Protecting Our World Heritage – Centro Regional De Patrimonio (CERPA)

Protecting our wold Heritage CERPA

Meet Ana Lucía González Muñoz and Yoldez Halleb and how their amazing story of friendship turned into a heritage project, here in Guatemala: CERPA They met in Baku, Azerbaijan, where they were representing their countries, Guatemala and Tunisia, at the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum,during the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. There, they connected on several […]

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Strengthening Pre-schools Across Guatemala

Strengthening Pre-schools Across Guatemala

Strengthening School Environments in Pre-schools Across Guatemala (English) Samuel Camhi Levy Foundation began its work in Quetzaltenango, locally known as Xela. In 2013, with the support of the Foundation for the Integral Development of Socioeconomic Programs (Fundap as executor), together the group supported 13 public schools — five years later there are more than 100 communities using this model. At […]

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The Antigua International School Celebrates a Milestone

The Antigua International School

Think Critically, Act Ethically, Serve Others. Arturo and José Pablo stood up slowly and faced their classmates. The class had gathered comfortably in a circle, strewn on the couches and beanbags in the library. The boys leaned over to the computer to start the video they had produced, “1954 Coup D’etat: Death of the Guatemalan Spring.” As the video played, […]

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Education in Guatemala Happy Teacher’s Day -June 25th-

Education in Guatemala Happy Teacher’s Day

Teachers have a particularly difficult job in Guatemala as few resources are allotted to public schools. In theory, education is free and compulsory through sixth grade. Books, busing and uniforms are not free and result in higher drop out levels. Today, about 4 million children are enrolled out of a total population of 15.8 million people. Education in colonial times […]

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Difficulties of Education in Guatemala

Difficulties of Education in Guatemala

With Teacher’s Day celebrated in Guatemala on June 25, we recognize teachers’ hard work and the difficulties of education in Guatemala. Many visitors ask if public education is free in Guatemala. Well, “yes” — but school supplies, uniforms and transportation are not. Public schools have little funding as Guatemala has one of the lowest investment rates per child/per school day […]

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The Ark of Compassion through Music and Medical Services

The Ark of Compassion through Music

In 2016 the Ark of Compassion brought a group of talented high school musicians to San Andres, Guatemala to participate in its program “Empowerment Training in Guatemala.” During the ten-day trip, it donated instruments and the student teachers taught trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet and violin to local children. The result, the San Andres Semetabaj Youth Orchestra is now a reality. […]

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The Good Hotel Antigua

good hotel antigua

The Good Hotel Antigua demonstrates how premium hospitality and doing good for the local community can go together.   I am so excited to tell this success story. In 2012 when I first heard about it, Good Hotel Antigua was of those utopian dreams that sounded both totally exciting and practically impossible with its ambitious goals. In September 2016 this […]

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Antigua Green School

Antigua Green School

Antigua Green School individually tracks each student’s progress and adapts its teaching style to them. Every parent the world over wants the best education for his or her children. And Guatemala is no different. Ensuring the best education they can is most parents’ main priority so as to provide their children with the greatest chance of success. And having a […]

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Fotokids Celebrating 25 Years

Fotokids Guatemala

I covered the wars in Central America during the 1980s as a staff photojournalist for Reuters. I documented brutality and assassinations and there are images that will never leave me. When I slowed down enough to process all that I had seen I was not surprisingly—depressed. It was during this period that I received an assignment to take photos for […]

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The Antigua International School receives accreditation

Guatemala education

The Antigua International School has received accreditation through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ (NEASC) Commission on International Education (CIE). Founded in 1885, NEASC is the oldest regional accrediting association in the United States. It serves almost 2,000 public and independent schools, universities and colleges (think Harvard, Yale, M.I.T., etc.) as well as all public schools in the […]

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Education in Guatemala — A Brief Overview

Guatemala education

The University of San Carlos of Guatemala is one of the oldest universities in the Americas. Education has come a long way since higher education began in 1620 at the Colegio de Santo Tomas de Aquino, predecessor to San Carlos, which was officially founded in 1676. Women did not attend university in colonial times, and only some were accepted at […]

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Project Village: Education is the number one priority

guatemala education

The mountainous indigenous village of San Bernabé Vista Hermosa, near the municipality of Parramos, in the department of Chimaltenango, has been adopted — all 350 inhabitants… by Project Village. The brainchild of two former law partners from Denver, Colorado, Project Village began in 2006. The original thought was to coordinate and fund projects of other NGOs, each of which specialized in […]

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Niños De Guatemala

Niños de Guatemala

Working to break the cycle of poverty and empower local communities around La Antigua Guatemala. Marten Dressen, his sister Annemiek Dressen and their friend Sander founded Niños De Guatemala (NDG) in 2006, in collaboration with Carmen Paniagua, a resident of La Antigua Guatemala. Working to break the cycle of poverty and empower local communities around La Antigua Guatemala, the NGO now […]

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Guatemala’s Magical Classroom

The nonprofit group Let’s Be Ready developed ‘Aula Mágica’ (Magical Classroom) to bring vital preschool education to remote regions of Guatemala. Every morning, teens walk mountain roads in rural Guatemala carrying magic in their backpacks. When they reach their destinations—community centers, churches, homes—they’re greeted by excited preschoolers who scramble into a circle, eager for the fun to begin. The teens pull […]

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Música en las Aldeas / Music in the Villages

This time last year Rafa had problems reading and writing and had stopped attending school. Now his literary skills have improved, he is reading music and back in class—all thanks to his classes at Musica en las Aldeas. As Rafa, 9, says, “I love playing piano. I like the sound of making my own music and I love coming here.” […]

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SERES — Education for Sustainable Development, Guatemala

photo Guatemala sustainable education

SERES, a movement started seven years ago in Guatemala and El Salvador by Australian engineer and passionate change maker, Corrina Grace, has been awarded the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development. Corrina and SERES leadership facilitator, Abigail Quic, were invited to Paris to receive the prize on behalf of over 2,000 youth and young adults between 15 and 25. […]

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EDUCATION Antigua International School

Challenging students to cultivate a love of learning. Schools serve as model homes, as a place where learning and community coexist, a place where children strive for academic success while developing their personal growth in a supportive environment. How does the Antigua International School offer a quality education that encourages students to push past boundaries, to think outside of the […]

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Coffee Brews an Education in Guatemala

ARIMA – Community Service. Mission statement: Arima delivers limited editions of extraordinary, specialty grade coffee. We believe in openness and honesty to create a premium and socially responsible coffee brand. Arima always and only works the best single-origin 100 percent arabica strictly hard beans (SHB). We visit every coffee estate to ensure quality and establish a long-term relationship with producers. […]

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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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Outdoor Education

Written by. Axel Aburez Antigua’s team-building workshops add fun and adventure To walk on a steel cable strung among treetops 10 meters high was the challenge for the day. The adrenaline, the spirit of “I can” and the stunning view of the Panchoy Valley were elements of the event held by CasaSito and its allied organizations to strengthen relations among […]

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YogAntigua: 108 Sun Salutations — for Education

As many people have discovered, yoga is good for the mind, body and soul. It turns out that this year it will also be good for education! On March 10 at 4:30 p.m. YogAntigua will host its third “108 Sun Salutations” event at El Cerro de La Cruz. Similar to a walkathon, participants commit to practicing up to 108 sun […]

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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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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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