Guatemala English language Magazine
Many years ago, Viaventure purchased a school bus and had it driven down to Guatemala from the United States by two staff members. The bus was never used to the extent that had been anticipated by the La Antigua-based tour operator; it remained parked for long periods of time. During a recent conversation with friends from Global Visionaries, the idea […]
Read moreThe calm (and coffee) after the storm: Santa Anita La Unión Rebels are on the move in Libya, Egyptians are overhauling their constitution and Tunisians unseated a multi-decade dictator, but reading about it in Guatemala’s relative tranquility makes it easy to forget that the same turmoil engulfed Guatemala not long ago. A history of the 36-year civil war and what […]
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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 way into one of the […]
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Ecofiltro, a Guatemalan company that produces an innovative, easy-to-use water purifier, has been named one the world’s Top 50 Small and Medium Enterprises by infoDev, an international association sponsored by the World Bank. Based in La Antigua Guatemala, Ecofiltro, S.A., is a joint effort between Guatemalan scientist Fernando Mazariegos, who invented Ecofiltro in 1981, and entrepreneur Philip Wilson. Ecofiltro has […]
Read moreInnovative 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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Finishing two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Totonicopán, Samra Brouk summarized her experience in three words: “challenging, surprising, satisfying.” “It was probably the two hardest years of my life but at no point did I think there was anyplace else I should be,” said Brouk, 24, a native of Rochester, N.Y., who plans to go to law school […]
Read moreby 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 the poor and civil society. […]
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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 vision We approach our projects […]
Read moreby Martin Leadbitter Sunday, January 30, 2011, saw the first-ever public demonstration in Guatemala claiming respect, rights and legislation for all animals. The marchers gathered early at the assembly point on Guatemala City’s Avenida La Reforma, making new friends and mingling with old ones, admiring the costumed dogs and painted people, and the various banners and placards requesting redress of […]
Read moreAsociación Hombres y Mujeres en Acción (Men and Women in Action) was founded in 2009 to address the most basic needs of people and to improve their quality of life. In just two years it has built 34 houses, installed over 250 vented stoves and treated over 2,000 patients in its remote medical clinics. Working mostly in San Martín Jilotepeque, […]
Read moreWith 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 […]
Read moreby Erol Reyal In the first few week of October 2005, the Pacific Coast of Central America was affected by severe winds and rains of Hurricane Stan. The heavy rains took the communities of Guatemala completely by surprise and created massive landslides and floods. This catastrophe not only caused material damage but it also took the lives of hundreds of […]
Read moreChildren dance to raise scholarship funds by Nancy Hoffman Niños con Bendición is a group of 16 children ages 6-13 who perform folk dances before various audiences to raise money for scholarships for their schooling and to help cover daily living expenses. The group was founded in 2004 to give children in the village of San Antonio Aguas Calientes a […]
Read moreby Liz Ballantyne-Jackson Exposure to smoke from cooking fire kills approximately two million people worldwide every year. Globally, nearly three billion people use polluting, inefficient stoves or open flames to cook their food. The result is deforestation, carbon emissions and often-fatal illness. Inhaling the toxic fumes while preparing tortillas and frijoles puts rural Guatemalan women and children at risk of […]
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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, […]
Read moreBy Nancy Hoffman Niños con Bendición is a group of 16 children ages 6-13 who perform folk dances before various audiences to raise money for scholarships for their schooling and to help cover daily living expenses. Dressed in traditional traje from various Guatemala communities, the children enchanted patrons Saturday, Dec. 11, at La Peña del Sol Latino, 5a calle poniente […]
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Mary Sue Morris, born in Amarillo, Texas, came to La Antigua in 1981 to learn Spanish. She fell in love with the country and in 1993 she came back, purchased some land and built the impeccably appointed Posada del Angel and the Joyería del Angel, both very successful businesses in Antigua. When she became very ill she chose a group […]
Read moreMaking 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 cleft lip. I just […]
Read moreTransitions 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 workshop was rented from […]
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Showcases Mushrooms and Temescales If snack wrappers blemishing the Guatemalan countryside dishearten you, take heart. There are places you can go where litter is not only unseen, its demise is being plotted. They are snapshots of Guatemala’s glory before the modern container revolution. And, primero Dios, they are foretastes of the coming restoration of that glory. The revolution in question […]
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text and photo by William Lynch It was the finals for the Mosquito Division championship of the Open Schools Soccer Tournament. A field full of seven-, eight- and nine-year- olds was struggling to take home the City Champs Trophy, a tiny thing perhaps but very important to these kids. The game was chaotic since children at this age can’t kick […]
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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 is deaf. Álvaro Jr. received […]
Read morewritten 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 students from the Colonial Bilingüe […]
Read morewritten 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 where citizens of the United […]
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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.
Read morewhitten 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 […]
Read moreA 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 Las Gravileas meant to offer […]
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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 Federation and represents the women’s […]
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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. Our office is in Parramos, […]
Read moreNiños 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.
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