When Reading Village was in its first stages of development, I received some sage advice from a colleague who had learned the hard way. “Don’t spread your communities all around the country,” he said. “Grow regionally. It will allow you to take advantage of organic connections between the communities and allow you to maximize your resources.”

Every day I thank that colleague, mentally at least, because he couldn’t have been more right. For the past six years as we’ve grown and evolved, we’ve experienced exactly the sort of organic and unpredictable benefits that he was eluding to simply because we’ve chosen to start off deep rather than wide. Here’s just a smattering of what we’ve seen unfold:

• One Community Facilitator has been able to manage the program and mentor the teens in our first three communities, because they are all in close proximity.  This makes every dollar go significantly farther.

• The principal at the elementary school in our first community was a teacher in the afternoons in our second community and helped establish our credibility there.

• The teens in Chuacruz and Los Morales have seen the teens in Concepción take the initiative to open a public library and are now working on their own community development projects!

Nothing could epitomize these connections more concretely than what happened most recently. Just last month, we gathered all forty of our reading promoters from all three communities for a weekend retreat. As I thought about what I wanted to tell them, I began to imagine the friendships that would develop over the weekend, and how they could bring together their previously isolated, struggling Mayan communities, and the potential that this had to create sustainable change.

On a small screen across a broken internet connection, I told them I had many hopes for them and concluded: “Above all, I hope you form friendships with your peers who come from other communities – friendships that will last for many years into the future, friendships that will last until you become adults, parents, professionals and elders in your communities – that you continue sharing ideas and projects and mutual support. This way we can form a large and powerful network of Mayan communities with a culture of literacy and education. Imagine every grandfather and grandmother able to read, every parent able to read and children growing up with access to books. Imagine family members reading them stories. Imagine breaking the cycle of illiteracy and poverty to create an environment in which every child has what it takes to achieve his or her dreams. This is a big dream,” I said, “but every dream begins with a seed. Plant some seeds this weekend.”

I don’t know how these words fell on the crowd – such is the inadequacy of Skype. But I do know that Ismael, our Community Facilitator, has become a messenger carrying greetings to and from the teens across communities. Seeds are being sown. And I know that the deep network we continue to build in one corner of Guatemala is only possible when you grow thoughtfully and strategically. I know – whether the teens know it or not – that their friendships are a foundation for a better future. Now my energy is focused on adding to this network.

Sincerely,

Linda Smith, Founder & Executive Director of Reading Village

“Reading is the ultimate weapon, destroying ignorance, poverty, and despair before they can destroy us. A nation that doesn’t read much doesn’t know much. A nation that doesn’t know much is more likely to make poor choices in the home, the marketplace, the jury box and the voting booth. And those decisions ultimately affect an entire nation – the literate and the illiterate.”

From “The Read Aloud Handbook” by Jim Trelease

Last week the highest courts in Guatemala sentenced the country’s former dictator Rios Montt to 80 years in prison for the crime of genocide. One week later the ruling was overturned.  One of the Constitutional Court’s judges labeled this “a huge set back for the rule of law in Guatemala.”  In front of the whole world the tragedy of violence and death has now been compounded by the tragedy of injustice. 

While dramatic events like court cases make headlines, escaping the world’s gaze is the perpetual tragedy of illiteracy. The very people who were the targets of systematic violence are incapable of reading about the trial. Fifty percent of rural Mayans are illiterate. These adults rarely read to the children in their lives because they are either unable to read or lack access to books, creating a self-perpetuating cycle from generation to generation. As a result, they lack critical information about their history and their rights. Illiteracy denies them the very foundation of freedom – informed choice.

At Reading Village we provide scholarships and train teenagers to become leaders and grass-roots literacy promoters in their communities. These teens work with younger children to foster a love of books, critical thinking, and creative imagination. To lead a reading activity each teen must learn first to read aloud – to stand before an audience and use her voice in a way that commands attention.  And when Mayan boys and girls learn to read, use their voices, and stand with confidence they become more powerful.

Even in the face of this disappointing trial outcome we at Reading Village want to direct your gaze toward communities in which children are for the first time in their lives reading every day. We invite you to celebrate the teens who are discovering their voices. Join us as we walk alongside a new generation of leaders standing tall in service of a brighter future for their people.

- By Founding Board Member, Larry Dressler

* If you, too, are infuriated by the injustice of illiteracy, join us in supporting young reading promoters and scholars in Guatemala. Invest in their futures and the future of their country. On June 12th, all donations made at www.rvmatch.org will be matched by 50%, so mark your calendars and help create change.

These are the women of Guatemala.

This Mothers Day, give the gift of literacy to a girl in Guatemala.

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The days go quickly here. So do the weeks. For five days our travelers dive full-tilt, whole-heart into our literacy work. With eyes wide open they ride buses, share meals, read stories, meet scholars, greet families, and express gratitude. For five days we ask them to think, feel, act, create, inspire, and be inspired, only to start again at the beginning and think some more. The days are full, the sights hard, the experience thought provoking, and the travel impassioned.

Cultivating donors, engaging action, and inspiring compassion, the Learning Journeys have been designed to be an intense and productive experience. Your heart is thrown wide open, your mind is challenged to understand all we see, and your body endures all the squatting and walking and standing and waiting that is life in Guatemala.

It follows, that at some point the books must be set down, the curiosity momentarily quelled, and the mind rested. Today was that day.

Our last day together as a full group was spent in glorious observation and (mostly) relaxation. We took a lancha (boat taxi) across the lake to San Juan de la Laguna where we traipsed through an organic coffee cooperative (and sampled their product, of course), visited a model library with our scholars so that they could source some inspiration, and splurged on some naturally dyed textiles at a women’s co-op. It was tourism with a twist: we spent the day with eight of our students some of whom had never traveled across the lake that is just out their back door. The day culminated with ice cream cones and the most marvelous last supper. We celebrated a birthday, shared a few bottles of wine, and toasted a trip well done.

Today was a day to commemorate how far we’ve come in just five short days. A day to thank one another for the experience. A day to make commitments to one another moving forward. Today was a day to re-energize.

Today was that day and yet here I am tucked beneath a scratchy wool blanket with eyelids so heavy I can barely see the page. It was our rest day, our last day, and I am exhausted. Happily exhausted.

Until later,

Kassia (Your camera-slinging, sleep-deprived Director of Communications)

This morning, our travelers were troopers of the most intrepid variety – donning masks and projecting animal noises to bring smiles to the faces of several dozen eager children. Our teens do it every day, so it was the least we could do to give it a shot. For a few fleeting minutes, in a cold cement gymnasium, the youth reminded us to be youthful and it was fun.

After a stellar performance complete with cardboard guitars – scarcity inspires creativity in these parts – we graciously accepted an invitation into the homes of some scholars where we were welcomed with open arms by parents and grandparents alike. Siblings peeped from behind doorways and squealed like school girls (which some of them were) when ten white adults descended. On plastic stools and cement porches, we watched as they wove and we were awed. We tried our hands at tortillas, only to fail in heaps of humility and hilarity. It was all such a pleasant reprieve from the intensity of the experience, and we are so grateful to the community who gave so generously of themselves in these moments.

From all this silliness we moved to more serious matters. We shared one last lunch with the scholars of Concepcion, and I dare say folks lingered a little longer on their tamales knowing the goodbye that lay ahead. Only when there was nothing left to be eaten, when oranges had been sucked dry and pots returned, a candle was lit and the end began. This was a Learning Journey, after all, and we needed to scratch the surface of all that was being felt.

Over the course of an hour, we joined hands, wiped tears, and shared promises – to return, to never forget, to always remember. In a graceful give and take, past, present, and future scholars exchanged gratitude with the travelers who had come to witness their work. Their words unleashed a flood of emotions and moments frozen forever in time came surging back: the poise of a kindergartner with a book in his hands, the pride of a teacher being taught by a student, the graciousness of a scholar has she whispers goodbye.

In the space created by these new memories, all kinds of reciprocal energy bounced around the circle. The adults thanked the scholars, who in turn thanked the visitors, and everyone collectively thanked the universe for leaving this place – our world – in their hands. Indeed there is hope to be had.

To this rhythm we passed a day in Concepcion, Reading Village’s first community and a huge source of pride. It’s scholars are our reason to be, it’s graduates are our tipping point, it’s children are our future. From the cobblestone and across the fields, from onions to maize and up the chapel steps, a picture of survival was painted with intense clarity.

It’s a plate of brown food in a lush green caldera.  It’s bright orange paint on grey cement. It’s a library between corner stores. It’s books and students where there were once only pipe dreams and soot. Over the course of a few short hours that felt so full, step by step our assumptions were shattered, resiliency was realized, and connections – to the earth, to the scholars, to each other – were made anew. And in the space left by this growth, new questions bubbled up from the depths:

What is enough of our life to give?

I can’t know the answers and can only imagine what we will be left asking tomorrow, but for tonight the fight is over and the hope is in this kid’s eyes. Of that much I am sure.

Down a dirt road, across from the soccer field, and just beyond the riverbed, ten gringos were dropped in rural Guatemala.

That’s how the day started.

Today was the second day of the Learning Journey and it was packed full with cultural experiences and heart warming exchanges. You know that feeling you have when you’re completely exhausted, but you go back for more? Today was something like that.  We started with the children, got a lesson in traditional weaving, shared tamales, were read a Mayan calendar, and still found time to forge some new friendships. We were strangers, family, artists, adventures, readers, and onlookers all at once. It’s no small feat wearing so many hats. Here’s to us for having done so and on behalf of the group I’d like to thank Guatemala for giving us the challenge.

In the earliest moments of mornings, after bountiful cups of coffee and delicious croissants we wound our way up the mountain only to find ourselves arm in arm and side by side with some of this country’s most adorable children. Their hair was parted and their braids fresh for the occasion.  After song and dance we did what we Reading Village does best – we cracked open some books and turned a few pages. And, wow. It is always inspiring to hear the shy voice of young child who can barely afford shoes read fluently in Spanish – not even his first language. Watching from behind the lens, I think I saw hearts swell in that moment.

Next stop was the weaver. The mother of one of our scholars runs a very successful weaving cooperative of women whose families have been unjustly transformed by the all to recent civil war. In an intimate and rare opportunity, she opened her home, introduced her family, and shared her work. And as she did, I could see jaws hit the floor. The colors of threads, the attention to detail, the back-breaking labor, and inspired designs were amazing. The intricacy of this art form that literally paints this country in colors was humbling to see first hand. Days, weeks, and months go into the products that we buy for mere pennies. Heirloom pieces are passed on through generations and the skill moves from mother to daughter. No matter how many power lines go up or how many cell phones start to ring, knees to the floor and hands on the thread these women keep on weaving.

After a lunch of incredible homemade tamales, our last stop of the day was at the home of a scholar’s uncle who so happened to be the local spiritual guide. Healing, foreseeing, and protecting he offered an intimate glimpse inside the work of a Mayan leader. Inside a smoky room and in front of a cluttered altar, he walked the line of uncle and guide as we tiptoed from one language to the next. In a matter of minutes the room became aware of just how deep our work is felt by these people, “Your organization,” he shared, “was born on a very good day.” Simple words that fell softly over the space.

And then as quickly as the day had begun, we shared hugs with the scholars and walked away. We wished each other well, and held in our hearts the hope that we would cross paths again as stronger, better versions of ourselves for having known each other at all. I have to believe that when homes are opened and heartfelt words shared, worlds change.

Until later,

Kassia (Your camera-slinging, friendship forging Director of Communications)

We thank our lucky stars every day that we have met such caring, passionate, and curious people who are willing to travel a world away to put faces to names that they have long heard and to meet scholars in whom they’ve already invested. Hear me when I say, the world is a better place because of these souls.

So here I am, in a quiet moment after a busy day. It’s the first real day of the Learning Journey, and there’s already so much to digest. The travelers, we’ll call them, have spent the past hour listening to some of our staff share stories about how they came to work with Reading Village and the impact of this organization on these communities. We heard Linda, our Founder and Executive Director, recount the sparks she saw in a Guatemalan child’s eyes when he picked up his first book. We heard Daniel, our Program Director, describe the trust that we have built in these communities and all of the impromptu speeches he is asked to give as the result of this respect we have gained. “We’re small,” he told us, “but we’re powerful.” And we heard from Ismael, our Community Facilitator, who was born and raised in these same communities. Having not started school himself until the age of ten, he told us how his dreams grew and possibilities expanded with every year of schooling he achieved.

And then as quickly as the chocolate eclairs were consumed our hour was up and stomachs were grumbling. Folks drifted from the table and the words settled around me.

This work is BIG.

I’ve seen it for just four days and most of these travelers will see it for the first time tomorrow. In the stories of the staff and the reactions of their faces, you can tell that some of them have already begun to understand. This is, after all, a diverse bunch of board members, long time supporters, as well as new and old friends. But it is only after you’ve been there – to Chuacruz and Los Morales and Concepcion – after you’ve driven the dirt roads, and sat in the schools, and shared meals with these scholars that you can begin to fully appreciate all that is happening. Literacy is going to change lives, it already has. Trust me, you’ll see.

Until later,

Kassia (Your camera-slinging and word-smithing Director of Communications)

On Monday we got to Guatemala. We jumped aboard these magic flying machines and flung ourselves through the clouds until we landed a world away; alas technology never ceases to amaze. The fact that our world has so much capacity and yet so many have so little never ceases to boggle my mind. But so it goes. A few hours, a bit of turbulence, and one late night and we found ourselves down south in Guatemala.

We’ve spent the past three days jumping in and out of a truck, visiting communities, meeting scholars, and generally being awed. We shook hands, shared hugs, opened books, and turned pages. In the past three days we turned a lot of pages. We’ve also outrun dogs, been held up by bike races, visited a brand new library, been thanked by principals, and been welcomed by parents. It’s always an adventure.

It being my first visit to Guatemala with Reading Village, it has been an honor and privilege to finally put faces to all of the names that we’ve talked about together for the past year. I’m here to tell you, these teens really are as amazing as we lead you to believe. For the past three days these scholars have rocked my socks off (although, in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve mostly been in flip-flops) – they are humble and grateful and hard working and there is change rippling out from within this circle. Lucky us to just bear witness.

My words won’t due the situation justice and I owe you more than just this post, but I hope these photos provide a glimpse into the adventure to date. More visitors will be joining us tomorrow for our spring Learning Journey, and the truck rides, library visits, warm tortillas, shared stories, and dusty roads will continue.

Until then,

Kassia (Your trusty camera slinging, flip-flop wearing, Director of Communications)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: There are places on this planet that break our hearts open to the beauty and possibility of life. Guatemala is one of those places. It’s no wonder I’m so incredibly excited to be heading back down there.

That’s right, in just a few days I’ll be traveling to Guatemala with Reading Village staff and supporters for our semi-annual Learning Journey. From April 25th to May 2nd we’ll be visiting ancient Mayan ruins, meeting our scholars, touring the communities, and celebrating literacy with the children. It’s going to be a great way for Reading Village supporters new and old to see the impact their investments have had!

As the snow piles up here in Colorado, I can think of nothing more lovely than a warm adventure down south, and I want you to experience it with me! Here’s how:

• Visit our homepage to sign up for the Reading Village newsletter and I’ll make sure you receive weekly updates from the trip.
• Check out our blog on a daily basis for new photos and great stories!
• If you’re inspired by what you see, consider giving the gift of literacy. While we’re in the field we’ll be able to tell you exactly where you’re investment is going!

Thanks for checking in! Stay tuned for regular updates from Guatemala starting next week!

Cheers,

Kassia Binkowski [Director of Communications & Development, Reading Village]