Patzicía, Guatemala - The trip from Chimaltenango to Patzicía was absolutely beautiful. My previous two trips to Guatemala had kept me in the capital, so I especially appreciated the rolling green hills and farmland of rural Guatemala. I commented on the beauty of the landscape to my taxi driver, and he explained that thanks to a generously long rainy season and mild climate, this part of Guatemala stays green year-round.

I was making the 45-minute trip to Patzicía to visit one of GFC’s newer grantee partners in Guatemala—Centro Educativo Maya Aj Sya’ (Maya Aj Sya’ Education Center). A grantee partner since 2008, the mission of Maya Aj Sya’ is to provide high-quality, bilingual education in Kaqchikel and Spanish to local children living in extreme poverty. The school is nationally recognized and teaches all required subjects as well as traditional Mayan music and dance. In addition to offering a competitive and engaging curriculum, the school provides culturally appropriate education to students who otherwise could not afford to attend school. Read more

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala - When I arrived at Colegio Miguel Angel Asturias (Miguel Angel Asturias Academy) in Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela), Guatemala, school director Jorge Chojolán apologized because today wasn’t going to be a “normal day” at the school. He explained that the primary-school students were learning about politics this month, and today was an important assembly where each grade’s candidate would make his or her pitch to the student body on why he or she should be elected school president or vice president. Over the past couple of weeks, each class’s students—from the 5-year-old kindergarteners to the sixth graders—had been developing their platform, creating a political party, and electing a candidate to represent them in the school-wide election. Many of the speeches had a strong environmental focus due to the school’s emphasis last month on ecology and conservation. Read more

In honor of the release of GFC’s latest book, Our Grandparents: A Global Album, GFC On the Road has invited GFC staff to share memorable stories about their grandparents. The following post is from Michael Gale, GFC’s program associate for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Washington, DC - Anyone who spends more than five minutes with Grandmamma is crazy about her. Her smile and Southern charm are infectious, and she will treat you as a long-lost friend even if you’ve just met. I saw her only once or twice a year growing up, as we lived in different parts of the country, but I have fond memories of each visit to her house in Atlanta. In recent years, I have been lucky enough to spend additional time with my grandma, and I continue to admire her passion, talent, and joie de vivre. As a professional biographer, well-traveled scholar, and close friend of authors like Paul Bowles and Tennessee Williams, she is never short of a story to tell, but—like most grandparents, I imagine—she’d usually rather hear about what I’m up to. I count among my blessings being able to attend my grandma’s wedding to her partner of many years in Massachusetts two years ago, and that she was able to witness me marry my wife last October. She’s not your standard, run-of-the-mill grandparent, but she’s mine, and she’s awesome, and I love her.

Mexico City, Mexico - When I agreed to go out for a couple of hours with GFC grantee partner El Caracol’s street educators, I didn’t really know what to expect. Several of GFC’s partners in Latin America conduct “street education” in one form or another, but I only had an abstract idea of what that entailed. My first two hours with El Caracol were spent speaking with the office staff about the organization’s “bigger picture” work: ongoing court cases defending the rights of a group of street children, the organization’s recent attendance at international forums, the former executive director’s recent Ashoka fellowship. I understood that all of this knowledge and recognition didn’t materialize out of nowhere—that it was based on years of experience working directly with, and learning from the experiences of, children and youth living and working on the streets of Mexico City. Read more

Guatemala City, Guatemala - While scouting for potential future GFC partners in Guatemala City this week, I also had the chance to sit down with 2010 GFC Sustainability Award winners ISMUGUA (Instituto para la Superación de la Miseria Urbana, or Institute for Overcoming Urban Poverty) and APPEDIBIMI (Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral y Multidisciplinario APPEDIBIMI, or APPEDIBIMI Association for Comprehensive and Multidisciplinary Development). Both organizations are at exciting stages in their organizational growth, and it was great to hear their plans for use of the award.

The Sustainability Award is going to allow APPEDIBIMI to open a small office in Guatemala City. Since receiving organizational development assistance from GFC-financed consultant Caracol, APPEDIBIMI has been working to integrate greater community participation and to expand its advocacy work, which focuses on raising awareness of the importance of bilingual and intercultural preprimary and primary education in Guatemala. Having an office in the capital will not only help with APPEDIBIMI’s advocacy work but also facilitate easier access to national and international funding agencies. Read more