San Antonio Palopó is a small Mayan town on the eastern shoreline of Lake Atitlán in the Guatemalan Western Highlands. Although there is some agriculture – primarily the growing of onions — there is very little workable land and most people make a meagre living through the traditional craft of weaving, and the more recently-introduced craft of ceramics. 87% of the total population in the municipality lives beneath the poverty line and it’s estimated that 40% live in extreme poverty.
We have been working in San Antonio Palopó since 2007: first, installing clean-burning, fuel-efficient stoves, then providing scholarships and school supplies. In 2010 we opened a small community centre in order to meet community-identified needs for women and children, including providing a nutritious lunch program for the ancianas — very poor elderly widows. A couple of years later we were given a house and garden, now known locally as La Casita, and moved the programs there.
In 2017, as we became increasingly aware of the extremely poor academic success rate of San Antonio children, we expanded La Casita into a dynamic, multi-use Learning Centre and Library for the use of the whole community, with an emphasis on learning. These changes reflected the input and collaboration of many community stakeholders. We partnered with Candelaria Xep and Gregorio Garcia, Co-Founders of Forma Guatemala, a small Guatemalan NGO, to help us administer this project. A qualified teacher and part-time assistant were hired to give learning assistance to children having trouble in school (and referred by their teachers), start reading groups (these children had never had a library; didn’t know you could read just for pleasure), and help with computer skills. As parents and teachers have learned of the La Casita, more and more children started to use it, and the space became crowded. We expanded the patio, and built two extensions, which were completed in 2022 and 2024.
La Casita is now a buzzing community hub, busy throughout the week. Over 100 children attend each week, many referred by teachers in the three public schools. At night computer classes are offered for adult learners. 25 Ancianas arrive twice a week for lunch and social activities. And in 2025 we provided 12 scholarships for bright young students.
Over the years, La Casita has become an integral part of the community
