Women's rights issues in Guatemala are gaining worldwide attention, as the country has the highest rate of abuses against women than anywhere in Latin America.

The root causes for abuses against women are many and are attributed to complex social issues. Some assertions and contributing factors are:

• Domestic violence. Again, due to impoverished conditions and substance abuse problems among male heads of household. Acts of domestic violence against women are especially high among indigenous women as they lack basic life skills and they are not able to communicate in Spanish.

• The abuses are a continuation of the country’s civil war era when women were viewed as potential mothers for future opponents and would-be threats to the then government establishment.

• A dominant patriarchal culture and as a result of more women entering the workforce, many men blame women for their unemployment.

AMPED’s women’s rights project in Guatemala houses up to twelve women and their children. Project efforts concentrate on helping women and their children leave abusive home environments through empowerment and community education.

AMPED volunteers may be involved with the following:

• Helping women with job training and teaching them basic life skills

• Helping with the children in one of the project’s five daycare centers by caring for them and organizing activities

• Developing community education programs to help women and children recognize abusive situations and increase awareness about available resources; and

• Accompanying the women and children to their doctor visits.

• Observing and accompanying the work of the social worker and other members of the staff.

Quality, affordable healthcare is not accessible for a significant number of Guatemalans. There is a severe shortage of doctors and hospitals as well.

The major causes of death in Guatemala are treatable and preventable in more developed countries, diseases and conditions such as heart disease, bronchitis, and influenza.

Trained and licensed healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives) are needed to help tend to the community’s healthcare needs.

AMPED medical volunteers may have the opportunity to engage in the following:

• Observe and work on medical cases; and

• Provide preventive health education;

To say that maintaining and supporting a family is “hard work” is an absolute understatement. Just try then to imagine the challenges in a developing nation like Guatemala where the threats to the family unit are staggering.

Abject poverty is only one cause of the number of children left orphaned or in need of childcare. While there are some reasons that may seem familiar to westerners (substance abuse, domestic violence, etc.,) there are others that are not fathomable such as the threats that resulted from the unconscionable crimes committed during the country’s civil war.

Today, in a post civil war Guatemala, children are left at home with older siblings or grandparents for long periods of time as parents have to work multiple jobs or shifts to just to try to meet the basic needs of their family. That is only if they are fortunate enough to have a family support system. There are countless others that travel to work with their parents because there is not anyone to care for them. Worse yet, some are sent off to work themselves to be an additional source of financial support, only to eventually become homeless or orphaned.

AMPED’s orphanage/daycare projects in Guatemala aim to help these disadvantaged children and their families. The orphanages offer a more stable and loving environment for the children. Daycare facilities offer a safe environment for children to learn and have the freedom to just be kids while their parents work to support the family.

Volunteers for this project may expect to:

• Assist the staff with nurturing and caring for the children;

• Help the children with their homework; and

• Organize games and recreational activities – e.g. dance, music, soccer, etc., and

• Help with cleaning, cooking, or painting the facility.

Working with disabled children broadens your appreciation for the simple things we take for granted. The mere companionship provided by a volunteer affords a rare opportunity for the child to form a new bond and to be exposed to life in other parts of the world through shared experiences.

Children living with disabilities generally live in isolated conditions. Limited levels of physical and social interaction can be barriers to their ability to enjoy life to its fullest. Simple everyday tasks like brushing their teeth or having a conversation may require the greatest of effort.

AMPED volunteers working with disabled children will have the opportunity to bring joy, confidence, and companionship to a child’s life by:

• Observing and assisting with therapeutic modules;

• Organizing educational and recreational games;

• Administering physical and speech therapies, provided the volunteer has the necessary skills and qualifications;

• Providing psychological counseling assistance provided the volunteer has a degree in psychology or related field, and can communicate effectively in Spanish; and

• Working in the area of social work if the volunteer has a relevant degree in that field.

Maybe you have seen them in other countries you have visited as they surround your taxi at the airport or bus station. Their small hands pressed against the car window. Perhaps you have heard or read about them selling their small trinkets on the street – gum, bananas, etc.; -- anything they think will earn them money. They are usually dirty and unkempt. Though their actions may prompt you to view them otherwise, they are the most innocent of victims. They are street children. To know them is to know their heartbreaking stories.

It is estimated that there are over 14,000 street children living in Guatemala’s back alleys, garbage dumps, parks, and cemeteries. At ages as young as seven, many have no choice but to work to help feed and support their families. Soon realizing that their chances of survival are better alone, if they have not yet already been abandoned, they take to the streets to grasp at what they feel is their only chance of survival.

While they are young, they are able to scrape up a few pennies here and there. As they grow older their lives become more difficult. They begin to turn to a life of drugs, crime, and promiscuity and prostitution. As a result, the number infected with HIV/AIDS is on the rise.

Here are some ways AMPED volunteers can become involved with helping street children and at-risk youth of Guatemala rise above their circumstances:

• Help to provide life and job skills training to older children so that they can learn to become productive members of society;

• Participate in group counseling/therapy sessions;

• Teach the children core subjects, and health and hygiene at the project’s elementary school;

• Assist with group therapy;

• Organize constructive recreational activities; and

• Help with cleaning, cooking, or painting the facility.

Combine insufficient funding, lack of qualified teachers, over twenty spoken languages, and a limited curriculum the result is a nation in which 31 percent of those age 15 years and older cannot read and write. That is the situation as it exists in Guatemala.

Guatemala has the lowest literacy rate in Central America. Though children are required by the government to attend primary school, enrollment drops significantly at the secondary level when government funding ends. Only the few that make-up the middle and upper-class can afford the tuition, uniforms, and school supplies needed to further their children’s education.

Individuals only need pass the final exam for secondary education in order to meet the requirements for becoming a teacher who often times earn very low to no salaries at all.

And while Spanish is the country’s official tongue, many of the indigenous Mayan groups have retained their ancestral ties, including that of their language, which further complicates matters. Neither the staff nor curriculum is equipped to address their needs. As a result, an already marginalized segment of the population becomes even more marginalized.

As an English teaching volunteer in Guatemala, volunteers may expect to:

• Teach the children English and other core subjects;

• Assist the teacher’s with developing lesson plans;

• Help the teachers to learn English;

• Help the children with their homework; and

• Organize constructive learning activities and games.