Reef announces the “We Heart Guatemala” Design Initiative which launches on Facebook today and will run through December 2010. Reef fans will be asked to participate in the design and marketing process of this particular sandal. This unique initiative is centered on a group of Guatemalan women who create the beautiful hand braided threads that [...]
Tag Archives: Development
Article: Help Design Reef’s “We Heart Guatemala” Sandal and Enter to Win a Trip to Guatemala
Posted by Laura on October 26, 2010
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Profile: Horizons of Friendship
Posted by Laura on October 25, 2010
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Horizons of Friendship is a federally-registered non-governmental organization, located in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. They are committed to eliminating the root causes of poverty and injustice in Central America and Southern Mexico (Mesoamerica) through the cooperation of people from the South and North. To accomplish this they work with local partner organizations that undertake local initiatives [...]
Profile: Mayan Hope
Posted by Laura on July 24, 2010
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Mayan Hope is a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing educational, nutritional, medical, ecological, and other needed services to indigenous families, villages, and abandoned or abused children of Guatemala and other Latin American nations. They are a direct and hands-on charitable organization meaning that, as such, they work in close cooperation and side-by-side with the people [...]
Profile: CHOICE Humanitarian
Posted by Laura on June 15, 2010
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CHOICE Humanitarian is ending poverty by focusing on sustainable village development. Our goal is to connect motivated villages to resources and tools to change their lives. By building skills, capacities and leadership of the villagers – the entire community brings itself out of the cycle of poverty. CHOICE, which stands for Center for Humanitarian Outreach [...]
Profile: Transitions – UPDATED
Posted by Laura on May 28, 2010
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UPDATE: Everyone should check out Transitions’ great new website at www.transitionsfoundation.org. 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, [...]
Profile: Build a Nest
Posted by Laura on May 18, 2010
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Nest is a nonprofit organization that empowers female artists and artisans around the world. Using a unique combination of interest-free microfinance loans, mentoring from established designers, as well as a market in which to sell their crafts, Nest helps its loan recipients create successful small businesses. Nest instills pride of ownership, preserves ancient artistic traditions [...]
Profile: A Thread of Hope
Posted by Marian on April 22, 2010
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A Thread of Hope is a fair trade web store featuring items from Guatemala. Eliza Strode, the owner, is a clinical social worker who went to Guatemala in 1997 to learn Spanish. Previously a food co-op manager in Cambridge, MA, she visited a number of artisans’ cooperatives in Guatemala. Eliza started selling Fairly-Traded products from Guatemala in 2001. She has [...]
Profile: Maya Traditions
Posted by Laura on April 22, 2010
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In 1988, Maya Traditions founder Jane Mintz, an experienced social worker (MSW) and weaver, began working with indigenous women artisans living in poverty in Guatemala. She observed that their skill of backstrap weaving was a chance for them to earn a stable income for their families while working from home doing what they were already [...]
Profile: University of Washington Guatemala Project (UWGP)
Posted by Laura on April 17, 2010
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The University of Washington Guatemala Project (UWGP) is a group of University of Washington students and recent alumni working to provide scholarships and vocational training for their peers in Guatemala. Their project is jointly designed and supported by UW students/alumni and the Movimiento de Trabajadores Campesinos (MTC), a non-governmental organization based in San Marcos, Guatemala. [...]
Profile: Hope Alliance
Posted by Laura on April 1, 2010
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Transforming Critical Need into Sustainable Change The mission of The Hope Alliance is to empower impoverished people with the skills and tools they need to create positive change in the lives of their families and in their villages. The Hope Alliance also educates and exposes volunteers to the situation of those in developing countries. The [...]
Profile: CasaSito
Posted by Laura on March 24, 2010
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CasaSito increases educational opportunities in rural areas of Guatemala so that indigenous people living in poverty can attend school, receive quality instruction, and obtain the skills they need to improve their lives. CasaSito has two approaches for addressing educational needs, depending on location. In the Department of Sacatepéquez, they offer scholarships and work closely with [...]
Profile: Roots & Wings International
Posted by Laura on March 23, 2010
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Roots and Wings International promotes elementary through university education in rural Guatemala. They work with indigenous youth whose families earn $2 per day growing coffee. Their work is rooted in recognizing the importance of culturally responsive education that empowers students to connect their cultural identity with sustainable social and economic development. Student Scholarship: Roots & Wings International [...]
Profile: Ak’Tenamit
Posted by Laura on March 23, 2010
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Ak’ Tenamit means “New Village” in the Q’eqchi Mayan language, because their organization is transforming life in the Q’eqchi villages of eastern Guatemala. Those villages are located around the Río Dulce, far from the nearest road – most are reached by a boat trips and hikes through the rain forest – and they lack electricity, [...]
Profile: Comunidad Nueva Alianza
Posted by Laura on March 15, 2010
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Comunidad Nueva Alianza is an organic coffee and macadamia plantation owned and operated by a cooperative of forty Guatemalan families, located in a sub-tropical area 1000 meters above sea level 45 minutes north of the coastal town of Retalhuleu. The community is nestled amongst a 300 acre plantation of organic coffee and macadamia trees where [...]
Profile: Only A Child
Posted by Laura on March 15, 2010
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Only A Child maintains a shelter and a carpentry shop for former street youth in Guatemala City, but the shelter is far more than just a place to sleep. The shelter provides its residents with a genuine home and a surrogate family in which the kids are taught accountability and responsibility. They must contribute time [...]
Profile: Long Way Home
Posted by Laura on March 15, 2010
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Long Way Home’s (LWH) mission as a 501(c)(3) is to break the cycle of poverty among youth in developing communities by creating educational opportunities, cultivating civic interaction, and encouraging healthy lifestyles. Education, Employment, and Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The intergenerational benefits of the opportunities provided by education have broken the cycle of dependency and [...]
Profile: Thirteen Threads (Oxlajuj B’atz)
Posted by Laura on March 9, 2010
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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 What does the [...]
Profile: Seeds of Help
Posted by Laura on March 1, 2010
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Seeds of Help Foundation is a private not-for-profit organization that provides grassroots-level assistance to improve the lives of people in developing nations through educational programs and construction projects. Currently, Seeds of Help Foundation serves 30 remote communities in a department (region) known as Huehuetenango, located in the western highlands of Guatemala where families survive by subsistence [...]
Profile: The Valhalla Experimental Station
Posted by Laura on February 22, 2010
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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 [...]
Profile: MADRE
Posted by Laura on February 22, 2010
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MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that works in partnership with community-based women’s organizations worldwide to address issues of health and reproductive rights, economic development, education and other human rights. They provide resources and training to enable their sister organizations to meet these goals by addressing immediate needs in their communities and developing [...]
Profile: Fotokids
Posted by Laura on February 22, 2010
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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 [...]
Profile: The Aid and Education Project
Posted by Laura on February 22, 2010
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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 [...]
Profile: Niños de Guatemala
Posted by Laura on February 12, 2010
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Niños de Guatemala (NDG) was founded in 2006 to play a part in building a better future for Guatemala and its citizens. NDG aims to realize its mission by initiating and supporting small-scale development projects where they are most needed. Local involvement and community development are central to NDG’s projects. NDG runs by three [...]
Profile: Intelligent Mobility International
Posted by Laura on February 8, 2010
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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 [...]