Hilda is 19 years old and is the second of nine children. She is from the Las Ventanas community, which is located about 16 miles by dirt road from the municipal seat and location of the closest secondary school. To travel from her home to the municipal seat, Hilda must hitch a ride in the back of a truck. Even hitching a ride is no simple endeavor - Hilda must walk four and a half miles to a place called Tres Cruces to wait and hope another truck arrived soon. When Hilda completed primary school, her family told her that...[ Read More ]

In January 2018, five Pangea women landed in Antigua, Guatemala to the familiar textile rich AirBnb where we have stayed before, five rooms around a lovely garden which lent itself to gathering in the evening to debrief the day. The site visit, a mere seven days, seemed much longer as we dove deep into the culture. ~Betsy Hale This was a visit of deepening our knowledge about and connection with four grant partners that we have funded from 2 to 7 years. In addition to visits to known and trusted organizations, we learned about the ever-changing political, social, and economic...[ Read More ]

Pangea Giving site visits are taking place this week in Guatemala, January 14-21. To start, the group of five Pangea members are basing out of Antigua, for day trips to three Pangea Giving grantees: Asociación Comunidad La Esperanza, Women’s Justice Initiative, and ASOGEN (Asociación Generando Equidad, Liderazgo y Oportunidades). The team kicked off the week yesterday with a day of context meetings and presentations by various English-speaking expats who are well versed in the Guatemala non-profit world, as well as the history of political and other violence which have restricted human rights. Pangea’s grant to AC Esperanza, now in its...[ Read More ]

On Sunday, November 4th, we made the long trek to Salama to spend the night before our visit with FNE in Rabinal.  FNE's school was not in session but a number of parents, students and teachers were at the school to share their experiences. Sandra Lopez, ED, and Antonio, school director, gave a tour and overview of the program. Their programs are interactive with a strong focus on local tradition and culture and the recent history (late 1980's) of massacres in the Rabinal communities. Curriculum is both in the classroom and practical. Students work side by side with their tudors...[ Read More ]