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 The mission of Miguel Angel Asturias Academy is to improve living standards in Guatemala by creating informed, critically thinking, socially conscious citizens, empowered to live lives of their choosing and engaged as leaders in their communities. In a country where schooling means rote learning, overcrowding, and lack of access to reliable information, the Asturias Academy is dedicated to making education a vehicle for personal freedom and social justice. They strive to bring their transformative model first and foremost to children from the most vulnerable sectors of society, placing special emphasis upon poor, female, and indigenous children.
It is the vision of Asturias Academy to be the model and the vehicle through which Guatemala’s education system is transformed so that all children:
- have access to a quality, culturally relevant education;
- lead dignified lives; and
- engage the social, economic, and political problems confronting their communities and country.
Miguel Angel Asturias Academy is not just a school—it is a social movement that is transforming Guatemala. Academy founders, teachers, students and parents are actively working to build a better world—one where human rights are respected, families are financially secure, and children look forward to a hopeful future. They are a non-profit school that opened in 1994 to address Guatemala’s educational crisis. Located in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, the Academy serves more than 250 students from preschool to 12th grade, placing special emphasis on creating options for poor, female, and indigenous children. Roughly 300 Preschool-12th grade students study at the Academy. Their students are boys and girls, indigenous and non-indigenous, poor, working class and middle class. Approximately one-third receive a full or partial scholarship—a number that they would like to increase as time goes on.
Historically, indigenous people within Guatemala have been deeply discriminated against. This discrimination has ranged from bias against Mayan languages, to unfair hiring practices, to massacres in indigenous villages. The Asturias Academy is a school committed to justice, where all students can come to learn whether they are indigenous or not. They are one of few schools that actively promotes equality amongst their indigenous and non-indigenous students. They give their students the option of wearing traditional Mayan clothing as their uniform. They teach K’iche, an indigenous language, as part of their curriculum. They have cultural exchange days where students can share their culture with each other. In addition, they incorporate practices into their school day that promote equality. The daily classroom greeting their students use is in three languages: Spanish, K’iche and English. Through these different strategies they work towards a society where all Guatemalans are able to live in harmony.
To learn more about Asturias Academy, please visit their website.
 Adopt-a-Village (AAV) in Guatemala is a small, grassroots non-profit that works with remote villages in the rugged Northwestern Highlands region. This is an area of extreme poverty with few public services or other forms of assistance. AAV partners with leaders of these Mayan villages to build a more promising and sustainable future for their children by providing education and other critical support. The goal of Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala is to empower through education. Less than half of all children in Guatemala make it through sixth grade, and more than 2 million children–mostly Mayan girls living in rural areas like those where they work–don’t attend school at all.
Adopt-a-Village in Guatemala works closely with two dozen villages in the isolated northwestern region of the Department of Huehuetenango in western Guatemala and provides education opportunities that extend to some 250 villages in the region. The villages, scattered in the rainforest in the Cuchumatan Mountains, are accessible only by rugged dirt roads or walking paths winding up through the mountains. Many of the villages have been settled over the last 20 years by Mayan people who were displaced during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war and came to this region in search of affordable land. Families from different Mayan language groups that had until the war lived separately came together to form villages to work toward the common goal of a better future for their children. This is one of the poorest regions of Guatemala, with few public services or other sources of support. Employment and education opportunities are extremely limited and chronic malnutrition is pervasive; some children routinely go a day or more without eating.
AAV partners with village leaders to develop practical and relevant educational opportunities to give children and their parents the skills they need to build a better future. With support from their Child Sponsorship program, they began by building nine elementary schools in villages that previously had little or no access to primary education. As children have progressed through these schools, they have built on that foundation, supporting middle school programs, and providing scholarships for students to travel to attend high schools in distant towns. Their Mayan Center, a residential high school for students selected from 250 area villages, opened for fulltime students in January 2010. AAV also provides vocational programs for adults at the Mayan Center in areas such as carpentry, agriculture and forestry.
In addition to education, their Widows and Orphans program provides extra assistance to some of the poorest families in the region, including food, clothing and housing. All of AAV’s work is accomplished with the help and direction of the people and villages that benefit and who will ultimately assume the ongoing management and operation of the projects. To date, AAV has completed more than 60 major projects since they began in 1991.
To learn more about AAV, please visit their website.
 Quality education, healthcare, and family development for the region’s poorest children
Known for its beauty, culture, and history, the Panchoy Valley also has its marginal zones where homeless families and street children live. In these areas the unemployment rate is high, adolescents lack education, crime is prevalent, alcoholism is rampant, and familial violence is widespread. Taking these problems into mind, the idea of opening a specialized technical school amidst the Victorias, Bella Vista, and Papalillo neighborhoods of Jocotenango, Guatemala, may have seemed like a risk, but it was also the long-standing dream of Patrick Atkinson, Founder and Executive Director of the GOD’S CHILD Project (GCP). In his own words, “It is the PERFECT place for the GOD’S CHILD Project to be.”
Construction of the school was completed December 6, 2007, and classes began in January of 2008. The Scheel Center’s goal is to be a catalyst for community change on a large scale by giving hope to impoverished families, abused or abandoned children. Hope is given in three forms: Standard Education, Specialized Technical Training and Healthcare.
Standard Education: For much of the modern world, formal education starts around the ages of 4, 5 or 6. By the time a child enters first grade they have often had several years of academic enrichment to better prepare them to learn. Students at the Scheel Center come from a very different world. Many of the students who study at the Center have been robbed of their childhood in various ways. They have not had time to play and learn. Many have not had access basic necessities such as adequate food, clean water, shelter or medical care. For these and other reasons, the Scheel Center students have grown up without an opportunity to learn.
Before a student is in a position to successfully learn any subject, their basic needs must be met. Scheel Center students are provided with two filling and nutritious meals a day. For many of them this is the only food they will receive.
Specialized Technical Training: Because of the unique background of the students at the Scheel Center some of them will not be able to continue their academic pursuits after the 8th or 9th grade level, or they will at least need to secure a part time job in order to do so. In an effort to equip all their students for life after school the following technical courses are currently being offered to students when they start their “basico” year. Each course’s objective is to prepare a student with the prerequisite knowledge and skill required to get a job in that field.
- Carpentry: The carpentry program at the Scheel center began in 2009 and is off to a great start. During the first few months of the program both boys and girls were taught theory and took part in hands on training. First, students built their own workbenches; they then moved on to coat racks, frames for paintings and most recently: study desks, which they will later be able to take home and use for their other studies. (Many of their students do not have any hard surface to do homework on.)
- Culinary Arts: The cooking class is a favorite amongst many of the students of the Scheel Center. The cooking class focuses on:
- Sanitary cooking practices
- Use and care of commercial grade cooking equipment
- Preparation of both basic and advanced entrees and desserts
- Promoting a love for the culinary arts
- Computer Skills: Starting in October of 2009, students of the Scheel Center have access to a computer lab to begin acquiring the computer skills to prepare them to succeed in a high tech world. Computer courses will cover:
- Basic Computer Skills: typing, navigation of Windows, use of a word processor, use of a spreadsheet, accessing the Internet, using email.
- Research skills: performing Internet searches, criteria for a reputable Internet source.
Healthcare:
- Dunnigan Family Medical Clinic: Made possible by a generous donation from the Dunnigan Family in honor of Dr. Ralph J. Dunnigan & Mrs. Bernadette Dunnigan. The Dunnigan Family Clinic will soon be serving the medical needs of families and children throughout the Vista Hermosa area.
- Dental Clinic: The Scheel Center Dental Clinic will begin by serving the needs of the children and families enrolled at the Scheel Center. The dental clinic is a community education center where The God’s Child project gives dental hygiene education to families from the surrounding areas. The group expects for the clinic to become operational in March, 2010.
- Psychology Clinic: In operation since February 2009 the Psychology Clinic provides counseling and support for the children of the Scheel Center and their families. Currently run by their on-campus psychologist Leonel Almira, the clinic gives Scheel Students an ear to listen and Christ-focused counsel on how to deal with the challenges of growing up in the slums of Guatemala.
To learn more about The Scheel Center, please visit their website.
The Valhalla Project is a Guatemala based organization that seeks to reverse global warming, assist indigenous people in developing self-sustaining agriculture, and educate the public about the environment. They accomplish this mission by planting trees. The Valhalla project introduces ungrafted Macadamia seedlings to indigenous people as an alternative to slash and burn agriculture, which contributes to global warming.
The mission of the Valhalla Project includes:
- Global reforestation of open genetic macadamia nut trees;
- Marketing and sales of natural foods and natural skin care products;
- Promotion of sustainable agriculture for farmers worldwide;
- Job creation through local production and processing; and
- Green investment opportunities in eco-entrepreneurship.
1972, Lawrence Gottschamer was retired in the line of duty as a Fireman in Redwood City, CA, prior to serving in the army during the Viet Nam war. In 1975 he was asked to go to Costa Rica to farm 100 acres of macadamia nut trees. His mentor at that time, Mr. Edelberto Camacho, from the Instituto Interamericano de Ciencias Agricolas in Turrialba, Costa Rica, was and is still well known in the industry. He spent countless hours in private consultation with Mr. Camacho and numerous other professors discussing all phases of agriculture particularly the macadamia tree. While in Costa Rica, Lawrence started the first private nursery in Turrialba. In Costa Rica, he had the chance to meet with experts coming from Hawaii, as the Costa Rican macadamia industry was modeled using Hawaiian methods. As it turned out, the macadamia agro-industry in Costa Rica fell short of commercial expectations because conventional Hawaiian clones were used in the plantations. It was always apparent to Lawrence Gottschamer that locally developed varieties adapted to local climate work much better.
When Lawrence Gottschamer finished his work in Costa Rica he decided to go to Guatemala, where he met his future wife, Emilia Aguirre, a Guatemalan lady with a deep passion for mother nature, with a strong desire to do anything to protect the environment; since that time they have been working together, side by side, for their sustainable agriculture project. He continued his work with macadamia. He built several small macadamia-processing plants for the private sector, and was one of the founders of “Voit, Juarez, and Gottschamer, Consultants” an agro-industrial consulting company.
In 1985 Lawrence and Emilia founded the Experimental Station Valhalla. Its pursuits were and continue to be ecological. With the gene bank in hand they pursued a genetically diverse high carbon dioxide and water exchange capacity tree which is competitive and superior to the grafted or cloned trees available at that time. Their purpose was to use the technology to provide the indigenous communities with a substitute for their current practices of slash and burn agriculture. Finally there was proof that there is a tremendous future for the private sector in the eco-development industry. At Valhalla, they have developed seedling trees whose economic performance is considered at least as good as the best of today’s grafted material.
To learn more about Valhalla, please visit their website.
 Teaching children to dream is the first step in their believing in a future.
Fotokids was founded by ex-Reuters photographer, Nancy McGirr in 1991, with 6 children from the City’s vast garbage dump. Over the years, the organization has grown to include both rural poor and urban gang areas. Fotokids, including an environmental photo project in Honduras, now serves130 children from 6 distinct communities. Students are given educational scholarships covering primary school through university.
Although documentary photography remains the focus of the project, our Fotokids graduates teach the younger students digital imaging, graphic design, and video.
Besides empowering children to learn a unique set of job skills, self-esteem, leadership and the opportunity to continue their education, many have traveled the world to attend Fotokids exhibitions or give workshops in over a dozen countries.
The student design studio and individual students have worked for the United Nations, director George Lucas, Hispanic TV, designed books and teach for the Guatemalan Ministry of education and published Out of the Dump, Writing and Photography by Children of Guatemala.
Their photography has been exhibited in London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Medellin, Seville, New York, Washington DC, Houston, Sao Paolo, Caracas, and Paris.
To learn more about Fotokids, please visit their website.
 The mission of The Aid & Education Project is to promote education in indigenous communities in Guatemala. Their primary program for promoting education in Guatemala is to offer scholarships to deserving students. They also have programs to promote computer literacy, to teach English, and to preserve the local culture. Additionally, there are special programs for women and girls.
The mission of the Scholarship Program is to help students get in school, stay in school, and succeed in school. This starts with giving a poor student material aid: paying for most of their school fees, school supplies, school uniforms and other basic school clothing. Secondly, and often just as important, they help create an environment that leads to success. They offer classes during the school vacation. They provide access to computers and the internet. And when volunteers are available, they offer English Classes. Through their Health Program, they provide free medical visits for routine childhood health problems. As deemed necessary by local directors, they make sure that students get eye and ear exams.
They are investors in the future of the children in their program. Like any good investor, they only make investments that are likely to yield a good return. For them, a good return is a literate adult who can attain financial self-sufficiency. A good return is a skilled worker or professional who without their program could never have developed their talents.
They are not in the business of giving money to poor people. In order to stay in their program a student must make concrete steps toward self-sufficiency and toward developing their own future; otherwise, they can be dropped from the program.
To learn more about this group, please visit their website.
Niños del Lago is a unique children’s project designed to transform the lives of Guatemala’s most impoverished children. Their goal is to help at-risk children stay in school, and succeed in school. After extensive research, Niños del Lago was founded in 2004 to support and extend the work of privately-funded, not-for-profit educational programs created for children who are too poor or have too many special needs to attend/afford government-run schools.
Ninos del Lago is an educational camp experience offering healing and hope for children whose daily struggle for survival has robbed them of the ability to imagine a better future. Niños del Lago takes children out of their stressful and bleak surroundings and transports them to a safe, serene and creative environment for an intensive week of one-on-one mentoring, creative recreational activities and self-esteem building.
Children who stay in their school and in their home program are invited to return year after year, and are given additional incentives to stay in school and off the streets. Ninos del Lago children who demonstrate potential can become Camp Counselors and have an opportunity to earn a University Scholarship.
Niño del Lago is located in an inspirational setting in a natural forest overlooking Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan Highlands.
To learn more about this group, please visit their website.
 Orphan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to glorifying the Lord through reaching out to the millions of at risk children throughout the world. Since their founding in 2007, they have acted as instruments of Christ impacting the lives of those they serve. Ministering primarily in Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Russia, they support a variety of programs designed to offer a better chance to children in dire living conditions.
The Mission of Orphan Outreach is to improve the lives of orphans and at-risk children primarily in Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Russia through early intervention, education and evangelism, thus meeting the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of the children.
The children they work with experience unimaginable tragedies and are often victims of violence, extreme poverty, sexual abuse, physical and psychological trauma, trafficking, malnutrition, impaired development, and other harms.
By sponsoring mission trips, programs, funding, and partnerships, they prevent these children from becoming another of the many victims throughout the world. As stewards of Christ:
- They serve them to meet their physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs.
- They provide guidance, inspiration, and hope to children in seemingly hopeless situations.
- They are witnesses to the gospel aimed at instilling Christian love in the hearts of these children.
- They believe the uniqueness of each child should always take precedence as that is how God loves us – as unique individuals created by Him for His glory.
In Guatemala, Orphan Outreach works with the following organizations:
Good Shepherd Christian Academy, [Panabaj]: Panabaj is a small village on Lake Atitlan just outside the city of Santiago. On October 4, 2005, torrential rains from hurricane Stan caused massive mud slides down the face of the volcano next to the village. Over 1,000 people died and the village was buried under volcanic mud, rock and debris. Most of the people live in temporary housing in a field adjacent to the village as it is slowly being rebuilt. The hospital, school and police station were destroyed. The families are still struggling even after almost three years and many children are not going to school.
Mama Carmen Orphanage, [Guatemala City]: In 2009, Orphan Outreach learned about Mama Carmen, a devoted Christian woman who runs a private Christian orphanage near the city dump. For over 30 years Mama Carmen has been keeping a promise to God to care for children in need. Mama Carmen cares for 60 children on a full time basis and an additional 40 daily for day care. Many of the children she serves are “special needs” and she is committed to not turn away any children. She provides for the children with full faith that God will lead people to become involved in meeting all their needs.
Niños Rescatados, [Guatemala City] — Mrs. Arzu’s Schools: Serving approximately 550 children in education through sixth grade, early intervention support, health and nutrition and evangelism. The children in these programs are all children who live on the street. Some live with a parent or relative but all are extremely poor and in desperate situations. Mrs. Patty Arzu, wife of the mayor of Guatemala City runs and supports the schools through her foundation. There are three schools: one for preschoolers (Los Patitos), school age girls (Las Rosas), and school age boys (Los Cedros.) Orphan Outreach is partnering with Mrs. Arzu and her foundation to provide humanitarian aid, curriculum and teacher training, school support and supplies.
To learn more about Orphan Outreach, please visit their website.
“THOUGH THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD ARE INCREASINGLY MORE COMPLEX, THE SOLUTIONS REMAIN EMBARRASSINGLY SIMPLE…” – Bill Mollison, co-founder of the world-wide permaculture movement
The mission of Project Seres is to help at-risk groups in developing countries build resistance to climate change threats using knowledge, tools and resources that are environmentally ethical, ecologically sustainable, and economically affordable. Project Seres is a project fighting the injustices of climate change, and working to create social and environmental equality for all. They work by empowering people through education, providing the tools and knowledge to help them make sustainable, positive changes.
A Centre for Climate Change Education & Sustainable Development: Around the world, climate change is starting to touch people’s lives. The magnitude and seriousness of its impacts varies greatly, but without a doubt it is the poor and vulnerable – primarily in developing countries – that are being affected first and hardest. One of the sad realties of climate change is that the majority of these people are not even aware that climate change exists: while their future is being hotly debated on the world’s political stage, they continue on with the struggle of their day-to-day lives – a struggle which is becoming increasingly more difficult every day. Climate change is not just an environmental issue, it is a social injustice. Project Seres fights against this injustice, working at a grass-roots level with at-risk groups where need is greatest to create social and environmental equality for all.
Seres College: Project Seres will carry out its mission through the Seres College – a centre for climate change education and sustainable development based in Guatemala and serving communities throughout Central America. The college itself will be a working example of sustainable living, showcasing a range of technologies, techniques and alternative agricultural practices that are being used around the world to help people in developing countries adapt and build resistance to climate change. Included among these will be appropriate and affordable renewable energy technology (such as micro-hydro, solar and wind), natural building techniques, and alternative agriculture methods such as permaculture, organic agriculture and agro-forestry.
The college will also provide much needed education and information about climate change and global warming, focusing on the impact that it will have on the communities, lives and futures of people living in the region.
Students: The students of the college (all of which will be full-scholarship students) will be farmers, workers, laborers, mothers and fathers from poor and vulnerable communities across Central America. The material taught in the college will not require any previous education or literacy levels. It will be taught using a hands-on, practical approach that is sensitive to cultural differences and incorporates traditional methods of learning. Training will be provided in intensive three month periods, during which time students will live on-site, participating in the daily running and up-keep of the college grounds and by doing so developing an appreciation of the technologies and methodologies used.
Education and Sustainable Development: During their three months at the Seres College students will learn about climate change and global warming, focusing on the particular threats in their region and identifying associated at-risk areas for their community. Using the sustainable development tools and methods demonstrated in the college, students will be encouraged (and assisted) to develop a Climate Change Adaptation plan for their community, which will be designed to build resilience and reduce the community’s risk in the at-risk areas.
Climate Change Adaptation: Projects will be implemented as a joint effort between the community, Project Seres, and a partner NGO/organization. As a Centre for Sustainable Development, the Seres College will maintain strong networks with other groups working in the field, helping to connect those groups looking to implement specific projects, solutions or technologies with communities that are ready for them. Acting as a networking hub between the community and other philanthropic/aid organizations, the Seres College will help improve communications and information sharing, and also help the existing resources working in the field to be more efficient and effective in their work. Equally as importantly, by implementing projects in which the community (rather than the organization) has identified the need ensures a greater level of community engagement, buy-in, commitment and long-term viability for the project.
International Outreach: The college will run three 3-month sessions each year. During the time when students are not in attendance, the college will be opened up for short-term courses for international, paying participants (such as Permaculture, Climate Change Education and Awareness and Straw-bale Building workshops). Income generated from these courses will be used to help finance the scholarships for the local students studying at the college.
To learn more about Project Seres, please visit their website.
Mobilization, health, rehabilitation, education, leadership…
The Transitions Foundation is committed to making a difference in the lives of Guatemalans who may otherwise have few opportunities to grow, to learn, and to become literate and productive contributors to their Guatemalan culture. They provide rehabilitation, vocational, and educational training to disabled persons through the services offered at Transitions’ training centers.
Program Objectives:
- To provide life-skills training and mobility devices for physically disabled Guatemalans;
- To offer outreach support and medical product availability to disabled persons;
- To operate one special education classroom within a local school in a rural community for physically and mentally disabled children;
- To operate an offset printing and graphics design enterprise, with ongoing disabled student training and employment opportunities, offering printing service available to the public;
- To operate a wheelchair fabrication facility, providing highly individualized wheelchairs and other therapeutic equipment, providing ongoing leadership and technical training; and
- To operate a prosthetic/orthotic clinic with ongoing training and services available to Guatemalans with disabilities.
Workshop: Transitions operates a well-equipped workshop where they manufacture new wheelchairs and repair or modify existing ones. This operation employs 11 technicians, the majority of which have disabilities, who build rugged chairs well suited for the tough terrain of Guatemala. They employ modern MIG welding and other fabrication techniques, and maintain computerized records on each client so they can respond quickly to needed changes or repairs. Funding for much of their equipment, tools, and materials has come from Rotary International Foundation Grants, coordinated by the Portland, Oregon Rotary Club, and many other donors. During 2008, their workshop provided over 100 new and refurbished wheelchairs.
Prosthetic/Orthotic Clinic: Transitions operates a clinic to provide services to children and adults who are in need of a prosthetic limb or an orthotic leg brace. Due to the high number of birth defects and accidents in Guatemala, there is a large demand and need for these services. They work with local Guatemalan certified technicians to evaluate and manufacture the limbs and leg braces their patients need. Patients fitted with their limb or brace can achieve increased mobility and opportunities in their lives.
Since 2002, Transitions has provided care and treatment for over 200 prosthetic and orthotic patients. Many of the patients are children or youth and require ongoing treatment and adjustments to their equipment. Due to the high costs of providing these special devices, new patients can only be helped when defined funding is available.
Training for life: Transitions Foundation provided direct general educational scholarships for 53 disabled people during the 2008 school year. This includes educational costs such as tuition, materials and transportation to and from school.
Special Ed: They also assist low-income, physically and mentally disabled children through one rural special education classroom directed by a qualified teacher and therapist. Special education students receive multi-sensorial exposure, fine and gross motor skill stimulation and academic tutoring. Classrooms are wheelchair accessible, and parents and family members are encouraged to become involved.
To learn more about Transitions, please visit their website.
 The Children’s Malnutrition Center of San Juan, Guatemala provides temporary care to infants and young children who are severely malnourished. The children range in age from infancy to 10 years of age. The children come from homes where they did not receive proper nutrition, primarily due to their parents’ lack of means to provide the necessary food and care. Some children are even near death by the time they are brought to the Center.
The children receive housing, daily bathing, medicine, and three meals a day. There is also a doctor who works 2-3 hours of time every day at the facility. A child is discharged from the facility once the doctor determines that that they have regained proper health and that there are proper assurances that the child will receive proper nutrition on a regular basis once they leave the facility.
There are approximately 35-40 children living at the Center. However, they will have the capacity to house and serve up to 200 children once the many repairs and improvements have been made, and additional resources are acquired to hire additional staff to care for the children. Unfortunately, there are only about three staff members available to care for the nearly 40 children during the day, which doesn’t give them much time to provide individual attention to the kids.
The Malnutrition Center was built in the 1950s as a tuberculosis hospital, but was converted to a care center for children in the 1970s. In the 1970s, under the direction and funding of the Lion’s Club of Guatemala, it flourished as it housed almost 200 children. However, since that time, funding from the Lion’s Club has been decreasing and the facility has fallen into disrepair. The facility is in need of significant work in order to improve the living environment and quality of care that is provided to the children.
The Florida Baptist Children’s Homes identified the Children’s Malnutrition Center of San Juan, Guatemala as one of its first international ministry locations because of the extreme needs and because of the potential to improve the quality of services at the Center. The goal is to elevate the quality of care as well as expand the capacity of the Center in order to serve more children. Mission teams mobilized by the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes will work to make improvements to the facility and spend time interacting with the many children.
To learn more about this group, and their project, visit their website.
Semilla Nueva is an organization unified around a shared vision for an equitable and environmentally responsible society where people live in peace with dignity. Their mission is to help empower agricultural communities in Guatemala by jointly developing and implementing strategies that facilitate the achievement of community-defined objectives for natural resource conservation, economic prosperity, and social equality. They begin with agricultural and environmental management techniques that are easy to incorporate, and serve as a strong entry point for education about sustainable growing and environmental management. Through the process of rebuilding the health of agroecosystems and working with communities to understand and collectively manage their environmental resources, they hope to provide the resources to ensure long-term livelihood and food security while also fostering informed and democratic decision-making. Semilla Nueva will work closely with promotores (local volunteers who act as leaders in a given area of development such as health, education, or agriculture) in order to increase the capacity of rural communities to practice sustainable farming.
In September 2009, Guatemala’s President declared a “state of public calamity” due to severe droughts, soil degradation, and an attendant famine that has claimed the lives of nearly 500 people and put over 400,000 families at risk of “food insecurity”. Rural residents are intimately dependent on their surrounding ecosystems, and are thus particularly affected by environmental degradation. With 77% of rural subsistence farmers existing on areas smaller than 7 hectares, the need for resilient, productive, and efficient agroecosystems is clear. In response to these challenges, they have developed a plan to cultivate sustainable agricultural practices in rural communities that emphasize longevity. Semilla Nueva’s programs attempt to enable on-going community collaboration, organization, and mobilization. Inspiring these actions from communities closely correlates with successful implementation of sustainable agricultural systems, which in turn could sequester up to 9% of Guatemala’s CO2 emissions, rejuvenate agroecosystems, and provide safe non-toxic alternatives to agrochemicals.
The scope of agricultural development is vast, and as a result, a single organization cannot effectively address all relevant issues. Semilla Nueva is currently collaborating with three organizations (Intervida, Rainforest Alliance, and Alternativas Sostenibles y Orgánicas Sociedad Anónima (ASOSA)) to ensure that their work is addressing the major aspects of agricultural development in a coordinated and robust manner. Intervida, an international non-profit, empowers disadvantaged communities by establishing development committees and supporting community organization and education. Rainforest Alliance, also an international non-profit, strengthens sustainable markets through certification and marketing assistance. Lastly, ASOSA, a social enterprise, provides economic alternatives to chemical agriculture. Semilla Nueva interfaces with these three organizations to leverage resources, engage rural communities, and contribute to a holistic transition towards sustainable agriculture.
Semilla Nueva’s work hinges on community participation, mobilization, and collaboration. Their past experience living, working, and learning within Central America has created long lasting relationships with the communities where they’ve worked. This connection with Central American culture has not only been a source of inspiration; it also enables them to effectively relate and maintain a positive community presence. Promotores will serve as both hosts to their volunteers as well as the primary interface to the community. They will work collaboratively with promotores to develop and implement projects to enable sustainable farming and encourage greater community participation and awareness. By developing robust communication, supporting local innovation, and invigorating active leadership they will help to install the infrastructure needed to secure the longevity of sustainable systems. Ultimately, it is the communities that are responsible for the continuation of any projects or methods that they help implement.
To learn more about Semilla Nueva, please visit their website.
 El Nahual Community Center was founded in 2004 in order to address shortcomings in the Guatemalan national education system, particularly in Quetzaltenango and its surrounding communities. El Nahual is located on the outskirts of Quetzaltenango in a sector called Pacajá. This location, which straddles urban and rural areas, was chosen to allow El Nahual to serve as a hub of support for the often marginalized communities outside the city center.
El Nahual is a fully licensed non-profit organization funded by its Spanish language school. They are unique in that they require the individuals who choose to study with them to donate their time to volunteer in the low-income communities they serve. Their volunteers often take classes in the mornings and then get involved in their service projects, the bulk of which involve helping out with their educational programs for children and adults:
- Manos de Colores Niños: Their programs for children, “Manos de Colores” (Colored Hands), founded in 2004, provide instruction in English, art, music, theater, and others—subjects which most children would not otherwise receive in the Guatemalan public school system. Manos de Colores was created by their director, Jaime, after a long period of reflection on the national reality of education in Guatemala.
- Manos de Colores Adultos (Accelerated Primary School): The Accelerated Primary School Program was formed in 2006 to provide adults who never had the opportunity to complete their elementary education with a government-certified primary school diploma. Every Saturday at 8am, the El Nahual Community Center opens its doors to people who come to study Spanish, mathematics, and history taught by Guatemalan teachers. The program is provided at a very low cost and takes two years to complete.
- Padrinos de Colores: is a scholarship program for children, providing financial support to families in need of school registration fees, uniforms, books, required medical visits, and other fees associated with public school inscription. In a country where many people attend school for only three years out of the required six and dropping out to help support one´s family is common, El Nahual Padrinos believe that lack of money for small items such as notebooks and gym shoes should not keep a child from attending school.
Studying with El Nahual
El Nahual Community Center seeks enthusiastic students and volunteers who are motivated to give back to low-income communities in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala´s second largest city. They attract students from all over the world who want to do something meaningful during their travels. Their center is unique in that 100% of the profits from their language school return directly to the communities they serve through their educational programs for children and adults. To that end, they expect a minimum time commitment of volunteer work 4 hours per week from each of their students. The majority of their volunteer projects is educational and involves teaching basic English, arts and crafts, and doing other activities with children in their Manos de Colores programs. Studying Spanish at El Nahual provides students with invaluable international teaching experience while introducing them to grassroots development work and the opportunity to reach out to some of the poorest communities in Quetzaltenango.
Volunteer-only Program
El Nahual is almost entirely staffed by volunteers from Guatemala and abroad. Without the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of their volunteers, their organization could not survive. The work of their volunteers is directly responsible for El Nahual´s continued growth and impact on the communities they serve, and they value the contributions of their staff and volunteers in an atmosphere which fosters creativity, innovation and mutual respect. They are pleased to accept applications for their volunteer-only program for those individuals who want to get involved with El Nahual but do not wish to take Spanish lessons.
For more information about El Nahual, please visit their website.
 Inteligencia Móvil Internacional de Guatemala or “IMI Guatemala” is a non-profit association that seeks to help people with disabilities in Guatemala by providing low cost and locally assembled wheelchairs.
HISTORY: IMI Guatemala is the pilot project of the U.S. non-profit Intelligent Mobility International, or “IMI. The idea started from a collaboration with students from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and students from Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala City. After a great first 10 weeks, the group grew to include students from another California based university, the Art Center College of Design, and soon after launched IMI.
As the first in-country subsidiary of IMI, IMI Guatemala creates a local presence, allowing for the best possible manufacturing, user feedback and appropriate design in the creation of low cost mobility devices including their first product, an award winning appropriate wheelchair. IMI and IMI Guatemala work together to create and develop an affordable, ergonomic, durable and low cost wheelchair, designed and assembled with wheelchair users from partner Transitions of Guatemala.
VISION: IMI believes that supplying mobility can change lives. With the help of low cost, appropriate mobility devices, those with limited resources can regain mobility and live an active and productive life. Their task is to empower people with disabilities who are living in both urban and isolated rural areas to have the tools to become reintegrated with their communities.
MISSION: To partner with local designers and in-country disability NGOs throughout the world to produce low cost mobility devices, supply training, and offer job opportunities. Every detail of their wheelchair design accounts for the developing world environment for which it was made.
To effect any lasting change in the developing world your product must integrate the following elements: Cost, Quality, and Sustainability. Their wheelchair accounts for all of them:
- X-brace: The function of the X-brace is to collapse the wheelchair so that it takes up less volume for storage and travel. Functionally, the X-brace supports and aligns the two sides of the wheelchair and distributes the forces to its structural members. Their unique design collapses the chair over 1/3rd of its width without compromising strength and at a minimal added cost.
- Footrest: The footrests have been designed to support the users’ legs and lower body while using the chair. In order to fully accommodate the needs of multiple disabilities the footrest position can be easily adjusted to maximize support. This design allows for the frame to collapse using an inexpensive and highly durable system.
- Tires: The terrain in the developing world is rugged and the infrastructure is not accommodating for conventional wheelchair tires. Mountain bike tires are ideal for this environment. Conventional wheelchair wheels have significantly less contact area than mountain bike tires and often little or no tread. Conventional wheels are more likely to get stuck, prematurely wear, and can even endanger the user. In addition to the improved safety and functionality benefits, the tires allow for an air filled ride by absorbing significantly more shock than conventional tires.
- Casters: The caster assemblies are an integral component of the wheelchair and serve multiple functions. The primary function of the casters is to distribute the force exerted on the front of the chair to the ground without compromising the wheelchair’s ability to turn. Their casters are capable of rotating 360 degrees in a smooth, uniform fashion under all user environments- while the chair is moving, stationary, and under considerable force. Furthermore their casters are unique in that their height can be adjusted to customize the angle of inclination of the seat. Integrating this angle adjustment feature allows IMI to further customize the wheelchair for specific end user needs.
To learn more about the work of IMI, please visit their website.
 Hope Haven International Ministries (HHIM) reaches beyond the borders of our nation by extending mercy to people with disabilities around the world. This is accomplished by working closely with relief and development organizations, mission groups and individuals in various countries.
In the early 1990’s, Hope Haven, headquartered out of Rock Valley, Iowa (USA), had an opportunity to get a first-hand look at the living conditions that persons with disabilities experience in foreign countries. Through this experience, a formal proposal regarding Hope Haven developing an international ministry was approved by Hope Haven’s Board of Trustees in 1993 and thus was the beginning of HHIM. Since then, we have expanded our Iowa based ministry to 9 other satellite shops located in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, as well as two international shops located in Guatemala and Romania. HHIM rebuilds donated wheelchairs, as well as manufactures the Hope Haven KidChair in both Iowa and Guatemala, and delivers them to people in need around the world.
Mission of Hope Haven International Ministries: The mission of Hope Haven International Ministries is to assist persons with disabilities to reach their potential. This purpose is accomplished by providing support for the development of opportunities for improving the economic and social welfare and independence of people with disabilities within countries and cultures throughout the world. This ministry, as with all of Hope Haven’s services, is “a ministry of Christian mercy based on the conviction that God’s Word speaks to and directs all of life.”
Hope Haven Guatemala: In the summer of 2008, Hope Haven’s Director of Operations moved to Guatemala to live full time and operate a new wheelchair manufacturing facility. Hope Haven is now employing wheelchair users and caretakers in this new shop. People are learning new job skills and making a standard wage, so that they are now able to provide for their families and learn new trade skills.
This shop is specializing in manufacturing the KidChair. After challenging the students of Dordt College, located in NW Iowa, to design a pediatric wheelchair to meet the specific needs of a disabled child living in a Third World country, the Hope Haven KidChair was born. With ongoing modifications and additions, as a result of continuous input from Engineers, Rehab Technicians, Therapists and families, The Hope Haven KidChair has evolved into a system which meets the needs of almost any child who requires wheelchair mobility while living in a demanding Third World environment.
Now manufactured in La Antigua, Guatemala the Hope Haven KidChair is being build by Guatemalans with disabilities. These wheelchairs from the Hope Haven Guatemala factory are given free of charge to children with disabilities in Guatemala, Mexico and Central America thanks to foundations, service clubs, churches and individuals that cover the $180 sponsorship per wheelchair.
To learn more about this group, please visit its general website, Guatemalan website (in Spanish), or view a video of the workers in Guatemala.
 The Wells of Hope Group is a non-denominational group founded on Christian principles. They are committed to responding to the cry of the poor and to help them attain for themselves, the basic necessities of clean water, education, and basic healthcare. They live this commitment through various projects that the Wells of Hope Group has embraced in the mountainous region of Santa Maria, Jalapa, Guatemala. A permanent, year round base to support volunteers, maximize services and manage all projects more effectively was created. The camp has been lovingly dubbed “Campo Esperanza”, the Camp of Hope.
Here are a few of the many projects this group is committed to:
Drilling Wells: A person dies every seven seconds due to water related diseases. This staggering statistic emphasizes the urgency for mobilization. Overcoming many roadblocks, hurdles and frustrations, the Wells of Hope Group has successfully transported its own drilling equipment to Jalapa, one of the poorest regions of Guatemala, Central America. As a result, there are now tens of thousands of Guatemalans receiving reliable, clean water directly to their homes. Where there was once no hope, people’s lives have changed dramatically.
Medical Care: Odillia was in need of a hip replacement. The pain would not allow her to sleep at night or walk during the day. She needed $3,000 for the operation, but her financial situation was similar to most people who make up the communities in the mountains of Santa Maria, Jalapa. Her children had all grown up and moved away. Her husband had passed away many years ago. She barely had enough food to survive on. So Odillia gave up the only resource that she had. She sold her three-room adobe dwelling to pay for the operation. Three months later, the pin that had been placed as a joint to secure her hip snapped. She was now in even greater pain than before and she had absolutely nothing left to finance another operation.
Wells of Hope has become an avenue for many doctors from Southern Ontario to come to Guatemala on a volunteer basis and minister to those who cannot otherwise afford medical attention. The Wells of Hope team organizes medical clinics in the rural mountain communities and the visiting doctors spend long days relieving the nightmare of pain that many have been forced to endure. The doctors donate their time, and bring medicine with them. However, there is still a need for funds to pay for operations like those needed by Odillia.
Stoves: The average Guatemalan family relies on wood to cook their meals. Cooking with homemade wood burning stoves presents numerous challenges. The stoves are not efficient, so the women of the household must spend many hours each week searching for wood. The rudimentary design of the stoves causes the adobe huts of the Guatemalans to fill with dense smoke whenever they are put into use. The women who use the stoves for cooking, as well as the young children in their care, spend the better part of the day inhaling the smoke filled air. As a result, a large percentage of these women and children are afflicted with severe respiratory problems.
Using simple designs proven in successful trials, the Wells of Hope Group has begun to subsidize the construction of wood efficient, smokeless stoves. The stoves are constructed using local materials that are readily available. Under the direction of Wells of Hope, local masons have been taught to build the stoves. These masons are then hired by the Wells of Hope Group to construct stoves for families who have been sponsored through the generosity of Wells of Hope supporters.
To learn more about this group, please visit their website. To read about a group of volunteers preparing to visit Wells of Hope, click here.
Farmer to Farmer, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, envisions agriculture that is sustainable and respectful of the earth, that remains in the hands of the people who live and work the land. They support grassroots agricultural projects that are democratically initiated and managed. They affirm the sacredness of the earth and work for and respect the rights of all peoples and cultures to self-determination.
There are currently two work trips in progress, one in the Honduras and one in Guatemala. To read further about the trips, check out the the trip’s blog.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Currently, their focus is on scholarship support in Guatemala, coffee marketing, and work trips for cross-cultural exchange. See their programs page for more.
They’ve spent a lot of time on the ground in Guatemala, which gives them a clearer picture of what’s going on down there. They’ve had the opportunity to work with many inspiring individuals and groups, such as:
To go to the Farmer to Farmer website, please click here.
 Compassion Fruit Society, a Canadian based Non-Profit Organization is establishing the Project Somos Children’s Village in Guatemala. This village will be a safe and loving environment for orphaned and abandoned children. There will be homes with Guatemalan foster mothers each raising a household of children as a family. Education, leadership and arts will be integral to the Children’s Village. The Village will work hand in hand with the local Guatemalan community.
The most important facet of Project Somos is to nurture the children to become compassionate and creatively intelligent adults who will enter society as productive citizens. The hope of Guatemala lies in their young people and the Village will be raising Guatemala’s future leaders, parents, teachers and professionals.
As well as being designed to have an inherent beauty and harmony, the Village will be built to be eco-sustainable with alternative energy generation, rain water capture and grey water recycling. Organic agriculture will provide food for the moms and children.
The goal of Project Somos is to reach financial sustainability through Social Enterprises. Small businesses will be established to employ locals and to financially sustain the project in a real and concrete way. Ideas for potential businesses at this time include; volunteer tourism, special event hall rental and agricultural production. Project Somos is open and excited to partner with existing local and foreign businesses to establish Social Enterprises.
An ideal piece of land with existing structures has been found in Guatemala and at this time the Society is working on its Capital Campaign to secure the funding to purchase the property and to begin construction of the homes for the children.
To learn more about this group, please visit their website, blog, or Facebook page.
 On the shores of Lake Atitlan in the southern highlands of Guatemala, surrounded by volcanoes is nestled Santiago Atitlan, a small indigenous T’zutujil Mayan community. This village of 43,000 residents represents one of the largest Mayan indigenous communities in the Americas. In past five years, devastating natural disasters compounded the bleak pre-existing educational and economic realities of the community and threaten its viability. In 2005, mudslides following Hurricane Stan buried the pillars of this community –the school and hospital—along with scores of homes and residents, parents and children. Four years later, nearly one third of the families still live in plastic tent shelters without clean water, proper nutrition, adequate healthcare or educational opportunities for their children. Nearly half of Santiago Atitlan’s women remain illiterate.
Pueblo a Pueblo was formed to respond to the situation in Santiago Atitlan and other villages like it. Their aim is to contribute to building sustainable, viable and healthy indigenous communities in Guatemala. Their projects are developed in close collaboration with the local partners to respond to their most pressing needs.
Each project is designed to build the capacity of the community to thrive on its own while achieving health, nutrition, and educational opportunities for the children and their families. They help provide the tools so that rather than being forced into a life of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, the children and their families can choose how to live their lives. They acknowledge that they cannot solve problems of poverty alone but only through teamwork and mutual partnerships.
Pueblo a Pueblo supports the following key programs:
Child Education Sponsorship Program
The majority of indigenous Guatemalan families cannot afford to send their children to school or to provide them with healthcare. Sponsorship of a child who is attending the Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta Cantón Panabaj in Santiago Atitlan ensures that she/he will receive an education, have the school supplies and books she/he needs and receive proper healthcare — routine care, immunizations and emergency care. Both education and good health will greatly improve your sponsored child’s chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and enjoying a successful future. Cost: $25/month or $300/year.
Mother-Infant Sponsorship Program
In Santiago Atitlán, 190 of every 100,000 pregnancies result in the mother’s death due to complications and 37 of every 1,000 children die at birth. When you sponsor a pregnant Mayan woman and her unborn child, you will ensure that she will receive life-saving medical care throughout her pregnancy and for three months postpartum. When your sponsored child is born she/he will begin life with an advantage that most Guatemalan infants do not have – comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care. In addition, the mother you sponsor will receive training in first aid, nutrition, infant resuscitation, and preventative care. Cost: $25/month or $300/year.
Elementary School Libraries
School libraries are virtually nonexistent in rural Guatemala. Children’s books are luxury items and there is no way for children to explore independent learning, to fill their intellectual curiosity, and develop a passion for reading. Teachers lack the expertise and resources to establish libraries. As a result, even if children have acquired reading skills, they have nothing to read. Pueblo a Pueblo’s most recent project involves developing and furnishing a library for the Panabaj and Chuk Muk Elementary School s. This project is being supported by a partnership between Pueblo a Pueblo , the Panabaj and Chuk Muk Municipal Elementary School s of Santiago Atitlan, the community, and its families. They all work together to ensure greater local responsibility for education and literacy.
Panabaj School Lunch Program
Guatemala has one of the worst nutritional conditions in Latin America (UNICEF 2008) 67% of indigenous Guatemalan children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Chronic malnutrition in mothers results in low birth weight children putting them at an early disadvantage. For three years Pueblo a Pueblo has provided a school lunch program for the 500 primary school children attending the Panabaj School — often times their only nutritious meal of the day. Better nutrition has resulted in improved health and a better attitude towards learning. It has kept the children in school, reduced their visits to the hospital and increased their well being.
Widows Housing Program
Due to the generous support of the Cole Family Foundation, they are able to facilitate the purchase of land and construction of permanent homes for widows in the Panabaj neighborhood. These women lost their husbands in the 2005 mudslides. Children from these families attend the Panabaj Municipal Elementary School and take part in their education sponsorship program.
To learn more about Pueblo a Pueblo, please visit their website.
 Sharing the Dream in Guatemala is a non-profit organization that promotes fair trade with cooperatives and small businesses in Guatemala. They are committed to providing fair wages and employment opportunities to low-income artisans, which will result in creating sustainable markets for their products. Their craft products are handmade by Mayan artisans using many traditional techniques. Purchasing these crafts not only provides work for these artisans, but the profits go to support community development projects in Guatemala.
Friends of Sharing the Dream is a 501(c)3 organization which accepts donations to be used for projects helping the artisans and their families.
A purchase of a beautiful work of art not only provides work for the artisan who made it, but the profits from the sale will go to community projects like the following:
- Providing financial help to the orphanage Casa Guatemala located in the jungle
- Providing educational scholarships for Guatemalan women and children
- Buying school supplies for Mayan children in the mountains
- Sponsoring over 65 elders in Santiago Atitlan with meals and medical care
- Building weaving centers and providing clean water for areas in Comotancillo
- Helping sustain several rural schools
- Establishing workshops and help for over 50 cooperatives/small businesses
Most of the people involved with Sharing the Dream are volunteers.
For more information about Sharing the Dream, please visit their website. For information on a great way to volunteer without ever leaving your hometown, click here.
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Thirteen Threads (Oxlajuj B’atz’) provides training and educational opportunities to Maya women’s groups throughout rural areas of Guatemala. More than 400 women in 22 groups currently participate in the project. They organize workshops, classes, and community follow-ups, as well as host two interns per year through their Young Mayan Women Internship Program
