Citizens for the future in Guatemala
29 January 2009
Laughing
and chatting, dozens of young people run back and forth outside a large
conference hall. Inside, registration is taking place for Guatemala's first
national youth rights meeting. All day, children and teenagers have been
arriving at the centre from across the country, backpacks loaded, excited to be
spending three days away from home.
Marvin, 13, and José, 12, are seated in the registration room, waiting their turn. "I promote child rights in my community," explains Marvin matter-of-factly when asked what brings him to the event. He's looking forward to meeting rights activists from different parts of Guatemala - maybe even picking up some new ideas for his own volunteering work.
A force for change
At 13, Marvin belongs to the huge ranks of Guatemala's young. Around half the population of the country, which is one of the poorest in Latin America, are under 18.
Through its Child and Youth Participation Programme, which receives funding from DFID, the development agency Plan is harnessing some of this generation's potential to help build a more democratic Guatemala.
The
programme works by training young people to promote youth rights and good
citizenship among their friends and neighbours.
Sixteen-year-old Yolanda (pictured left), from rural Plan de la Cruz in Jalapa, became a youth rights promoter after being invited to a Plan workshop.
"Before then, I never participated in anything, and I didn’t like to leave my house very much," she says. "I felt like everyone else was criticizing me! But the person from Plan spoke to me about self-esteem, and I understood that I had to learn to appreciate myself." Now Yolanda spreads the same message to others in her community.
The programme has also set up youth groups, which are encouraged to undertake practical work in their neighbourhoods. Elena, 17, from Cayuga, is a member of her local Eco Club.
"I love being part of the Eco Club and working for the environment," she says. "Lately we've been promoting the separation of rubbish into organic and inorganic waste. We've trained our families - because it's a job that we all have to do. It really affects me now to see people throwing rubbish in the street."
Exchanging ideas
Meetings such as the one attended by Marvin, José and hundreds of others make up another crucial part of the programme. These events, which are held regionally and locally as well as on a national level, bring together youth rights promoters and other volunteers to share stories, exchange ideas and even just make friends.
Often, the young people attending are from very marginalized groups. At a recent regional meeting in the east of the country, 13-year-old Dani spoke about how his work promoting youth rights took him to the office of the municipal mayor. "A friend and I went, but we were wearing old clothes without shoes and we were embarrassed to go into the office. I told my friend, 'We're going in now or we're never going in at all!' "
"We went in. We asked the mayor to help us with balls and trophies for our football tournament and he agreed. Now I'm confident that we can do many things for our community!"
Stories like these can inspire others, from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds, to take the same courageous steps, making a difference to their communities - and by extension, to Guatemala as a whole.
Facts and stats
- Guatemala’s Child and Youth Participation Programme is funded through DFID’s Programme Partnership Agreement (PPA) with Plan. The cost of this programme is £57,197 over a period of five years.
- Plan International’s PPA with DFID is £7.1 million over the period 2008/09-2010/2011.
- Proposals formulated by the Plan youth groups are used by municipalities for allocating funds and efforts from municipal government. These proposals focus on public policies around children and adolescents.
