeks is required.
Program Cost: The cost for this program is $190 per week, plus a $150 registration fee. This tuition includes all one-on-one and group classes, lectures, seminars, field trips, interpretative services and supervision in field placement.
Program Eligibility: Must be at least 18 years of age.
Program Description: The Social Work Program at Pop Wuj works to promote physical, mental, and social health in all of the communities it serves. The program could be described as the nexus between all of Pop Wuj's community service projects; it's goal, through case work and data collection, is to establish communication with the various communities in and around Xela, evaluate the needs of each location through an open dialogue with community members, and then provide a link between the community and the volunteers, professionals, and resources available through Pop Wuj.
Typical activities for participants in the Social Work Program include:

• Interviewing medical patients or families in need of assistance
• Establishing connections between sponsors outside of the US and scholarship recipients within Guatemala
• Organizing volunteers outside of the Social Work Program who wish to participate in the projects
• Participation in conferences, both at the school and in the community, regarding prominent issues facing Guatemala and its population
• Gathering and organizing data and photos of the families and communities served by the program
• Organization and promotion of fund-raising activities
• Keeping the Todos Juntos Blog up to date so that friends of Pop Wuj can stay informed with the progress of the programs.

The Social Work Program is a 3-5 morning-a-week commitment, leaving plenty of time for participants to attend the regular Immersion Program (below), as well. This ensures that students can continue to refine their Spanish skills in an intensive, one-on-one setting.
Program Specific Contact: Carmen de Alvarado, socialwork@pop-wuj.org

Applications must be submitted at least 3 weeks before intended program departure. Please e-mail or call before you send in your application as the summer sessions fill up fast!

Program Website: http://www.pop-wuj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=34
Program Location: Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala
Program Duration: A minimum time commitment of 3 weeks is recommended.
Program Cost: The application fee is $65. The tuition for study in the Immersion program is $175 a week, mid-May through mid-September and the month of January. The tuition for all other months in the immersion program is $160 per week. This fee covers the entire program, including instructional time (at least 4 1/2 hours, five days a week), room and board with the student's Guatemalan family, and the school activities (except for transportation and entrance fees.
Program Eligibility: Must be at least 18 years of age.
Program Description: The Immersion Program at Pop-Wuj consists of 4-5 hours daily, either in the morning or the afternoon, of intensive one-on-one Spanish language immersion. Students at all skill levels are welcomed, as the teachers are trained language instructors able to accommodate all student types and needs. Students will have the opportunity to focus on grammar, speaking and comprehension, or vocabulary (both general and specialized) as they see fit, while simultaneously engaging in a cultural dialogue with a caring teacher who, after a few days of extensive contact, will surely also become a friend!
The teachers at Pop-Wuj come from a variety of professional and cultural backgrounds, and have a wide range of ages and interests. They are all open to discuss any cultural or political interests the student may have, and thus the Pop-Wuj Immersion Program is a very open and engaging environment for both student and teacher alike. In addition, the classroom setting in the Immersion Program is flexible; students may feel more comfortable working in a café or a park, or they may choose to practice conversational skills with their teachers while taking a field trip to any of the numerous sites of interest around Xela. If a student wishes to participate in any of the schools volunteer-based projects, they will likely be accompanied by their teacher, so that the language practice can continue while you help around the community.
Since the Immersion Program occupies only a half day, students will find themselves with sufficient time left over to enjoy the many cafes, sites, and activities Xela has to offer. Or, the student may wish to participate regularly in one or several of Pop-Wuj's projects, or in the Social Work or Medical Program.