Promoting Girls' Education & Equality in Guatemala

Immediately after GIrl Rising's last report, Guatemala went into lockdown on March 16th, restricting movement and travel (including shut down of public transportation) across the country, with restrictions on gatherings, school and market closures and mandatory curfews and use of masks in public. These measures remain with devasting effects throughout Guatemala, but we continue to work to meet the needs of the youth we serve by: 

• Working with partners on adapting Girl Rising (GR) materials and activities, including storytelling, for different digital and at-home learning contexts.

• Providing partners with funding to secure and distribute basic food and supplies for program families as well as support for partner communication costs/needs to stay connected with youth and with GR.

• Developing radio programming to deliver GR stories and materials to program participants in three regions. In addition to GR-focused content, we aim to include key information on the COVID-19 pandemic, including its socio-economic implications, as well as mental health and self-care strategies. These broadcasts will also reach a wider audience of girls, boys and community members with GR's powerful gender-equality messaging and resources. 

• Building alliances with other NGOs in Guatemala through digital platforms and advocacy initiatives; sharing COVID-19-related information and GR educational materials in different languages with these networks. 

• Finalizing, with radio partner FGER, the dubbing of films in K’iche’ & Kaqchikel. 

During these challenging times, it is wonderful to see the commitment of our partners to their communities as well as how quickly and creatively they’ve worked to meet the increasing needs of program youth. As things are in constant flux, we will provide updates as possible of ways we continue to adapt our work. 

In 2020, GR is excited to build on the pilot with returning partners MAIA and REDMI Aq’ab’al and broaden the scope, both geographically and demographically, with new partners COINCIDIR, Colegio Miguel Ángel Asturias and EPRODEP. This will bring the project to new communities (Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, Jalapa and Guatemala City) reaching an estimated 500 youth, ages 8-17, as well as parents, family and community members. This year we’ll also work with teachers and principals in addition to mentors. 

Based on evaluation results and partner feedback, we revised the curriculum, including using photos from Guatemala and updating country content. Supplementary materials were enhanced by creating a colored booklet version of the storybook, provided to each participant, and editing a short video featuring girls from the first pilot and storytelling workshop talking about their future aspirations. With the completion of the dubbing of the six short films into K’iche’ and Kaqchikel, we can better connect with parents and community members, potentially using the films for community screenings, discussions and teacher-parent meetings. 

All partners began programming with participants during the past few weeks. During MAIA’s first session, one student shared, “We can be the change if we propose to be so, but we have to start with ourselves and then help others.”