Help Prevent Child Marriage in Rural Guatemala

Sharing Our Methodology

Our Impact & Learning team continues to expand WJI's reach by sharing our legal empowerment methodology with organizations across Guatemala. Most recently, the team traveled to the department of Izabal, where they partnered with a local school to train educators, staff and students to identify and prevent violence and child marriage. By equipping teachers with this knowledge and access to tools, we are helping create safer environments for girls across the country and multiplying the impact of your support even further.

Ruth's Story, Finding Her Voice

Ruth, is seventeen-years-old and a participant in our Adolescent Girls Program. She was a very shy teenager and although she enjoyed taking part and sharing her opinions, she was afraid of what others might think of her, which made her feel embarrassed and reluctant to speak in public or join groups. She initially didn't want to join the program because she feared being alone or excluded from groups, but her classmates who attended encouraged her to sign up.

Today, Ruth participates in a community group, feels more confident expressing her ideas, and is pursuing a degree in Accounting.

At the beginning of the program, Ruth showed some distrust toward her peers and the WJI team. As the oldest of three sisters who took part, she often guided them, and the three sisters helped their family sell food in the community. Her parents were supportive of her joining the program, her father attended a community leaders' workshop and expressed how happy he was to see his daughters involved in activities that he saw as positive for their futures.

Over the sixth month course, Ruth built many skills and gained confidence. She became more comfortable with her peers, sharing, laughing, and expressing her opinions with greater assurance. She began taking initiative in group activities, proposing ideas and guiding her team, something she had rarely done at the start of the program.

In Ruth's own words:

"My participation in the program has allowed me to acquire new knowledge and change my way of seeing things, especially by better knowing my rights and understanding important aspects for my personal growth. I have also developed my skills to relate to other people: I now have greater confidence to express my opinions, and I have formed new friendships with other girls in the program, expanding my relationships and support networks. For me, these learnings and new relationships are significant because they have helped me strengthen my self-esteem, feel more confident in myself, and gain new perspectives and tools to plan my life. I consider the topics addressed in the program to be fundamental to my growth, and I hope to continue using the knowledge I have acquired, strengthening my relationships with others, and applying this new way of seeing things in my daily life."

Thanks to supporters like you, girls like Ruth are gaining the confidence, knowledge, and support networks they need to shape their own futures.

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