Guatemalans Helping Guatemalans

by Elizabeth Bell. Juan Pablo Romero is one of the 10 CNN Heroes who were selected from 150,000 candidates nominated worldwide. He started Los Patojos (The Kids) in his household garage in Jocotenango with three kids and is now a globally recognized hero! Los Patojos was created to promote hope, dignity, trust and a dialog for Jocotenango’s youth. As Juan […]

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Education First

A Safe Passage for Children in Guatemala City’s Basurero Neigborhood by Benjamin Reeves Guatemala City’s zona 3 includes the basurero, the city’s dump. Though there is no official census, an estimated 7,000 people, which according to local residents includes approximately 1,000 children, work in the basurero picking through trash to find plastic and metal that can be sold to recyclers. […]

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Música en Las Aldeas

Classical Music Education for Antigua’s Children by Benjamin Patrick Reeves La Antigua Guatemala does not have a premier institution for providing musical education to children, but Carolina Palomo aims to change that with the opening of a new, non-profit music school, Musica en Las Aldeas. “For 12 years [children] don’t receive any art classes in the public schools,” Palomo said. […]

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Aprendamos a Darle Buen Trato A Los Animales

Vaccinating the dogs and cats campaign (image by photos.rudygiron.com)

Actualmente se encuentran miles de perros abandonados y perdidos en las calles, aguantando hambre, sed, enfermedades y las inclemencias del tiempo. Lo lamentable es que en un alto porcentaje, han sido abandonados por sus dueños o sencillamente los echaron a la calle. Actos infames y crueles, todos sabemos que los animales domésticos y en especial las mascotas necesitan de los seres humanos para sobrevivir.

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Sailing Away

A group of future sailors learn the craft through hands-on experience.

by Linda Conard Sharing a passion for boating with the next generation of sailors In a workshop in land-locked La Antigua Guatemala, a mile above sea level, boat builders Jean Vayssier and Pierre Turlin, and their team of Guatemalan artisans, are handcrafting sailboats to exacting standards. Their workshop, which looks like a small plane hangar, is filled with the aroma […]

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Painting the Future

Ayúdame a Pintar Mi Futuro teaches kids more than just art by Revue Staff In 2008 brothers José and Henry Méndez Chavajay, Maya Tz’utujil painters from San Pedro la Laguna, Lake Atitlán, found out that the children who were visiting their gallery—watching them paint and wanting to learn how themselves—were fatherless, and that their mothers were struggling to raise them […]

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10 Tips for Learning Spanish

Learning Spanish can be a great asset for traveling in Latin America. Studying in Guatemala can open a door to the incredible cultural richness of Guatemala and to new Spanish-speaking friends. At the same time, learning Spanish can be daunting, especially in the beginning when you don’t know what to expect. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

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The Zen of Caber and Cupo

The word room was in our first-grade spellers. So why are we forever mistranslating this word? I have discussed in a previous column “smurfy” Spanish verbs. Well, room is a smurfy English noun, so if you think our language is never smurfy, get over it. Room, when you think about it, can be abstract or concrete. The former is usually […]

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A Quest for Education

Open Windows Foundation creates an opportunity to learn in San Miguel Dueñas San Miguel Dueñas looks like any other pueblo bordering La Antigua Guatemala. Camionetas come in and out at a regular clip, bypassing an antiquated church alluding to a Guatemala of old. There are a handful of tiendas staffed by abuelitas selling acid orange carrots and flowers. Dueñas is […]

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Studying Archaeology in Guatemala

The search is on for student funding at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala by Tomas Cernikovsky Famous for its breathtaking Mayan ruins, Guatemala has “great archaeological potential” for future studies, scholars say, but university tuition is beyond the reach of many potential archaeology students, especially those from indigenous families. That’s why leaders of the Archaeology Department at the Universidad […]

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Niños de Guatemala

Profit for Non-Profit: Working toward a financially sustainable future For those who struggle financially, charitable giving is usually the first thing that gets cut from the budget, often leaving non-profits and those they help in a predicament. For non-profits, there are good years and bad years; however, the unpredictability is as debilitating as the lack of funds. Niños de Guatemala—a […]

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Cardiology Procedures in Guatemala

Regulating the electrical rhythm of your heart by Lori Shea Just like the kitchen is the heartbeat of your home, the blood pumped from your heart muscle delivers sustenance, stability and the elements of reconstruction to all parts of your body. Your cardiovascular system draws life-giving oxygen from the lungs and delivers it to the brain and organs in a […]

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Aprendamos A Darle Buen Trato A Los Animales

Ya lo dijo Alexander Von Humbolt LA CULTURA DE UN PAIS SE MIDE POR TRATO QUE LE DAN A LOS ANIMALES. Actualmente se encuentran miles de perros abandonados y perdidos en las calles, aguantando hambre, sed, enfermedades y las inclemencias del tiempo. Lo lamentable es que en un alto porcentaje, han sido abandonados por sus dueños o sencillamente los echaron […]

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The Zen of The “ImpSub”

The “Impsub” is not a subsurface vessel manned by cheeky cherubs, but a tense separating men scholars from boys. I would know, since it long confined me among the latter; I still regress on occasion. The topic must be approached inductively and deductively. If you have been out of college long enough to forget what these are, a refresher (in […]

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La casa De Cervantes

Written by. Julie Potvin An oasis of literature in Guatemala City’s Historical Center Just behind the Palacio del Gobierno, in Guatemala City’s zone 1, on 5a calle at the corner of 5a avenida, art meets literature under the roof of a cultural center that promotes fair trade, as well as a more inclusive and sustainable economy for Guatemalan society. Since […]

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La Casa De Cervantes

Written by. Julie Potvin An oasis of literature in Guatemala City’s Historical Center Just behind the Palacio del Gobierno, in Guatemala City’s zone 1, on 5a calle at the corner of 5a avenida, art meets literature under the roof of a cultural center that promotes fair trade, as well as a more inclusive and sustainable economy for Guatemalan society. Since […]

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Studying Spanish In Xela

My teacher yanked my homework away from me and began furiously marking it up. “This is ugly. You write bad.” Normally, this sort of treatment would lead to a verklempt Skype call to mom. In this case, my “teacher” was 8 years old, and I was welcoming the abuse. During Semana Santa, I became one of the thousands of international […]

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IGA: Committed to Culture

IGA facade

IGA provides an array of educational development programs “We have a commitment to culture in Guatemala and want to make it accessible to all,” said Adriana Recinos Matheu, cultural director of IGA (Instituto Guatemalteco Americano). “We need to educate our audience and for that we have to start with the kids.” Since 1945, IGA has been providing individuals of all […]

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Antigua International School

Director Jim Pastore

Teaching kids how to think, not what to think As the founding director of a new, international school in La Antigua Guatemala, longtime educator Jim Pastore is confident that the 21st century curriculum will launch kids on a lifetime of learning that will prepare them for the jobs of the future, those that may not even exist today. “My concern […]

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A Museum for Kids

El Museo de los Niños, Zone 13, Guatemala City If the motto of most museums seems to be: “Look but don’t touch,” el Museo de los Niños in Guatemala City is the other extreme. Located in Zone 13, the center opened in February 2000 and has since welcomed more than 1.5 million schoolchildren from all over Guatemala. Through an assortment […]

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Dozens attend fundraiser for Niños de Guatemala

Niños de Guatemala

Dozens of patrons enjoyed cocktails and appetizers Saturday evening, July 16, at a fundraiser for Niños de Guatemala (NDG), an NGO that operates a school for poor children in Ciudad Vieja, among other education-related services. Guests met with blue-shirted staff and volunteers and viewed a series of photographs depicting children and teachers at NDG’s school, Nuestro Futuro, which offers quality […]

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Esperanza Juvenil

Innovative program rescues kids, prepares them for success A shoeshine boy until last fall, Gregorio wants to be a doctor when he grows up. Thanks to an unlikely encounter on the streets of Guatemala City, he actually has a chance. “I was going to school in the morning but working, shining shoes, in the afternoons. I met a man whose […]

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Concerted Effort

With transatlantic support, new school opens in Jocotenango Built with an outpouring of support from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, a modern new school recently opened in Jocotenango for over 500 children, many of whom might not get an education otherwise. The spacious Escuela Proyecto La Esperanza has 20 classrooms, a computer lab, an audio-visual room, library, kitchen, psychology […]

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With transatlantic support, new school opens in Jocotenango

Education for the Children Foundation

Built with an outpouring of support from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, a modern new school has just opened for over 500 Guatemalan children, many of whom might not get an education otherwise. Located in Jocotenango, just three kilometers from La Antigua, the spacious Escuela Proyecto La Esperanza has 20 classrooms, a computer lab, an audio-visual room, library, kitchen, […]

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Teaching to Think

whitten by Christine K. Wilson photos: Santiago Albert Pons Socrates once said “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” Teaching someone how to think instead of what to think is the hallmark of a good education. A student who thinks is capable of analyzing, of making decisions, and forming opinions—skills badly needed in today’s world. Fortunately […]

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