Guatemala’s Teenage Club

Feed the Children’s international strategy doesn’t just focus on hunger. We try to address the larger issues that surround hunger, so that families and communities can become stable and self-sustaining. One of our goals is to focus on youth groups that can strengthen the next generation of leaders and change makers.

Guatemala’s Teenage Club provides a place for kids between 12-18 years of age to gather together, learn, talk, and build leadership skills. Most of the participants are girls, as teenage boys in Guatemala generally help their families in the fields to generate more income. But the education isn’t just limited to members of the Teenage Club: everything that these young people learn, they share with their group of friends in their own communities.

Last spring, the Teenage Club went on a camping trip. They shared their dreams and desires, and their hopes for future careers: some wanted to be teachers, some engineers, and others wanted to be artists. They worked on their life plans, trying to set an order to their priorities, values, and expectations. And each young person also received a letter from their family, which the camp organizers had asked them to write, expressing their feelings and hopes for their children. This was deeply impactful, because families in Guatemala do not tend to express their caring outwardly.

On their return home, the teens wanted to share their experiences with their communities. Each of them felt that they had something to give back, and a calling to help those around them. Rosa, one of the club members, told us: “The teaching that I keep is to never give up, and that we always have to look to the upcoming future, to be strong and brave.”