| Providing
a fresh start for many Mayan
communities after a devastating
36-year civil war, this Volunteer
in Guatemala project is helping
families in these communities
become self-sufficient and productive.
These towns had for generations
struggled to gain recognition
of and respect for their rights.
The project
works with two groups in different
communities which are populated
largely by women: Chirijox and
Chuacruz in the department of
Sololá, and an artisan
family in Momostenango in the
department of Totonicapán.
With the awareness that education
is the major weapon against
lack of development, the program
focuses on literacy training,
agriculture, and artisan markets.
Groups are offered assistance
in opening new markets for the
sale and promotion of their
products, not only at the national
level but internationally. As
a result, sales increase and
at the same time the women are
able to improve the economic
situation of their families.
Volunteers
in Guatemala may participate
in several areas of this project:
maintaining sales in existing
markets; opening new markets—both
nationally and internationally;
providing training in literacy
and adult education; improving
weaving techniques; improving
product marketing, and thereby
increasing the income of participating
women, their families and their
communities; and reducing the
high rate of illiteracy in the
country through an aggressive
literacy training program, thus
promoting development at the
local level
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