By Paco Alcaide | Regional Director
There are many public diplomacy opportunities that can have positive impacts in Guatemala. Riecken engages communities on a grass-roots level and engages women to think about their own improved futures.
This includes everything promoting better governance through democratically elected local library leadership who oversee the library and its finances, to building and supporting youth involvement in community advocacy, and women’s leadership programming to help establish, grow and run small local businesses and create “cooperativas” and credit unions to provide sustainable programs without the requirements of outside partner funding. Through access to technology in the libraries, Riecken also seeks to institutionalize the application of science, technology and innovation as smart tools for development; and offer early childhood development/nutrition programming in regions where malnutrition is widespread.
Among the many U.S. government goals for the region is to build and support youth development and advocacy skills. Youth programming is a core component of Riecken’s library activities to engage communities. Its “Mentes brillantes”(Smart minds) reading and activity program encourages youth to know their rights and to get involved. The program’s three components -- myself, my group, and my community -- create youth leaders who get involved in resolving community development issues. Youth participants of this program have gone on to take positions within the municipal governments, and one was even elected mayor.
Teenagers of Mentes Brillantes
The Riecken Guatemala Foundation empowers girls and women through its network of community libraries.
Learn more about the work of the Riecken Foundation and its network of community libraries in Guatemala.
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