By Nancy Press and Graciela Landa Pichiya
As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, women around the world face unprecedented threats to their futures. A global pandemic has upended economic prosperity, heightened food insecurity and swept away educational opportunities. Nowhere is this narrative more real than in Guatemala, the nation where our literacy organization Child Aid has worked for more than two decades.
If you’re familiar with Guatemala, it might be that your favorite cup of coffee is sourced from its verdant western highlands. Maybe you’ve seen snapshots of breathtaking Lake Atitlan and heard tell of the Mayan ruins in Tecpan. But for all of its rugged beauty and natural resources, Guatemala has one of the highest illiteracy rates and one of the most profound income gaps in the Western hemisphere.
It’s also one of the most dangerous places to be female.
In 2020 alone, nearly 500 femicides were reported in Guatemala, and at least 60 children were killed. Protests calling for more legal protections for women began in early February in Guatemala City following the brutal abduction and murder of 8 year-old Sharon Figueroa from her front patio. Her body was found two days later.
“There are no conditions in Guatemala for women and girls that allow them to live in an environment of peace, freedom and security,” says Child Aid National Program Director Graciela Landa Pichiya, herself an indigenous Mayan woman.
Conditions for women and girls in Guatemala have only worsened during a pandemic which saw businesses shutter and schools close. Now, the nation faces an unprecedented hunger crisis. All of these factors only heighten tensions leading to increased domestic violence. Families are often forced to put their children, especially daughters, to work for money or as caregivers for younger siblings.
It’s no secret that education is one of the most effective ways to boost women’s collective power. This is why Child Aid works so tirelessly in elementary schools. We believe our work boosts whole communities out of systemic poverty, and, more and more, women are leading the way to prosperity.
But the hope that Guatemala’s young girls will return to school once the COVID-19 crisis has passed is fading fast.
“In the Global South … the crisis will have spill-over effects as families consider the financial and opportunity costs of educating their daughters … many girls will never return to school,” according to report by UNESCO and Plan International.
The Power of Women Role Models for Indigenous Girls
“We have to keep a focus on how girls and women often suffer most when societies are under stress,” says Child Aid CEO Nancy Press. “But something terrific is the increasing global emergence of women as prominent problem-solvers. And these female leaders aren’t just addressing problems of women, they’re at the forefront of the world’s most pressing issues.”
Both Child Aid leaders, Press and Pichiya, see great promise as more female leaders are changing perceptions about what it means to hold power and lead for change.
As a female-led nonprofit, Child Aid models a powerful message for girls in Guatemala, many of whom are dealing with the double stigma of being both women and indigenous.
Child Aid literacy trainers, mostly indigenous women, work in Guatemalan elementary schools located in the same communities where they teach. Many proudly wear the traditional dress and are bilingual in the local language and Spanish. Our literacy trainers often advance through the ranks of our organization into leadership positions.
“Our literacy trainers are professionals, but many of them are still wives, they are still mothers. Without saying a word, Child Aid presents girls with a very different picture of what their world can be,” says Press.
Envisioning Equal Opportunities for Girls
Still, both Child Aid leaders fear for the future of Guatemalan girls and women in 2021 and beyond. Pichiya worries most about the “permanent indifference” of the Guatemalan government when it comes to the acts of violence and violations against women and girls – violations that can extend to classrooms if girls are not encouraged to attend or participate.
“I dream of a time when a girl in Guatemala has the opportunity to educate herself in a safe environment,” says Pichiya. “I dream of a time when a girl can firmly raise her hand, participate in class and give an opinion without being judged, when the girl is not afraid of making mistakes, and when she has more time and space to play than to work.”
Learn how you can support girl’s education in Guatemala.
Dr. Nancy Press, CEO and Founder of Child Aid: Press co-founded Child Aid nearly two decades ago and has on-the-ground experience building a well-respected and award-winning literacy program now in more than 100 schools in some of the neediest communities in the world. She has trained as an anthropologist and is professor emerita at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon.
Graciela Landa Pichiya, Child Aid’s National Program Director: Pichiya joined Child Aid in 2010 as a literacy trainer and quickly ascended to oversee all of our operations in Guatemala. A lawyer, educator, mother and proud indigenous Mayan woman, Pichiya battled her way to get the education she wanted for herself. Today, Pichiya fights for a quality education for the next generation of Guatemala’s children.
Continue Reading: The Crisis After the Crisis: Getting Girls Back to School