A Canadian Volunteer at MIA, Rebecca Rappeport

As my flight touched down in Guatemala City, I suddenly thought, “What on earth am I doing here?” That fear however did not last long and within days I was embraced into the MIA, Mujeres Inciando en las Americas, family. My very first day I accompanied our fearless Director, Lucia Munoz, to a meeting at the Guatemalan Congress as well as a meeting with the head of US Aid. Talk about being tested by fire!

San Carlos

With Students at San Carlos University

For the past two weeks I have been involved in all aspects of MIA’s work. We just finished a successful semester of the White Ribbon Campaign at San Carlos University, and I was able to participate in the graduating ceremonies for the three graduating classes. Hearing the testimonials of the students was one of the best experiences I have had here thus far. One male student spent more than six hours every week commuting to and from campus to take the ten-week course. As he stood in front of the class explaining why it was important for him to understand gender equality, I understood more of why I am here in Guatemala and the necessity of MIA’s work.

The diversity of students astounded me. There were grandmas in the class, teenage boys, mothers, fathers; all of whom came to learn about how to prevent violence against women, and how to enact gender equality in our daily lives. The inclusion of men in preventing violence against women is the cornerstone of MIA’s work, and it is obvious from all the positive responses of male students it is something necessary and groundbreaking.

Last week I began co-facilitating a new semester of the White Ribbon Campaign in Zona 8, at an all boys school. The young students were very gracious with my Spanish and in addition to learning the difference between sex and gender (module 1 in the white Ribbon campaign).

The boys of Zona 8

At the boys school

They also had a lot of questions about my life in Canada and could not believe that tortillas are not a food staple for all Canadians. I will be with this school for the next eight weeks and look forward to the challenge.

Lucia Munoz has been a fantastic tour guide of the city and I now navigate the streets like a pro (well most of the time) and feel like part of her family. Last weekend we had a little party for all the volunteers and I was able to see the strength and diversity of MIA’s team. We have engineers, psychologists, development practitioners, and anthropologists all volunteering their time and this alone speaks to the strength of MIA’s programs.

As I look towards my next three months here, I look forward to our facilitation classes for the volunteers that I will be leading. There are exciting developments in the works with expanding our programs into congress in addition to rural areas with Indigenous populations. There is a lot of work to be done, but luckily I have an amazing team and leader. I will keep you posted on all developments!

 — Rebecca