Supporting indigenous mentors to reach more girls

By now you may know that Abriendo Oportunidades program has worked for over 15 years in Guatemala, reaching nearly 15,000 girls and adolescents and over 400 young indigenous mentors. Abriendo has created a community of women that see the value on staying together to sustain positive change for girls at the community level, and now have stablished themselves as non-governmental organizations. A new movement has started. 

So this month we reunited with some of AO alumni to get to know what they are up to, what are their aspirations and goals for the future. Some of them are part of the mentor-led organizations, some others are not. This opportunity to reconnect allowed us to listen to their experiences, intertwine them, and detect points of encounter and divergence between them. Some of the participants of this first meeting are now community leaders, some of them have become midwives, some of them are now graduating college. Nevertheless, they still have to face barriers imposed for indigenous women and that is the challenge. We are actively working to listen more, and support mentors' in their journey to become autonomous and overcoming those barriers. 

This is only possible with the help of our GlobalGiving donors, so thank you from all of us at Abriendod Oportunidades. Stay with us for more news about the Abriendo movement in the months to come. We know there are great things to come. 

Last August, we shared with you, our GlobalGiving community, about the new proyect for Abriendo Oportunidades in Sololá, a region located in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. The creation of a new safe space where girls can learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) abilities. This project is aimed at creating a mentor led space for empowering girls through collaborative work using DIY technology in the form of buildable computers. This space is called Makerspaces and has enable girls to share, create, learn, and play with each other. 

Now, as part of the celebration for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Abriendo Oportunidades joins the call of the Secretary of the United Nations to put an end to the inequality gaps between men and women in science. In the last couple of weeks, our team visited the girls' club and got to play with their Arduinos. Girls programmed and built a thermometer from with their own computers and hardware. 

We believe every girl has a right to have an opportunity to achieve her dreams. It is an amazing experience to watch these girls grow to their potential and develop a new interest towards technology. We hope that in the next couple of months, they will be able to share their DIY projects with the rest of the community in a Science Fair that will elevate their visibility among adults. Keep with us, to harvest the fruit of their efforts and join us for that amazing celebration. Thanks for being part of this journey!