Changing the World one child at a time

On the shores of Lake Atitlan in the southern highlands of Guatemala, surrounded by volcanoes is nestled Santiago Atitlan, a small indigenous T’zutujil Mayan community. This village of 43,000 residents represents one of the largest Mayan indigenous communities in the Americas.  

In past five years, devastating natural disasters compounded the bleak pre-existing educational and economic realities of the community and threaten its viability. In 2005, mudslides following Hurricane Stan buried the pillars of this community –the school and hospital—along with scores of homes and residents, parents and children. Four years later, nearly one third of the families still live in plastic tent shelters without clean water, proper nutrition,  adequate healthcare or educational opportunities for their children.  Nearly half of Santiago Atitlan’s women remain illiterate.

Pueblo a Pueblo was formed to respond to the situation in Santiago Atitlan and other villages like it. Our aim is to contribute to building sustainable, viable and healthy indigenous communities in Guatemala. Our projects are developed in close collaboration with the local partners to respond to their most pressing needs.

Each project is designed to build the capacity of the community to thrive on its own while achieving health, nutrition, and educational opportunities for the children and their families.     We help provide the tools so that rather than being forced into a life of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, the children and their families can choose how to live their lives. We acknowledge that we cannot solve problems of poverty alone but only through teamwork and mutual partnerships.

Help us build hope, skill and health in indigenous Guatemala.