Partners and Projects

This is a partial list of DADF partner organizations and projects presented in alphabetical order. For additional information we recommend contacting each organization directly.

Afro Ethiopia Integrated Development is an Ethiopian organization located in Addis Ababa that specializes in water projects in rural areas of Ethiopia. AEID also supports educational projects from the kindergarten level through university, and projects for children in orphanages. This organization has ample experience with hand-dug shallow water wells to bring clean water to rural and remote communities that are hard to access. With the recent acquisition of a well-digging machine, AEID has started building deeper wells to supply clean water to much larger communities.

[email protected] & [email protected]   Tel: +251-116 678 7037

The Aid and Education Project, Inc. is a US-based nonprofit charity dedicated to promoting education, health, and cultural preservation for indigenous communities in Guatemala and Mexico. The organization’s educational programs include scholarships for young girls and women in general, English classes, Maya cultural education, and computer literacy.  Its health programs include check-ups and basic medical care for students with scholarships, plus the provision of vitamins and supplements.

In terms of cultural preservation, Aid and Education Project promotes education based on the Maya cosmology with the development of educational material on Maya themes and through its program of Escuelas Mayaab’ Vacacional (Vacation Maya Schools). 

http://www.aidanded.org/  [email protected]

Asociación Ak Tenamit/The Guatemalan Tomorrow Fund is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving health, education, and family incomes in eastern Guatemala. The organization’s focus is in education, health care, gender equality, cultural preservation and income generation. The project site is located in Barra Lámpara, Río Dulce, Guatemala

http://www.aktenamit.org/    [email protected]

http://www.thegtfund.org/    [email protected]

Project site tel: +502-5908-3392 & +502-5908-4358

Asociación Centro Maya Servicio Integral is a Guatemalan nonprofit organization located in San Juan La Laguna, on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Its mission is to provide education and rehabilitation services for the well-being of individuals with disabilities who strive to attain social and labor inclusion without discrimination. CMSI works with children, adolescents and adults with physical and mental disabilities and doesn’t charge for its services.

http://www.centromayasi.org/    [email protected]

Tel: +502 7823-6510 & +502 5019-3615

Child Aid is a nonprofit US organization also with an office in Guatemala that believes that increasing literacy is a proven and effective approach to alleviating poverty. The organization provides multi-faceted literacy programs offering: group literacy trainings for librarians and teachers; one-on-one training in each teacher’s classroom; distribution of Spanish-language children’s books for use during reading activities; summer and vacation reading programs in libraries; and mini-grants to communities to support librarians.

http://child-aid.org/    U.S.: [email protected] Tel: 503-223-3008

Guatemala: [email protected] Tel: +502-7792-1852

Colegio Bilingüe Intercultural Paxil is an exceptional non-profit, middle school in Nebaj, Guatemala founded by teachers and parents to provide a modern education in Ixil and Spanish that respects both Maya and Ladino cultures. Of all the middle schools in the Ixil area, it is the only one with this principle at its core. While it follows the basic program outlined by the Ministry of Education, it supplements this by providing up-to-date technological skills and course work, and by seeking to keep the students rooted in and proud of all elements of their cultural heritage.

http://colegiopaxil.blogspot.com/    http://www.mayaedufound.org/Paxil.php

Cooperativa Tejidos Cotzal (CINTEC) is a Guatemalan non profit organization operating for the benefit of the women of San Juan Cotzal. CINTEC currently has about 60 members, a large proportion of them being widows who were affected by war and other events that took place in their region in recent history. The cooperative was established to provide educational and income-generating opportunities that keep the women from seeking seasonal low-paying jobs in fincas and plantations far from their home. Its mission is to give the women hope and to provide the opportunity of a more fruitful life. CINTEC operates a multi-purpose facility, a community resource center which is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year (2017). Among other things, the Center has a store where the members of the cooperative sell their products. It also offers literacy courses for Mayan children and women wishing to learn Ixil, as well as other workshops that support their Ixil traditions and culture. CINTEC provides a weaving school for girls so that the back strap loom tradition can be maintained. The Center features a kitchen/restaurant specializing in local typical food where cooking classes are also offered. Women from the cooperative also provide homestays and engage in ecotourism activities. Non-members of the cooperative and visitors paying a fee can participate in any of these activities and also stay at the Center’s accommodations.

http://www.tejidoscotzal.org/    [email protected]   Tel: + 502 4621 972

Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya is a collective of Mayan women who use theater as a tool for education and community building. They are performers, playwrights, and teachers who tour their work in their communities and internationally, performing plays that focus on women’s and indigenous rights, literacy, cultural survival, ecology, health, and education in the Tzeltal and Tzotzil indigenous languages of the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

http://hemisphericinstitute.org/hemi/fr/modules/itemlist/category/69-fomma  &  https://www.facebook.com/FOMMACHIAPAS

Fotokids, originally called Out of the Dump, from its humble beginnings has served hundreds of at-risk children affected by poverty and violence by giving them a chance to dream of a better life, using photography, graphic design, media technology and vocational training. The purpose of Fotokids is to help small groups of Central American young people from the poorest of barrios develop useful, employable skills as a means to self-exploration, expression and discovery, leadership, and future employment.

https://fotokidsoriginal.org  &  https://www.facebook.com/Fotokids.FNA/

[email protected]

Fundación Nueva Esperanza, Río Negro is a Guatemalan foundation working since 1997 to support the indigenous and Ladino youth by providing education in its two schools and health care through the “Dr. Carlo Ferraris” clinic and regular health brigades in the communities of Rabinal, Guatemala.

http://www.fne.cosmosmaya.info/    

Lake Atitlán Libraries, Inc. is a US nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve literacy in Guatemala and other Latin American countries by fostering and supporting libraries, schools, and teachers to promote reading in the classroom and at home.

http://www.lakeatitlanlibraries.org/  [email protected]   Tel: 651-231-0453

The Maya Educational Foundation (MEF) is a US-based public charity that supports programs dedicated to the educational and professional advancement of the Maya people from Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico.  Among its various projects, MEF provides scholarships for Maya students attending university, vocational school and high school. The Foundation also runs a yearly English language program in Guatemala and in Chiapas, and supports literacy courses in Mayan languages for children, adolescents, and adults. MEF implements its mission through 22 programs in three countries and in collaboration with local partner nonprofit organizations. 

www.mayaedufound.org   &   https://www.facebook.com/Maya-Educational-Foundation-MEF-204213384643/

Maya Traditions Foundation / Fundación Tradiciones Mayas is a US and Guatemalan nonprofit organization which has been working with Maya women’s weaving groups since 1997. It is a full-compliance member of the World Fair Trade Organization. The Foundation’s mission is to help improve the well-being of artisan weavers and their children. MTF currently works with seven existing women’s cooperatives of various communities of the Guatemalan Altiplano. It offers programs for income generation through the fair trade market, art preservation and artisan development, scholarships for youth education, ethical tourism and community health. MTF also offers workshops in traditional art forms, such as back strap weaving and production of natural dyes, and the use of traditional medicinal plants.

http://www.mayatraditions.com/    http://www.mayatraditions.com/tourism-program-maya-traditions-66/

  Tel: + 502 7762-2829

Asociación Mujeres Aliadas is a US and Mexican nonprofit organization located in the town of Erongarícuaro, Michoacán, México, on the shores of Lake Pátzcuaro. Its mission is to provide women-centered reproductive health and sexual educational services based on the model of professional midwifery and the voiced needs and active participation of area women and girls. The organization serves the needs of Purépecha women and promotes the development of a women’s network that empowers them to take charge of their own health care and to advocate for their health care rights. Current programs include: a Professional Midwife School, a Health/Birth Center for Women and their Families and a Community Program and Women’s Network in 35 communities, including the Purépecha Plateau.

http://www.mujeresaliadas.org/   &   http://www.mujeresaliadas.mx/

[email protected]

Museo Ixchel del Traje Indígena and Friends of the Ixchel Museum (FOIM) are a Guatemalan museum and a US nonprofit organization working to promote the Mayan textile tradition of Guatemala. FOIM sponsors publications and projects both in the US and in Guatemala, including educational programs, ethnographic research and photographic documentation in several communities, as well as the classification and cataloging of the museum’s collections of textiles and photographs. It has also made possible the English translation and publication of several of the museum’s works, the production of videotapes in Spanish and English, and a Spanish language activity book for children.

https://museoixchel.org   &   http://www.ixchelfriends.org/

https://www.facebook.com/MuseoIxcheldelTrajeIndigena/   

[email protected]

Partner for Surgery is a US-based organization working in Guatemala with the mission to connect patients in need of surgical care in remote communities with the international volunteer triage and surgical teams that travel to Guatemala, and to educate and empower rural Guatemalans to initiate and advocate for vital health care services on their own behalf. The organization is on the front lines of medical and surgical care in rural areas and remote locations.

http://partnerforsurgery.org/ [email protected]

Partners in Solidarity is a nonprofit organization based out of Eugene, Oregon, USA and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Its mission is to support rural Guatemalan schools, clinics and non-government organizations in their efforts to provide education, health care and opportunities to poor and marginalized peoples in Guatemala. This work includes the creating of donated computer labs as well as instruction in the use and maintenance of these labs.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/partnersinsolidarity/

Pro Arte Maya is a project supporting and educating about arts and crafts in Guatemala through the work of Marilyn Anderson, an artist, photographer, scholar, and author. Pro Arte Maya has produced photography exhibits, cards, and prints and has distributed multilingual (Mayan languages/Spanish) coloring books for children and educators.

http://www.proartemaya.org/

Reading Village is a US-based nonprofit organization with programs in various communities of the Department of Sololá, Guatemala. Its mission is to empower youth to eradicate illiteracy and lead their communities out of poverty. RV’s programs include the Leaders and Readers Program which provides teens with four years of mentoring and regular, multidisciplinary leadership development workshops along with the opportunity to put their leadership into practice through leading reading activities with children in their villages. A four-year high school scholarship program is offered for those involved in the Leaders and Readers program.

http://readingvillage.org/    [email protected]   Tel: 720 519 3526

Rights Action is a non-profit organization incorporated in the US and Canada. Its roots are in Guatemala Partners that, itself, was created from the merger of PEACE for Guatemala and Guatemala Health Rights Support Project, both founded in 1983. The organization funds community organizations carrying out their own development, environmental defense, human rights and emergency relief projects in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as El Salvador and Chiapas (Mexico). It also works to build north-south relationships and support education, legal work and activism to hold accountable the US and Canadian governments, companies, and investors that oftentimes cause and profit from exploitation and poverty, environmental destruction, repression, violence, and corruption.

http://rightsaction.org/    [email protected]

Sna Jtz’ ibajom/Cultura de los Indios Mayas is a Mexican nonprofit organization established in 1982 working as a Mayan collective using theater, literacy, video production, and scholarship programs as tools for education and cultural preservation among the Maya from Chiapas.

http://culturadelosindiosmayas.mex.tl/

Asociación Transiciones de Guatemala/Transitions Foundation of Guatemala is a US and Guatemalan organization that supports Guatemalans with disabilities through health, rehabilitation, spiritual development, education, leadership skills, social integration and employment. Transiciones advocates for the rights and social inclusion of Guatemalans with disabilities by providing mobility equipment and opportunities for independent living that promote human dignity for people with disabilities. The organization is also very active in advocacy for disability rights and the prevention of armed violence.

Transiciones was created 20 years ago by a small group of young people who needed wheelchairs and employment. Today its programs include a Wheelchair Workshop/factory, a print shop, a prosthetic and orthotic clinic, general education and vocational training, special education, and wheelchair basketball.

http://transitionsfoundation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/AsociacionTransiciones.gt/   &   https://www.facebook.com/TransitionsFoundationofGuatemala/

WINGS Women’s International Network for Guatemalan Solutions/Asociación Alas de Guatemala is a US and Guatemalan nonprofit organization providing quality reproductive health education and services to underserved rural Guatemalan youth, women, and men.It runs a clinic in La Antigua Guatemala that also offers reproductive health information and services to general public. Other programs include a mobile clinic, increased access to family planning, cervical cancer prevention and workshops and education on reproductive health for adolescents.

http://www.wingsguate.org/

World Assistance for Cambodia (WAfC) / Japan Relief for Cambodia (JRfC) are independent nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. World Assistance for Cambodia is registered in the United States as a 501(c) (3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization.  Within Cambodia, WAfC / JRfC is recognized by the Cambodian government as one nonprofit organization. WAfC/JRfC operates interlinked programs across Cambodia in the areas of education, health, rural development, and technology.

http://www.cambodiaschools.com/