Category: Projects
ITEMP Offers Fresh Start for Entrapped Women & Children
María, 21, mother of four, fled dire poverty to come to La Antigua Guatemala hoping for a better future. But she didn’t find the tranquil, colonial paradise that makes Antigua so appealing to travelers worldwide. Instead, she and her older daughter were forced to work long hours for the owner of the house she lived [...]
Empowerment Through Education
The Integral Heart Foundation provides a safe place to learn and grow In the 1990s, Mick Quinn was an Irish immigrant living in New York City. Founder and CEO of several multimillion dollar companies, Quinn left New York after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Now at the top of his game, he began to [...]
Alterna
Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Guatemala written by Reid Lustig To fry an egg is no simple task. One must tromp through the forest harvesting wood with a machete, haul a hefty bundle back to the house on foot, arrange the sticks in a fire pit and nurse the flame to life. There are more [...]
Fotokids Anniversary
Twenty years of tackling poverty through photography Surrounded by 40 acres of toxic garbage, in the middle of Central America’s largest and most dangerous landfill, isn’t exactly where most people gain inspiration. However, for ex-Reuters photojournalist Nancy McGirr, the smell of burning plastic, combined with the sight of cardboard houses and gardens of sewage, is [...]
God’s Child Project
20 years of improving lives by Hannah Wallace Bowman Malnourished kids are among the many who benefit Guatemala has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in Latin America, with 45 percent of children under the age of 5 suffering from this chronic and life-threatening illness. When Jose Alberto arrived at Casa Jackson, an emergency [...]
Compañero en Salud
Changing lives through surgery by Astrid Barrios Since 2004 the NGO Compañero en Salud (CENS) has been providing surgical and health services to needy villagers in rural Guatemala. Our mission includes acting as a bridge between foreign surgeons and the Guatemalan patients. National and international doctors, nurses and medical personnel have helped more than 40,000 [...]
Make Your World A Home
Habitat for Humanity conference in honor of Guatemala success by Anna-Claire Bevan It’s not often that Guatemala is described as a global leader, but in the world of Habitat for Humanity, that’s exactly how it’s known. The NGO´s international president Ken Klein recently visited the country to celebrate the success of Habitat Guatemala and learn [...]
Asociación Manos Abiertas
written by Hannah Freiwald Asociación Manos Abiertas (AMA) was founded in March 2008 in response to the urgent need for reproductive health services in Ciudad Vieja. Our mission is to offer a safe and welcoming place where health services are provided for women by women, in a respectful and confidential manner without discrimination. We strive [...]
Safe Passage
One volunteer’s overwhelming experience serving in the city dump written by Hannah Wallace Bowman Every day at 7:15 a.m., a bleary-eyed group of Westerners gathers on the pavement outside La Antigua Guatemala’s San Francisco Church. Clutching banana bread and paper cups of steaming coffee, they soak up the early morning sun. Preparing to make their [...]
From Houses to Homes
by Joe Collins From Houses to Homes was founded in September 2004, and we began operations in Guatemala in January 2005 under Asociación De Casas A Hogares. From Houses to Homes aims to strengthen community harmony in Highland Guatemala by building lasting, healthy homes, improving access to health care and education, and inspiring participation between [...]
Niños de Guatemala
by Lidia Climent Martínez Niños de Guatemala (NDG) is an NGO that was founded in 2006 by Dutch students and Guatemalan residents to contribute to a better future for Guatemala through education. It tries to achieve this goal by starting or supporting small-scale community projects, with a focus on education and other youth-related projects. Our [...]
150 attend WINGS’ 10th anniversary celebration
Serving over 30,000 people in seven departments, WINGS recently celebrated over a decade of achievements in the fields of family planning, reproductive health and improving the lives of Guatemalan families. With the theme “It All Begins With Family Planning …,” WINGS’ 10th anniversary launch party on March 17 brought 150 guests to Mesón Panza Verde [...]
Guatemala NGO Network: Formerly known as La Antigua Network
The intention of the Guatemala NGO Network is to make the site a resource that the world can use to better serve Guatemala and its people. At a recent meeting held at La Peña de Sol Latino in La Antigua, attendees had the opportunity to hear about the work of, among others, the Reicken Foundation, [...]
T.E.S.S. Unlimited
Making a difference Tessa de Goede is a 27-year-old Dutch woman who came to Guatemala three years ago. After doing volunteer work in several countries she found out that helping children with cleft lips was the work that touched her the most. “It’s just a feeling I have inside when I see a baby with [...]
A Cure for Cobblestones
Transitions creates 10 years of mobility in Antigua Transitions Foundation, an Antigua-based organization dedicated to supporting and empowering Guatemalans with disabilities, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its wheelchair workshop. The workshop offers employment opportunities, currently to nine people with disabilities, and produces affordable and custom-tailored wheelchairs and mobility devices for those in need. History [...]
The Art of the Gourd
Mayan Hands is a small, fair-trade organization that has been working with Mayan artists since 1989. It works with approximately 200 weavers, organized in groups of 12 to 50 women in 11 western and northern Guatemalan highland communities. Its mission is to assist these women by providing the skills and markets necessary to earn a regular income, enabling them to provide for their families and gain control over their lives.
CONSTRU CASA
Building new lives in Guatemala written by Brian Kirkup Constru Casa was founded in 2004, and by the end of 2010 we hope to have built our 400th home. The houses are basic but effective, consisting of three rooms, concrete walls, a metal roof, a concrete floor, a shower and a toilet. The cost of [...]
Friends of the Deaf
LAVOSI (Las Voces del Silencio) Like so many, Chris Tackett came to La Antigua Guatemala to learn Spanish, but gradually Antigua, and a growing interest in the plight of the deaf here, lured him to become a full-time resident. He met Álvaro de León C. (a teacher of 30 years) and his son Álvaro who [...]
El Teatro Escolar en Antigua
written by Paloma Pérez-Templado, director El Teatro Escolar en Antigua works to promote art and culture by encouraging and exposing young people to creativity and artistic sensitivity. In March 2007 artist Pacho Toralla and his company Robalunas performed Calle Luna for the inauguration of the Teatro Escolar in La Antigua Guatemala. One hundred and thirty [...]
International Women’s Day
Thirteen Threads (www.thirteenthreads.org), a Maya women’s educational program based in Panajachel, is putting on its first International Women’s Day event. Representatives from each of its 22 participating Maya women’s groups will display their weavings and natural products. There will be live music, talks by indigenous women leaders, a mini-workshop on natural dyeing of fibers, free [...]
The American Society of Guatemala
written by Ralph Anske The American Society of Guatemala (ASG) was founded on June 14, 1960 by a group of American citizens residing in Guatemala. The society was created to provide a focal point to strengthen community ties and provide an institution to represent the interests of its members. It helps them contribute in situations [...]
Thirteen Threads
The mission of Thirteen Threads is to empower organized groups of indigenous women to bring about changes, through their own efforts, that will alleviate the adverse effects of poverty and improve their quality of life.
The Guardians of Las Gravileas
A project where women serve their sisters The center’s name is symbolic. In a country where coffee represents approximately 10 percent of the gross domestic income, the gravilea tree provides a critical, protective canopy for the shade-loving plant. Just as the gravilea tree provides this fundamental necessity for the cultivation of coffee, so, too, is [...]
A Spoonful of Honey
2nd in a series by Judy Cohen The natural healing properties of honey cover a wide range of ailments, and more uses are still being discovered. Doña Gavi’s tienda, located on 3a avenida behind the cathedral in La Antigua Guatemala, carries all-natural products, including several types of honey. Her favorite is gravilea, which she buys [...]
The Fundación Tradiciones Mayas
written by Marcelle Renkin photo: Jane Mintz Fundación Tradiciones Mayas (FTM), based in Panajachel, Lake Atitlán was founded by American social worker Jane Mintz after more than 10 years of fair trade with women’s weaving groups in rural highland communities. FTM’s United States counterpart, Maya Traditions, is a long-standing member of the U.S. Fair Trade [...]
Horses Have Rights
There is a forgotten population in Guatemala: the equine population. The Foundation for Equine Welfare in Guatemala, known as ESAP, reports that the Guatemalan government has not included more than 250,000 equines in the country’s census since 2003. For six years, horses, mules and donkeys have been forgotten by the government, and ESAP says that [...]
People and Projects: PROGRESA
PROGRESA is a Quaker-run scholarship/loan program that has been in existence for over 35 years. Jointly sponsored by the Guatemala Friends meeting and a Friends meeting in California, the program helps Guatemalans attend universities and secondary schools. Our focus is on the rural poor who often don’t have access to higher education in their communities. [...]
Project Niños de Guatemala
Niños de Guatemala is a nonprofit organization that provides education to Ciudad Vieja’s poorest children to develop themselves and improve their life quality and their community’s. NDG’s strength is in the combined support from both international and local people.
Project Partner for Surgery
One out of 10 rural Guatemalans suffers from a physical condition or disability that can be surgically cured. However, only 11 percent of Guatemalans have access to surgical care. Maya Indian populations face daunting barriers to treatment, including fear of hospitals and lack of information, Spanish language skills and financial resources.
Project Ix-canaan
written by Maraya Loza-Koxahn Project Ix-canaan was established in 1995 by Canadian Anne Lossing and Guatemalan doctor Enrique Chapetón in El Remate near Lake Petén Itzá. Her dream to live in a hot climate and a vision of world peace led Anne to the jungle, where she met a man with a complementary vision. Together [...]
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