Together Women Rise took an immersive journey, deep into the heart of the Guatemalan culture with our incredible grantee, Limitless Horizons Ixil (LHI).
The mission of LHI is to create opportunities for the Indigenous youth, women, and families of Chajul, Guatemala, to develop the academic and professional skills needed to affect change in their lives and community. Together Women Rise awarded LHI with a Featured Grant in 2017 which enabled LHI to provide education and academic support, career training, life skills workshops, mentorship, and income-generating opportunities, including an artisan program, to Indigenous girls and women. Since then, LHI has accomplished a great deal! In 2021, it received the UNESCO Literary Prize in honor of its innovative approach to literacy programming during the pandemic. And in 2022, LHI celebrated the grand opening of its newly constructed Colegio Horizontes facilities and became the first in the region to have a full-day, girl-focused holistic school!
The experience was as vibrant as this colorful country, getting to know the Maya Ixil people, a distinct language group continuing their traditional lifestyle in a remote region that was particularly hard hit by the 30-year civil conflict in Guatemala.
Trip highlights included:
- Engaging with the Together Women Rise grantee, Limitless Horizons Ixil, and seeing the projects that are being funded first-hand.
- Taking a private tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Antigua.
- Learning how to cook locally created meals bursting with authentic flavors such as boxbol, a regional Ixil dish that is naturally vegan, made out of corn meal wrapped inside squash leaves and steamed.
- Getting to know the Ixil people through hands-on experiences with community leaders including women weavers and ex-guerilla fighters.