Empower Maya Youth in a Post-Genocide Community

We’re excited to share some updates about how we wrapped up the year in Chajul! And wanted to share some big organizational news too—we were honored to recently be awarded the 2021 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Literacy Prize. 

Hybrid learning

For the final months of the 2021 school year which ended in November, most of our scholars were at home in Chajul, with just two students  in another city in Guatemala where their school is located and the internet is stronger. Schooling was in a hybrid model with mostly virtual classes and a few in-person classes a week. Our scholars have shown so much resilience through this extremely challenging time. The situation for children and youth in Guatemala continues to be concerning with many youth attempting to make the journey to the US to escape poverty, limited work and study opportunities, high numbers of school dropouts, and the effects of climate change. We are so proud of our scholars, their dedication to their education, and their perseverance. 

Academic & food support 

Our scholars participated in nearly 100 hours of math, language, and communications virtual classes throughout 2021, with Limitless Horizons Ixil teachers Berenice and Juan Enrique. We also continued to provide internet data plans so that scholars could log on for their online classes. As the effects of pandemic plus last fall’s hurricanes continued to impact families’ crop yield and food security, we’ve been distributing healthy food and hygiene baskets to our families. 

Workshops & psychologist support

Youth recently participated in a couple of workshops with our new psychologist Karen. One was about managing stress and stressful situations, and another about resilience. Karen is also from Chajul, and she and our team know well that in the face of life’s adversities, young people who develop resilience are better able to do well in school and achieve their goals. We are grateful to be able to provide our students with important workshops like these and to offer Karen’s support through individual therapy sessions if needed. In addition, the youth participated in a workshop about family planning and menstruation with our partner WINGS Guatemala. The session helped girls make informed decisions about their own bodies and boys understand more about their female peers and family members.

High school graduation & job interview support

In December, we celebrated the high school graduation of nine of our scholars! They met for a socially distanced meal and received certificates, gifts, and many congratulations from our team. We are so proud of all the scholars have accomplished, especially as their last two years were successfully completed during the pandemic and succeeding in online classes was extra tough. These graduates also participated in a workshop with the Managing Director Verónica and Assistant Director Zuliana about preparing for job interviews. We can’t wait to see what these inspiring young leaders do next and how they continue to strengthen their community. 

Looking forward to 2022 

The Guatemalan government has shared that the 2022 school year will start in a hybrid mode and may change to full in-person mode depending on the vaccination rates. We are currently making plans to adjust and adapt to all scenarios. While the pandemic continues to affect the community of Chajul, Limitless Horizons Ixil closely follows local health protocols to ensure the safety of our youth and families. 

Links:

• 2021 UNESCO Prize

COVID-19 update 

Guatemala has recently seen an increase of COVID-19 cases, including the Delta variant. Strict prevention measures remain in place, such as the requirement of wearing masks and avoiding gatherings. The vaccination process is going slowly—Guatemala has one of the slowest vaccination rates in Central America. Reports suggest that there are a lot of inconsistencies regarding how many people and who has been vaccinated, and the government doesn’t know where thousands of vaccine doses are. Much of the budget for vaccines has been spent and only a small portion of what’s been purchased has arrived in the country. However, we are thrilled to report that 100% of our Guatemalan staff have been vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine.

Despite the challenges, the Limitless Horizons Ixil team continues to be steadfast and motivated in helping our scholars especially because of our village of supporters who have made all of our extra COVID-relief services possible.

Virtual schooling continues 

Due to the pandemic, our scholars are currently in Chajul and taking virtual classes. Many went to their high schools outside of Chajul at the start of the school year last winter, but they had to come back due to the high COVID-19 infections in those municipalities. We continue supporting our scholars’ by covering their internet costs, ensuring they can access their classes. 

Limitless Horizons Ixil tutoring 

We are currently providing virtual math and Spanish enrichment classes to our scholars. We offer one hour a week of each class to two cohorts of students, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Our scholars reported in a recent survey that our virtual tutoring support is our service that has helped them the most in their studies. In a recent student survey, students sited that virtual tutoring classes are the LHI service students reported that helped them most to achievement in their studies

Workshops with Wings

Wings, a nonprofit that works in family planning, facilitated several virtual workshops with our scholars on consent, contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted diseases, and healthy relationships. Our parents also benefited from a workshop on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Our female scholars reported that they learned about dignity and now have a better understanding of their rights. They learned to respect their bodies, that they can say no if they don’t want men to touch them, that no means no, and that they have the same rights as men. 

Psychologist services 

Our psychologist led a workshop with all of our scholars on the skills of resilience, decision making, problem solving, thought process, and about friendship. He also calls each scholar to learn how they are doing, what challenges they are facing, and how he and Limitless Horizons Ixil can further support them.

Food and hygiene baskets

We have continued providing monthly food and hygiene baskets to our families. Our families report having more variety and spending less on food and using hygiene products more often to clean and disinfect. Families say that this has helped them the most during these challenging times, as they continue to be severely impacted by the effects of the pandemic, price inflation on staples, and crop loss from last fall’s hurricanes. 

Links:

• Read our 2020 Annual Report