Our Partnership with Limitless Horizons Ixil

The indigenous town of Chajul was devastated by Guatemala’s 36-year civil war. Targeted violence amounted to genocide and left the community as one of the poorest in the country—a status it retains to this day. With the majority engaged in subsistence farming, 93% of Chajul’s Maya Ixil residents live in poverty and 41% in extreme poverty. Currently, less than a quarter of students complete middle school and only 4% graduate from high school. Girls in particular face significant barriers to education and most drop out after primary school to adopt a woman’s traditional role in the home. If poor families can afford to send a child to school, they invariably choose the eldest son. Girls who are able to attend school struggle with poor educational resources, limited Spanish language skills (as Ixil is their primary language), and their own parents’ illiteracy, leading to low rates of educational attainment and success. Safety is also a daily concern for girls, with sexual and emotional abuse much too common in local schools. 

One Day’s Wages partnered with Limitless Horizons Ixil to launch Colegio Horizontes, a secondary school unlike any other in rural Guatemala, that provides a holistic education for indigenous Maya Ixil youth and capacity building for local teachers. Our partnership enabled the school to welcome its first class of seventh graders, comprised of 17 girls and 7 boys. The school offered engaging academics, youth development, mentoring and family programs, plus two nutritious meals a day.  As a result, the average daily attendance rate was 98% and 89% of students demonstrated improvements in their social and emotional skills!