The Rainbow became an important meeting place for local non-profits and NGOs over 11 years ago when the Evening Lectures /NGO Talks first began. The idea of the lectures/talks is to be a link between the NGO and people interested in getting involved with the great projects that work towards making a better Guatemala.
Every talk we host increases a NGOs public exposure as well as the probability that someone attending may decide to volunteer, donate money or fundraise for the charity. Since hosting the first talk (Sue Patterson´s) we´ve had more than 50 local non-profits and NGO´s presenting!
A donation of Q25 is asked for to each person attending the talk, the donation given goes directly to the presenting NGO.
Days For Girls is an international not-for-profit organization that is turning menstrual periods into pathways. Many girls and women across the world struggle with Period Poverty. Period Poverty refers to a woman not being able to (for a variety of reasons) hygienically and responsibly manage their monthly menstrual period. The reasons for this are many…. periods are looked upon as very taboo, not talked about by anyone, seen as dirty, and prevent women from going to work and girls going to school. Imagine having no menstrual hygiene products at all!
Days For Girls is helping to give days back to women and girls by providing education and reusable menstrual kits (made of fabric, washable pads). Linda and Manuel will talk about improving menstrual health in Guatemala. There are over seven million girls and women menstruating in Guatemala and together we can help each and every one of them!
Sue, a retired US Foreign Service officer, lives in Antigua. She is a former US Consul General in Guatemala and served in Chile, Iran, and Italy. She is also the founder of WINGS Guatemala, an organization dedicated to reproductive health education and services. Sue is the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the Sargent Shriver Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Service from the National Peace Corps Association of America.
Tejidos Cotzal is a group of 42 Mayan women from San Juan Cotzal, Quiche, who are all passionate weavers. Cotzal was hit by the civil war worse than any other place in Guatemala and left so many families without fathers, brothers or husbands. The women had to take the initiative and unite to guarantee the survival of their families. They support each other and try to send their children to school by weaving.
In this presentation they will share how the cooperative works, the eco-tours, and show you the special weaving technique of their beautiful products.
We are a non-governmental organization, with transversal axes such as social justice through Arts, education, the empowerment of women; integrating the pedagogy of peace as a main base. Our work is focused on community service for children, adolescents and women, mainly from the department of Sacatepéquez.
We have 19 years of experience working in community-based work, and we are a group formed by people of different nationalities and professions, where our point of union is the dignified defense of life and the deconstruction of patriarchy by integrating new practices of human relationships. We believe in the defense of human rights as a fundamental need for good living.
Our axes of reflection and political commitment are:
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- Access to education
- Sexual health education
- Library
- Arts
- Training processes towards the prevention of violence.
Join us to learn more!
Asociación Educando Guatemala: Reinforcing rural inclusive education in Guatemala
In Asociación Educando Guatemala we are aware of the needs that the children of the community of Chimaltenango have. In order to help reduce these needs and to improve the quality of the children’s lives we partner with the local public schools by providing health and nutrition services as well as teacher trainings. All our programs are implemented with strategic and innovative methods bearing in mind the realities of the rural areas in which the schools operate.
Our national and international donors play an important role in helping us achieve our goals through their donations.
New Dawn is a Guatemalan NGO focused on community development in San Andres Itzapa, Chimaltenango since 1989. They promote health, education and the strengthening of indigenous leaders in the community. They provide learning support and a feeding programme for children and young adults at their school based in the director’s own home.
Their vision is to facilitate self-sufficiency within poorer families and allow them to empower themselves to change their quality of life through education. They also seek to preserve and strengthen the cultural identity of the indigenous Mayan people.
Come and see the show and learn more about this project and the Mayan culture!
Casa de Doloros is Mary Mason Martin’s hilariously irreverent debut novel, seasoned with a touch of magical realism to flavor the cultural pot. Set in a fictitious town in Costa Rica, a cast of expat characters live in a cluster of run-down apartments called Casa de Doloros. The buxom Doloros has had myriad husbands of various nationalities, all of whom have added to the construction and upkeep of her modest empire. Her current love is a Venezuelan who she has followed into the revolution in his homeland. She leaves her business in the hands of some of the occupants, but while she’s away, another coup percolates at home. Mary’s wry sense of humor permeates her take on life among spirits and people who have reinvented themselves in a foreign land.
Mary Martin Mason was born under a nomadic star, leading her to cross many borders before retiring in Costa Rica. She resides in a mountain town where she delights in each day unfolding with a variety of adventures and misadventures.
Casa de Doloros pays homage to her host country that wryly welcomes other ex-pats like herself. The characters and plot include a host of personalities who live abroad at a time of life when most persons are embracing security.
She is the author of The Miracle Seekers, Designing Rituals in Adoption, and Out of the Shadows: Birthfathers’ Stories.