By: Meara Donovan, BTS cooperant (2026) “Mira, ¡un perro de Río Negro!” (Look, a Río Negro dog!) “¡Y un palo de Río Negro!” (And a stick from Río Negro!) The students are joking around as our packed van pulls through the gates, inching towards the Chixoy hydroelectric dam and the [...]
By Emily Moore Today we went to visit the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala City. We spent the morning preparing our questions together and going over the specific topics we wanted to discuss. After two weeks in Guatemala, there were so many things we wanted to talk about but we decided [...]
By Sylvia Daigle Garcia Instead of learning on the ground, we returned to the academic side in our visit to Guatemala. We’ve seen how working and learning on the ground is vital for us to fully understand international development; however, today we were able to get the chance to remember [...]
By Rojette Asingayan On our tenth day of the delegation, we had a slower and later morning than usual. While some headed for breakfast on foot, the others took the van. It was really cool seeing a bit of what the everyday-life looked like for the locals of Mataquescuintla. For [...]
By Tek Omod We started the day with an early breakfast before heading out at 7:30 a.m. for the three-hour drive to Mataquescuintla. Along the way, we stopped at a mine blockage, where community members shared their work. Many of them volunteered their time to monitor and control the petroleum [...]
By Roda Obang We started off our morning with breakfast. This was our last meal at IMAP. During breakfast all of us were discussing how great it was at IMAP! After breakfast, we gathered together and Javier gave a lesson on Maya cosmovision dates. He began by reviewing the sacred [...]
By Amélie Charbonneau We started the day off with a beautiful breakfast of cut up watermelon and cantaloupe, banana pancakes (our favourite), and some Greek yogurt with fresh cut fruit. Afterward we headed to the Nahual circle for our daily lesson on the Maya calendar. Today’s day was 8 E [...]
By Suzan Nyazungu We started the morning reflecting on the energy of the day with Inés, who explained that each Nahwal is associated with a different animal and today’s animal was the dog. The characteristics connected to the dog include loyalty, protection, guidance, and leadership. She also shared how today [...]
By Nylah Christie-Smith We started the day at IMAP (the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute) with a delicious breakfast of eggs, tortilla, beans and delicious banana pancakes. Next we got a talk from IMAP Coordinator, Inés on the Maya cosmovision and the Nahual of the day to set our intention and learn [...]
By Brenda Stone Today was a slower-paced day here in Guatemala, with more driving and fewer activities, which gave me a chance to really take in the surroundings around Lake Atitlán and reflect on everything we’ve been learning. We spent the morning visiting the CCDA (Campesino Committee of the Highlands), [...]
