Social Impact Project for Long Way Home Long Earned Income

How This Works

As part of the TRANSFORM Support Hub, you will learn how to advance your career while getting hands on experience on projects like this one.

Project Description and Impact

In the 97% indigenous Mayan Kaqchikel rural town of Comalapa, Guatemala 57% of the population lives in poverty, 27% live in extreme poverty. Residents lack access to potable water, food, shelter, and quality education. Severe environmental degradation and climate change are exacerbating these challenges. A major shift in these circumstances requires a heroic and collaborative effort. To address these issues Long Way Home was founded in 2004. In 2008, our team of educators, builders, volunteers, and administrators established Hero School to ensure multi-generational systemic change.

Long Way Home’s mission is to mobilize people to actively participate in democracy and create innovative pathways to economic and environmental justice, through green building, employment, and education. We envision communities equipped to innovate and act responsibly in the face of local and global challenges. Hero School is the full embodiment of such an ambitious organizational mission and vision, and representative of our commitment to sustainability since our establishment. With the invaluable support of individuals from Comalapa and volunteers worldwide, we transformed 500 tons of rubbish into the 20-building marvel that is the Hero School campus which stands as a testament to our dedication to environmental action.

Currently, 177 primary, middle, and high school students attend Hero School and are instructed by 25 dedicated educators. Together we implement infrastructure projects for the members of our community that need them most. The students who implement these projects also benefit by using their education to solve real problems. Most of our teachers, students, volunteers, and project beneficiaries are women.

Increasing the amount of service groups and individual volunteers will support our long term financial stability and allow us to fight abject poverty.

Learning Opportunity

I have 22 years of experience managing a non-profit organization based in an international setting. Also, I started the NGO from scratch. We have managed thousands of volunteers, employed hundreds of people, and built an entire school campus using alternative materials, all in a small Guatemalan town. Also we have learned a lot about running a school, training teachers, and upgrading curriculum. We are happy to share all that we have learned with an experteer.

Virtual

This project accepts virtual experteers.

About the Hosting Organization

Long Way Home is a Non-profit working on Building Materials, Construction, Design, Education, Environmental Services, Fundraising, Media Production, Non-Profit, Primary/Secondary Education, Renewables & Environment.