By Catriona Spaven-Donn | International Coordinator
Here in Guatemala, as in so many countries across the world, the past two months have presented complex and unprecedented challenges. While the COVID-19 cases in Guatemala continue to rise, and restrictions on daily life, travel, and work become more limited, our team is working its hardest to support Chajul’s youth and families.
Since March 15, we have had nationwide quarantine orders and curfew measures, which have severely limited our ability to carry on with our traditional youth development programming. However, we were lucky enough to receive a GlobalGiving microgrant to help our team and community weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We immediately put this generous contribution to use on increased internet data packages for our staff, allowing them to work from home.
Over the past weeks and months, we have benefited from our small team’s incredible organizational skills and adaptability, allowing us to provide essential and timely services to youth and families in Chajul. Our team members, Cecilia and Olga, have been calling all 39 families of the scholars in our Youth Development Program weekly to see how their mental and physical health is, and asking if they have any specific needs or concerns. We were able to identify families’ lack of detergent, soap, and dietary staples such as potatoes and beans. We distributed food and hygiene baskets in both April and May and will continue to do so while the need persists. After use of face masks became compulsory in all public spaces, we also distributed 6 masks to each of our scholars’ families, avoiding another unexpected expense for them.
Earlier this year, we wrote about 10th grade scholar Leeisvi and her excitement about living in another department surrounded by different indigenous cultures and traditions. With interdepartmental travel prohibited and all schools closed, Leeisvi had to return to Chajul after only two and a half months of her new lifestyle. She says, “I’m really worried about the COVID-19 virus because it is a very serious problem... but the good thing about being under lockdown is that we maintain our health while also still learning and studying from home. This year, I want to learn other indigenous Maya languages and build my confidence while becoming a resilient, perseverant person.”
Along with all other Limitless Horizons Ixil scholars, Leeisvi has been able to participate in our distance learning services, which include a financial literacy workshop conducted through WhatsApp and a book club, also being conducted virtually. In a community where nearly half of parents are illiterate and only 5% of youth graduate from high school, school disruption such as that caused by the COVID-19 quarantine, could have huge consequences for retention and graduation rates. Studying from home often presents challenges when there is limited access to the internet or technological services.
After ensuring that all of our scholars have access to a smartphone with internet, we have worked to tailor our programming and plan for our scholars’ academic futures. We are also making use of other platforms, such as Chajul’s community radio station, where our librarians David and Olga are recording bilingual Spanish-Ixil story hours every week. This way, all of Chajul’s youth and children can have access to stories from their homes, and we can continue to foster a culture of reading and academic success even during these uncertain and challenging times.
It was a huge pleasure for our team to be able to share these updates with the GlobalGiving community in Latin America on April 17, when we presented on our experiences of community and youth development service provision during the global pandemic. We joined three other organizations working in Mexico, Panama, and Peru on a virtual panel to discuss our strategies and experiences with 100 representatives from NGOs across the region. We so appreciate GlobalGiving’s support and solidarity in bringing us together to share ideas, learn from our peers, and enable emergency response efforts in the community.
By Catriona Spaven-Donn | International Coordinator
By Catriona Spaven-Donn | International Coordinator
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