If you are reading this blog, you most likely have easy reliable access to the internet and by extension, a computer or smart phone. As a student, blogger, and office worker, I spend many hours every day online working, studying, surfing, and communicating with the world. As Americans we are often bombarded with technology on [...]
Guatemala houses a wealth of resources within its border—culturally, economically, and environmentally. As an economically developing country, Guatemala needs to pay attention to both the economic needs of the people who consume natural resources and the impact to the environment. Pristine tropical rainforests which are essential to the environment are intertwined with cultural treasures like [...]
The month of May, for many in North America, signals university graduations, the job search, and, to be glum, a new batch of young people joining the currently high numbers of the unemployed. Running on a different schedule, the Guatemalan school year is now reaching the end of its first semester, but the situation is [...]
I heard both sides of the story in Guatemala. The education I received from the University of Arizona study abroad program encouraged that. We had editors from the largest newspapers, indigenous leaders, presidential cabinet members, and business owners in our biweekly lecture series. After thirty six years of a domestic armed conflict, neither side is [...]
The Epoch Times, L.A. Times, The Irish Herald, El Mensajero, Fresno Bee, China Daily, Corriere della Sera, Asharq Al-Awsat, Yedioth Ahronoth, Le Monde, Haiti Progres, and The Mendocino Beacon. These titles are some of the sixty-two current local, national, and international newspapers I tallied at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. There [...]
Most people might recognize today as Mardi Gras, March 8th is also the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Today, NGOs and countries all around the world will be recognizing the important role that women play in their homes and communities and their political, economic, and social achievements over the last 100 years. Many countries [...]
Matching the agenda at the IV Encuentro, the meeting of the vice presidents from Central America and the Dominican Republic, the Prensa Libre recently ran a few stories that together point to the great room for improvement in education in Guatemala. On Thursday the paper reported the good and the bad from the IV Encuentro. [...]
Education inequality is a major problem for indigenous groups in Guatemala and around the world, but the problem isn’t limited to one part of the world. My first experience confronting a lack of education occurred in my own backyard. During my first week of college, days after I arrived to a new city, I was [...]
One of Roots & Wings International’s star scholars is a 20 year old young woman named Catarina Mercedes Guarchaj. Catarina is an athlete, a community leader, and a high school graduate…something rare enough for men in rural Guatemala, let alone for indigenous women, who have some of the lowest rates of educational attainment in the [...]
I was going to write about an indigenous community outside of Guatemala, but I just finished Naomi Klein’s excellent book, The Shock Doctrine, and the systematic destruction indigenous people’s way of life is still fresh in my mind. While I don’t have the book in front of me, I do have this handy link from [...]
The number of university scholarship applicants has nearly doubled since last year! During this time last year, we received 60 applications. We recently began accepting applications for next school year, and we anticipate an astounding 100 applicants for the university scholarships program. RWI’s goal is to offer a total of 50 scholarships each year. The [...]
Roots and Wings International Mayan scholar determined to eliminate illiteracy in his village
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