Twenty-seven years ago, I first came to Guatemala to volunteer with an organization in Antigua. This year, as part of my sabbatical, I wanted to return to Guatemala to learn Spanish and volunteer with a new organization. One day, while searching the web, I learned that Xela is one of the best places to learn Spanish, and I also discovered Trama Textiles.
I signed up to spend three weeks working with Trama’s Coordinator, and I hoped that I could bring some of the fundraising skills that I had developed over the years to help Trama expand their fundraising efforts.
My time with Trama has been more than I even imagined. On the first day, I learned the ancient art of backstrap weaving from Amparo and another very patient volunteer named Alana, I jumped into the initial stages of designing a student sponsorship fund, and I made some inspiring and wonderful friends.
Now, as my time is coming to a close, I feel so happy with the work we did to streamline and finalize several important fundraising features on the Trama website. We created and launched a program to sponsor students in school and added a “donate now” button to the website. We also designed a fundraising plan for 2025. Xela is a vibrant, safe, and interesting place to live. And along the way, I had many fabulous adventures, and I made some decent progress in learning Spanish!
I am so grateful for this experience, and I look forward to watching Trama continue to support hundreds of women in villages throughout the Guatemalan highlands.
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