New Hope for Guatemala Incorporated

Our primary mission is to identify rural, impoverished communities where youth have no access to secondary education. We then work with community leaders to organize a local high school. Our role is to fund the start-up costs, including teachers and administrators' salaries, until the Guatemalan Ministry of Education can provide support. This year, we did the majority of our work in the towns of El Rodeo, Antigua, Chuchuca and El Tesoro at schools there. These included 1) Escuela Basica INBACOOP de El Rodeo, 2) Colegios de Region de Antigua, 3) Escuela Nueva Esperanza de Chuchuca, 4) Escuelas Oficiales de El Tesoro and 5) Escuelas Primarias de El Rodeo.

Because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, we found ourselves much more engaged than usual in helping the people of the towns we serve to obtain food, medical services and basic necessities, such as diapers and medications. We have always assisted in this way, but the need was far greater due to the COVID emergency. Guatemala has experienced severe unemployment due to the shutdown of the tourist industry and the collapse of local economies.

As we have in the past, we were able to host trips by health professionals and volunteer workers traveling from the United States to help the people in the towns that we serve. The largest group that we hosted was the Circle of Love Foundation of Rockford, Illinois.