Supporting indigenous mentors to reach more girls

Hello dear friends and donors, 
 
We want to start this report with an important reflection: with or without COVID, the importance of digital platforms continues to grow. It is the place where people look for materials and resources, for the work  we are doing, for pictures, contact and even the possibility to donate. We believe that even though everything is starting to get back to normal, having everything digitalized in a website gives a sense of formality and let mentors be reached by more people who want to donate, help or put them in contact with more girls.
 
We are planning on lunching 3 websites; one for each group of Abriendo Oportunidades mentors (Nalebak, Redmi and TMWC). We are co creating the content with them, in order to assure that all material and information uploaded is relevant and based on evidence. We believe that helping mentors with this tools and resources will give them more visibility and hopefully as a result more sustainability. We want to continue watching them grow and reach more girls because their amazing work should be known by more people. Can you help us in this mission?
 
Your continuous donations permits us to advance in our plans to support them. You can consider signing up for a monthly donation or sharing this project with your loved ones. Remember that every little donations helps towards a big change. 

Dear friends and donors, 

We are very happy to let you know that resources have been used in the best possible way and the results speak for themselves. REDMI AQ’AB’AL, group of mentors from the occident part of Guatemala, are working hard to reach more girls and give them as much content as possible. With COVID-19 the possibility to gather together in safe spaces has become almost impossible, so they found another way to reach girls. They discovered that all of the participating girls had radios at their houses. So what did they do?

They made an adaptation to the Abriendo Oportunidades curriculum guide and transmitted once a week the topics via radio. The adaptation consisted on a radio novel, which girls were able to listen from their houses through a local station. We were also able to send them some workbooks to fill out after the radio sessions. Mentors have been calling their houses to make sure girls are fine and listening as well as understanding the topics. Results have been amazing; even though communication is hard in COVID times, girls express to mentors that they are happy to have homework and a follow ups by them. This just demonstrates that Abriendo Oportunides continues to be a safe space for girls, even when it’s not physically.

All of this has been possible due to your support, we hope you continue with us in this amazing journey full of new experiences and lessons learned. Please don’t hesitate in telling your friends and family that a little extra support for us is always welcomed. 

Stay safe, a big hug from Abriendo Oportunidades Team 

La Casa Productiva es un espacio para que las niñas puedan aprender, crecer y crear. Este espacio se sostiene gracias a la producción de huevos de gallinas libres, y al cultivo de 8 tipos diferentes de plantas tradicionales. Las mentoras de Na'leb'ak, que manejan la Casa Productiva, llegado tan lejos que incluso lograron atrapar la atención de la Defensoría de la Mujer Indígena -DEMI-, la única institución del gobierno de Guatemala para las mujeres indígenas en el país. La defensora, junto a la delegada de Alta Verapaz, visitaron este magnífico proyecto hace unas semanas. Ellas mostraron admiradas por el trabajo que se hace en la Casa Productiva y mostraron su interés en mantener el contacto para invitar a las mentoras a diferentes reuniones, encuentros de aprendizaje y proyectos a futuro. Las oportunidades para las mentoras siguen creciendo y esto solo puede ser a causa de su increíble esfuerzo, tiempo, compromiso e ideas. 

Na'leb'ak demuestra que la inversión en en grupos de mujeres autónomas tiene la capacidad para ayudar a impulsar el cambio para las niñas y adolescentes en sus comunidades; una iniciativa económica de mujeres que funciona bien, fomenta la independencia económica y el empoderamiento de las nuevas generaciones. A través del tiempo el objetivo de Na'leb'ak sigue siendo el mismo: contribuir al país, acercarse a niñas y adolescentes, y equiparlas con habilidades para llevar una vida saludable. 

Porque la independencia económica no es el fin sino un medio para alcanzar a más niñas - dice Karla, una de las mentoras

Te agradecemos de todo corazón si puedes ayudarnos con donar o compartir esta increíble labor para que más personas la conozcan y lleguemos cada vez más lejos. Gracias por leernos y estar al pendiente de nosotros, esperamos usted y su familia se encuentren muy bien. 

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The Casa Productiva is a space for girls to learn, grow and create. This space is sustained through to the production of free chicken eggs, and the cultivation of 8 different types of traditional plants. The Na'leb'ak mentors, who run the Casa Productiva, went so far that they even managed to catch the attention of the Office of the Ombudsman for Indigenous Women -DEMI-, the only Guatemalan governmental institution for indigenous women in the country. Their representative, together with the Alta Verapaz delegate, visited this project a few weeks ago. They expressed their admiration for the work that is done in the Casa and showed their interest in maintaining contact to invite the mentors to different meetings, learning encounters and future projects. The opportunities for mentors continue to grow and this can only be because of their incredible effort, time, commitment and ideas.

Na'leb'ak demonstrates that investing in autonomous women's groups has the capacity to help drive change for girls and adolescents in their communities; A well-functioning women's economic initiative fosters economic independence and the empowerment of new generations. Over time Na'leb'ak's goal has remained the same: to contribute to the country, to reach out to girls and adolescents, and to equip them with skills to lead healthy lives.

Because economic independence is not the end but a means to reach more girls - says Karla, one of the mentors

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and invite you to help Karla and her colleagues by donating or sharing this incredible work so that more people get to know it and it goes further and further. Thanks for reading and staying with us, we hope you and your family are very well.

Links:

• FB de Na'leb'ak
• FB de DEMI

Dear donor,

We hope that this message finds you well and successfully navigating this “new normal” and staying safe during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the last report we talked about our key informants on the Covid-19 pandemic; our team obtained information from people living in rural areas to know the best way to support the most vulnerable. We attached a summary of the findings and now we want to share with you a webinar where Ángel del Valle, country director of Population Council (PC) Guatemala, participated. The webinar was titled “Adaptations in Crisis: Stress Testing our Intentional Design Model for Girls’ Programs”, in which a briefly reviewed theory of change of how emergencies are mediated through girls was exposed. Reports from Guatemala, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Mozambique highlighted how to positively engage girls, their families, and communities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Find the webinar in this link: https://vimeo.com/413392357/b94cebf03b

Two other little but important updates:

1. We are developing a radio adaptation of the AO program.
2. We are in close contact with mentors to increase their knowledge around the Covid-19 outbreak and how to access the government’s economic relief programs.

If it is possible, we request you to help us with your donation so we can continue and sustain our efforts. We believe now more than ever that girls and mentors need to feel safe and supported. 

Thank you for all that you have done for the Council's work, and we look forward to continuing engaging with you.

Best regards,

Hola,

Sabemos que la pandemia del coronavirus esta afectandonos a todos de una u otra manera. Esperamos que ustedes y sus familias se encuentren bien. 

También sabemos que obtener información certera de las condiciones que viven las personas en áreas rurales del país suele ser difícil. Por eso, y buscando la mejor forma de apoyar a los más vulnerables conforme a sus necesidades hemos realizado un estudio con 144 informantes claves de 10 municipalidades indigenas. 

Puede encontrar el resumen de los resultados adjuntos, continuaremos contándole cómo estamos avanzando en la adaptación del programa Abriendo Oportunidades a una versión de radio que nos permita alcanzar y seguir cerca de las niñas de Uspantán.

Si esta en sus posibilidades, le pedimos que nos ayude con su donación para que podamos continuar y aumentar nuestros esfuerzos. Puede considerar una donación mensual recurrente para participar continuamente en nuestro trabajo.

Gracias por todo lo que ha hecho por el trabajo del Population Council.

Saludos

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Hi,

We know that the coronavirus pandemic is affecting all of us in one way or another. We hope that you and your families are well.

We also know that obtaining accurate information on conditions of the people living in the rural areas of the country is difficult. Therefore, in order to find the best way to support the most vulnerable according to their needs, we carried out a study with 144 key informants from 10 indigenous municipalities.

You can find the summary of the results attached, we will continue to tell you how we are progressing in adapting the Abriendo Oportunidades program to a radio version that allows us to reach and stay close to the girls of Uspantán.

If it is possible, we request you to help us with your donation so we can continue and sustain our efforts.

You can consider a recurring monthly donation to be continuously engaged with our work.

Thank you for all that you have done for Population Council's work, and we look forward for your continued engagement.

Best Regards.

Links:

• Check our Facebook new posts!

• Guatemala COVID-19 Brief (PDF)