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Transforming Lives

Girls with new school books
Try to imagine a world without books. Imagine if the only pictures you see are on road signs and buses. Imagine if your teachers never read you books, but told you things to memorize exactly the way it was presented. Hard to imagine, isn't it?
Women from the Paraxaj community in Guatemala pack lettuce for a new buyer.

In 2004, a farming association in the town of Tecpán, located about 45 minutes outside Guatemala City, was struggling to keep its vegetable farms profitable.

Former gang members during filming of the reality show in Guatemala City.

Cameras roll, and the reality show takes off. Would you believe that ten former gangsters from American and Central America rival gangs — White Fence, Mara Salvatrucha, M-18, and North Hollywood — were “making good” on a second chance at life?

A determining factor in first grade failure in rural areas is the lack of preschool reading and writing skills.

Education reform requires creative practical ideas, good intentions, and a profound understanding of the issues to identify effective strategies. It sounds easy on paper.

A Guatemalan indigenous woman discusses options with a family planning counselor at a Ministry of Health facility in Chichicaste

Inequality between the genders, social classes, and distribution of wealth is a source of tension in Guatemalan society. Scarce access to information aggravates these tensions.

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