Roots & Wings International

We published our first Annual Report in March. 2009 has been a great year for Roots and Wings International. We raised over $35,000 in cash donations. In addition, we received a Google advertising grant worth $120,000 and a Microsoft software grant worth $15,557.

Last year we added 5 corporate partners and grew our volunteer base from 2 to over 15. The growth of our organization is dependent upon the hard work invested by our dedicated team of volunteers. We launched a revamped website in December, and we have created more ways for donors to contribute towards our cause, such as naming a scholarship after a business or loved one, automatic monthly recurring donations through our website, and making online purchases through our GoodSearch toolbar. We have also expanded our reach in the media, i.e., monthly press releases and newsletters to keep supporters updated of our progress and campaigns.

All of these efforts have allowed us to expand our education initiatives in read more

Go Canada!

On Feburary, 6, 2010, The Rotaract Club of the University of Lethbridge, a Canadian university, raised nearly $6,000 for Roots and Wings International during their 5th Annual Dinner & Silent Auction.

In total, the auction raised $11,446.94, which will be split between RWI and Malawi Girls on the Move, a not-for-profit organization aimed at providing a quality education for the young women of Malawi, a small country in southeastern Africa.

The auction’s Dr. Seuss theme, in a homage to the beloved children’s author, played with alliteration and nonsense words in its theme: Scholarships, Schools, and Salamagoox. You can view more photos of the auction read more

Fíjese que…

When you live in Guatemala, this is a phrase you will hear all the time.  Fijarse literally translated means: to take notice, to pay attention.  This is the literal translation but there is so much more that comes along with the phrase.  The way things happen in Guatemala is different from that of the United States of course.  I had to learn to become accustomed to the fact that things will not always happen when you want them to, nor will they happen when people tell you they will happen.  And that is where fíjese que comes in…

When I first started working in Guatemala I was frustrated when people would start their sentences with “fíjese que…” because I quickly came to learn that meant whatever we were working on was not going to come to fruition when scheduled or happen when I thought it would – at least not on the timeframe that my ‘deadline oriented American self’ thought it should.  At first read more

As I was thinking about what to write for my first posting with RWI, my thoughts went all over the map.  Having lived in Guatemala for close to three years, I am not at a lack for words…so much so that I found it hard to disentangle myself from Guatemala.  How there is now, and always will be, a part of my heart that is Guatemala.  It would be impossible to live or visit Guatemala and not be touched by the culture, the people, the landscape, the challenges and frustrations… and the beauty. 

For the majority of the time that I resided in Guatemala, I lived in a rural and indigenous town in the Western Highlands of the country.  From where the office of Roots and Wings International (Raíces y Alas) is located, you would need to travel approximately 80 – 100 kilometers further, following the direction of the Inter-American highway (north and west).  If you travel the way that locals travel (and the way I traveled) you would find yourself in a school bus – read more

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 PBS that covers the same basic information. I recommend picking up a copy of Klein’s book, if you get the chance. Also, watch the excellent documentary, Voice of a Mountain. You can watch the entire thing, for free, here.

Guatemala wasn’t always a country in ruins, where indigenous Mayans lived in poverty and were denied basic rights such as affordable education. Guatemala was once an egalitarian society where, under the rule of read more