Guatemala

Education & Photography Programme

Through Fotokids, a life of poverty is exchanged for a camera, and a scholarship for education. This innovative programme was established by former war photographer Nancy McGirr who has been working with children in poor communities of Guatemala for more than ten years.

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Supplementary Education

WER, through Cosecha Trust, has been supporting young people to gain access to mainstream education. Many of the children had previously been denied an education because of poverty.

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Education & Care for people with disabilities

Since 2002 WER has been supporting the work of the Transitions foundation, which was founded in 1996 by John Bell, an American ex-pat who initially went to Guatemala as a volunteer. He teamed up with Alexander Gálvez, a Guatemalan national with disabilities and they set up Transitions together.

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Guatemala

Guatemala is situated in Central America and borders Mexico to the north, Belize to the east and El Salvador and Honduras to the south. The Maya, Guatemala’s indigenous people, make up about half of the population and Mayan languages are spoken alongside Spanish, the official language.

In 1996, Guatemala emerged from 36 years of civil war. Over 200,000 people had disappeared or been killed and many were left disabled.

Guatemala is a country with huge disparities between rich and poor. Rural and indigenous populations are particularly disadvantaged and many families live in extreme poverty. Illiteracy, infant mortality and malnutrition are among the highest in the region. People are at high risk from Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Malaria and Dengue fever. With very basic healthcare, people are at risk of dying from these diseases.

Large numbers of children are forced to drop out of school in order to earn a living.  Many become involved in organised crime and join the street gangs which are rife in the country due.  Guatemala is on the drugs smuggling corridor between South America and the USA.

Despite its past turmoil and political instability, Guatemala’s tourist industry is now growing. With its immense volcanoes, mountainous landscape and impressive Mayan ruins, it is widely believed to be one of the most beautiful countries in Central America.

The most recent Human Development Report ranks Guatemala at 122, with a medium human development rating status. The Human Development Index (HDI) value is 0.704 compared to the HDI of the UK, which is 0.947.

WER works in Guatemala in partnership with Cosecha Trust and Transitions.