Our Project
Our grandfathers and grandmothers have been a part of one of the greatest Civilizations in the entire world since the beginning; The Mayan civilization. Which is famous for its very impressive culture, writing system, agricultural production models, calendar, astrology and its impressive architecture.
We, who currently live in the different regions of Guatemala and Mesoamerica, come from this civilization. Sadly, throughout this time we have seen how the current globalization and global warming affects our community, leaving our language forgotten and our traditions.
We live in the impact of the economic model that does not stop producing massively and makes us consume everything; a situation that has negative impacts on our ecosystem, on our beautiful Lake Atitlan and on our Mayan community.
That is why as an Academy we have decided to try to rescue and preserve some of the ancestral practices that our grandparents used to do. We want to adapt them to current times, through sustainable agriculture and education programs that are aimed at our children, or anyone who wants to be a part of this movement.
How does it work?
For each package of classes that you buy with us, part of that money goes to the organic seed donation program, medicinal plants or reforestation with fruit trees such as: avocado, lemon, jocotes, and coffee.
The school donates a number of fruit trees to families that are committed and really need help. We do this because we know that many families in our region have access to land that is ideal for growing.
By doing this activity, we can generate an economic income for the families by selling the surplus production. We hope by doing this, the families themselves consume what they produce and not have to buy everything. To achieve this we use trees, plants and seeds that are already adapted to the microclimates of our region.
Step two is to use a diversified system; a diversified system is the practice of planting a diversity of trees or plants and not just one variety. In doing this, we can naturally control pests since they do not spread easily.
Why do we do it?
We can help improve the diet of our families when we preserve ancestral practices. We avoid the use of toxic agro when we cooperate with our Lake and ecosystem and we can sell part of the production at a better price to help local families.
This makes us different from other schools because we are part of network of nonprofit organizations (NGO) around the Lake Atitlan. This network strives every day against global warming and pollution of our lake Atitlan throughout the organic system productions, which helps to improve the economy of the community and generate new opportunities to the families.
Treck for Kids
Guatemaya is a socially conscious business that uses a portion of its income to help the communities around Lake Atitilan. The school runs a non-profit organization called Trek for Kids.
Trek for Kids is an organization that takes tourists on treks and camping trips in the mountains around Lake Atitilan. All proceeds from these trips go towards the educations of our sponsored local children.
Trek for Kids has one goal: to lay the foundation for a better future in San Pedro, and Guatemala as a whole. We do this by investing in our most valuable citizens – the children.
We employ several local guides at fair wages to escort tour groups on tours of the beautiful Guatemalan highlands around Lake Atitilan. All of our profits are used to pay for the education of local teenagers in their last three years of high school, until graduation. This gives them the chance to continue their education by going to university.
We sponsored 2 students in high School and 5 in the university in 2020. We hope to be able to sponsor more in 2023.
Many organizations claim to fund charities in order to attract business, when in reality they only donate a small amount of their proceeds to charity. For this reason, Trek for Kids shows you exactly how your money is being spent. We provide a cost breakdown of each trip and of each child’s educational expenses, so that you know exactly where your money is going.
Thanks for your help!
