As March approaches, many Central American countries are coming to the end of the coffee harvest season, which lasts from December through February. This is also a time a of celebration, with Carnaval right before Ash Wednesday, and in coffee growing communities a time for the harvest festival. In Pasac, where Roots and Wings operates, [...]
This post is part of the Language Rights Series that will be appearing throughout the next few weeks on the RWI blog. Each entry will offer a unique perspective on language rights issues and advancements in Guatemala since the 1996 Peace Accords. The 1996 Peace Accords outlined new efforts to incorporate indigenous languages into government [...]
Thanks to the Internet and the easier access to international travel, every day more people discover features as essential to a nation’s culture as the native languages of their inhabitants. Today many a visitor is surprised and delighted to find out that in countries like Guatemala, where Spanish is usually the only official language known [...]
Here in my workplace I’m free to take my lunch hour whenever I want, but given that I’m a creature of habit I tend to peel myself away from my computer screen at 1pm each day despite the benefits of flexitime. This does not necessarily mean that I have the willpower to resist my beautiful [...]
This week’s post concludes a series of profiles on several of the successful Credit with Wings borrowers in Pasac, Guatemala. Before introducing Diego Guarchaj Tambriz, recent events in Guatemala offer an interesting perspective on the role of microfinance in the bigger picture of economic and social development. One of the hottest news articles coming out [...]
Sitting in Barcelona airport after spending a long weekend with friends in this cosmopolitan city, I ask myself “what can I take from this trip to apply to Roots and Wings International’s work in Guatemala?”. Apart from the Spanish language, I can’t seem to find too many parallels. However, visiting a friend currently studying Culture [...]
For many of us, February 14th represents a day of exchange among lovers, boyfriends and girlfriends, and married couples. In many Latin American countries this day is not just about lovers, it is about friendship as well. In fact, in Guatemala this special day is known as the Day of Affection (Día del Cariño). This [...]
When one hears the phrase pirate radio, images of subversive rebels or maybe even violence might come to mind. When one turns on a “pirate” radio station they do not expect to hear cheerful marimba music, health advice, or indigenous language instruction. But that is exactly what listeners will hear if they turn on Radio [...]
On January 21st, over 12,000 people joined together to climb Volcan de Agua (Water Volcano) to bring awareness to the problems of widespread violence against women in Guatemala. Promoting the campaign Rompe el Ciclo (Break the Cycle), participants trekked for five hours to the crater of the volcano, meeting on top of a giant heart-shaped [...]
This past week I have mostly been thinking about the perception and measurement of insecurity in any given place. I am soon to embark on a journey around India and when asking other people for travel tips I find myself asking whether they found it dangerous or not. Rather inevitably and unhelpfully, the responses have [...]
Five months ago, Credit with Wings disbursed its first microloans to borrowers in Pasac, Guatemala. Since then, local entrepreneurs have busily worked to grow their businesses, make their first repayments, and improve the lives of their families. Two weeks ago, I profiled one such borrower – Pascual Guarchaj Jaminez. This week, I introduce Francisco Simaj [...]
