Voces y Manos

Voces y Manos

During the fall 2018 quarter Spanish 1 students engaged in a civic engagement project with indigenous youth in Rabinal, Guatemala that form part of the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Voces y manos.

Voces y manos aims to empower Guatemalan youth to address needs in their own communities by offering educational scholarships, providing leadership training, and supporting community-based participatory projects.

Spanish 1 students learned about the historic marginalization of indigenous peoples in Guatemala, particularly in relationship to the educational system, and they had the opportunity to meet some of the Guatemalan youth through video messages.

Students shared what they learned at a campus-wide event that also aimed to raise money to build a library in Rabinal. The library is growing, providing an important resource for youth who do not otherwise have access to books. As one of the Guatemalan youth, Nelson, explains: “In the moment of reading one is transformed by everything contained in a book.”

For more information about this project please contact Kimberly Vinall at vinallkimberly@deanza.edu.