By: Meara Donovan, BTS Cooperant (2026) If you’re reading this, it’s likely that miércoles de chilate doesn’t ring a bell. Since my first day in Rabinal a whole 9 months ago, I’ve heard about the famously celebrated occasion. But what is it? Where does it come from? And why is [...]
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: Meara Donovan, BTS cooperant (2026) At 5:30 a.m., students and teachers began to show up at the New Hope Foundation's (FNE) office in Rabinal. Motorcycle after motorcycle of shockingly un-sleepy teenagers roared up to the huddles of students, teachers, and guests invited to the February 13th ceremony commemorating the [...]
By: Meara Donovan, BTS cooperant (2026) At the New Hope Foundation (FNE), spirituality is ever present. It is not separate, but rather interwoven with every aspect of learning at the Centro Educativo Comunitario Bilingue Intercultural (CECBI). ⁂ This morning, alarm clocks went off at 4:30 a.m. for teachers at the [...]
Former BTS Interns working with our partners at the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute, the New Hope Foundation, and the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic. Apply to be a BTS Intern Applications for the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation’s (ACIC) International Youth Internship Program will open in early February — and BTS [...]
Anonymity doesn’t really exist here in the way I’ve come to know it growing up in Canadian cities. Rabinal boasts a vibrant sense of community. Sometimes it feels like everyone knows each other, a fact which can be both beautiful and overwhelming. Connecting with one person means connecting with their [...]
As I sit here reflecting on my time in Rabinal with a cup of sweet black coffee in hand listening to the cacophony of roosters, there is one word that comes to mind as emblematic of my experience: curiosity. It’s hard to believe how quickly the 88 days since my [...]
An offering to the respected fire and to the ancestors: Honouring the lives of those who came before us By Javier Every March 13th, in the area called Pak’oxom in the community of Río Negro, community members, students, activists, spiritual leaders known as Ajq’ijab’, and elders gather to commemorate the [...]
Río Negro Presente: Honouring the lives of family members lost at the hands of the state By: Cristina Jerez, Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Intern On March 13 1982, the Guatemalan army and Civil Defense Patrollers (PAC) murdered 177 innocent people from the community of Río Negro. 43 years later, the [...]
We remember so that it does not happen again By: Cristina Jerez, Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Intern In February 1982, a group of armed men set fire to the market in Xococ and killed five people. The Guatemalan army associated this event with the guerrilla and the community of [...]
