Guarantee Internet Access for Mayan Ixil Youth

At Novanet, supporting Ixil youth doesn't always look the same. Sometimes it's a university scholarship, sometimes it's quality internet access — and sometimes, like this time, it's something as simple and meaningful as a basketball jersey.

Novanet is Filantropis' community internet social enterprise in the Ixil region of Guatemala. Every subscription helps finance educational opportunities, digital inclusion, and youth development initiatives — keeping families connected across borders and investing in the next generation of Ixil leaders. This quarter, that mission took an unexpected but meaningful form.

THIS QUARTER'S STORY

When the Students Knocked on Our Door

Although Novanet's core work is providing affordable internet connectivity, our mission is ultimately to expand opportunities for young people in the Ixil region. When a group of students from the Instituto Nacional de Educación Básica (INEB) came to us asking for jerseys to represent their school in the mid-year basketball championship, supporting them became another way of investing in their future.

They didn't have the resources to get a full uniform set for the team. Our primary goal has always been to support the potential of Ixil youth, whatever form that support takes — so rather than seeing this as outside our usual programs, we saw it as a natural extension of our mission: listen to what young people need, and respond with concrete solutions.

We sponsored jerseys for 6 students, allowing them to compete with identity, pride, and the backing of their school.

Why This Matters

For many young people in Chajul, sport is a space of belonging, discipline, and teamwork — skills that translate directly to academic achievement, community leadership, and entrepreneurship. Wearing a jersey with your team's name gives you something more than fabric: it gives you the certainty that someone believes in you.

  6 students equipped with new sports jerseys for the school championship.

  A student team with their own identity to represent their community and school.

  A community that sees, once again, that Novanet and Filantropis respond when young people ask for support.

Gestures like this are only possible because of people like you. Every donation allows us to say yes when a young person asks for an opportunity — whether that opportunity comes through a scholarship, a reliable internet connection, or a jersey that says: someone here believes in you.

We are just getting started. With your continued support, we'll keep showing up — in whatever form the Ixil community needs us most.