• Why Literacy?

    Literacy is a gateway to participation in an increasingly global society, it is a way to good health, informed parenting, economic sufficiency, political voice, and achieving our dreams.

  • Learning Begins with Literacy

    Across Guatemala, your investment enables teenagers to plant the seeds of literacy by reading, inspiring, and mentoring children in low-income communities.

  • So Many Teens. So Little Time.

    In 2013, Reading Village will have 40 reading promoters working and learning in three different communities: Concepción, Chuacruz and Los Morales. We hope to double this number by 2014.

  • It Takes a Leader to Build a Leader.

    Our Leaders and Readers program is managed by Daniel Guzmán - Father figure, teacher, and friend, Daniel’s expertise has been integral to the growth and development of our teen reading promoters.

  • Inspiration In Spite of Limited Resources

    By providing scholarships, securing educations, and facilitating opportunities for leadership development, we position communities to chase their own dreams.

  • Students, Teachers, & Leaders

    Promoting literacy is a diverse and interdisciplinary effort. Our teen reading promoters, are students, teachers, and leaders all at the same time.

  • 56 Reading Promoters. 2,000 Children.

    In six years, Reading Village has provided scholarships and leadership training to more than 50 Guatemalan teenagers. Collectively, they’ve reached 2,000 children.

  • A Town’s First Library

    In 2012, several of our teen reading promoters announced that they’d be building Concepcion’s very first library.

  • Invest in Teen. Change a Community.

    All over Guatemala, we’ve seen what happens when you give a teen a chance. Invest in a teen and he/she will change an entire community.

  • 10% is Too Little.

    In the communities where we work, fewer than 10% of students are finishing high school. Our teens are the exception, but with your help we can change the norm.
In high income countries, reading and dreaming are luxuries to which we rarely give a second thought. Each of us learned to read because an adult sat us on his/her lap and read stories of flying carpets, giant peaches, and fairy godmothers. Our imaginations ran wild with possibility, and just as quickly as dreams were born those same adults gave us the skills we needed to chase even our wildest ambitions.
  • 3 Communities
  • 4 Years
  • 56 Reading Promoters
  • 2,000 Children

In many developing countries, such as Guatemala, there is no culture of literacy. Rates of secondary education are low, families live in poverty, books are inaccessible, community libraries are scarce, and the school system is the worst in the Americas. As a result, in all but the wealthiest communities in Guatemala few adults read for pleasure and far fewer read aloud to their children.

Our Leaders and Readers Program empowers Mayan youth in rural Guatemalan communities to eradicate illiteracy and lead their villages out of poverty.

We invest in teenagers through scholarships, mentoring and leadership development, enabling them to complete high school (an accomplishment that less than 10% of their peers achieve). In return, they volunteer as “reading promoters” – each teenager runs several weekly reading circles for the young children in their community. And together reading promoters and program alumni initiate supporting projects to develop a culture of reading within their own villages, where only 50% of adults can read. In this way, our reading promoters become the first generation of adults in their communities to read to their own children. And the children they have taught over the years will continue the legacy of reading, learning and aspiring, improving the quality of life for themselves and the entire community.

In 2009 we began with just six reading promoters in one single community. Since then, we’ve grown exponentially. Currently, our Leaders & Readers program operates in Concepción, Chuacruz and Los Morales, and we will begin 2013 with about forty promoters reaching over two thousand children!