Today is International Women’s Day, and people everywhere are honoring the political and social achievements women have made throughout the world. We thought this a perfect time to share a few photos of a rural girls club in Guatemala, in a remote village where we recently began working. (See more photos on our Facebook page.)

Every week, around 40 indigenous Kaqchikel girls gather in a small building above their village of El Llano and participate in a series of educational sessions lead by a woman named Hermelinda. Working with a unique curriculum developed by the Population Council of Guatemala, Hermelinda teaches the girls about leadership, self-esteem, reproductive rights and other topics that are relevant to the girls in the club. She also reads storybooks to them and tries to foster a love of reading that will help them in school.

We recently partnered with Population Council to provide literacy training to Hermelinda and to help her improve the girls’ reading abilities. We are very excited about this partnership and feel honored to be a part of helping girls in rural Guatemala improve their lives.

Learn more about the Girls Club initiative through the Population Council’s ‘Abriendo Oportunidades’ project here.