Our Mission

Our mission is to facilitate a space where Indigenous young people, women, and

families from the Guatemalan countryside can develop their abilities and talents,

while also supporting emerging voices around collective rights, cultural

expression, complementary economics, and forced migration.

Make It
Scenic view of mountains with rocky peaks and greenery in the foreground during sunset or sunrise.

Vida Digna facilitates opportunities for education, vocational training, and political conscientization as youth and their families seek a dignified life.

In 2020, Vida Digna also worked to strengthen agriculture and livestock practices including poultry farming and the growing of rosemary and insulin.

Our vision is to establish a center for decolonization, ancestral knowledge and forced migration that extends beyond geopolitical borders. As a space of learning and praxis for cultural knowledge and complementary economic initiatives, we hope our collaborative approach will serve as a model for direct support to youth and families in migration contexts.

En sus propias palabras

Participantes comparten sus historias

A man with curly dark hair, glasses, and a beard, wearing a black sweater, looking thoughtfully to the side in a bright room with a potted plant in the background.
A smiling woman with shoulder-length black hair wearing a blue top, outdoors with green plants in the background.
A man with curly dark hair, wearing glasses, a nose ring, and a beard, looks to the side in a bright room with minimal decor and a large green plant in the background.
A young woman with black hair smiling in front of green plants.
Smiling young woman with curly hair, glasses, earrings, and layered necklaces indoors.
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Impact

Youth & Migration

  • 336 participants

  • 68 children received educational support and scholarships

  • 42 return migrants participated in specialized economic initiatives

Dignity Baskets

  • 938 people from 18 communities received baskets

  • 137 health and hygiene talks

  • 24 youth organizers

Family Economy & Agriculture

  • 135 participants from 9 departments

  • 55 individuals received technical training in farm animal management

  • 69 people initiated new agricultural and commercial activities

Dignified Markets

  • 132 vendors from 12 municipalities received supplies and orientation

  • Sanitary protocols implemented in 2 community markets

  • $2260 in cleaning supplies distributed

Ix Kame Learning Center

  • 81 youth participants in the Sexuality and Maya Curative Sciences program

  • 32 youth participated in the Complementary Economics program

  • 25 families received counseling services

Pie chart labeled 'REVENUE' showing three categories: Grants (86.3%), US 501(c)3 (6.7%), International Fundraiser (6.7%).
Pie chart labeled 'EXPENSES' showing various categories with percentages, including Youth & Migration at 42.1%, Ix Kame at 18.3%, Family Economy & Agriculture at 11.9%, Canastas Dignas at 8.3%, Emergency Support at 8.5%, Administration at 5.7%, Cosmovision at 3.5%, and Advocacy at 1.7%.

Financials

Asociación Colectivo Vida Digna is incorporated as a charitable organization in Guatemala (NIT: 9276072-4). Asociación Colectivo Vida Digna works in partnership with Vida Digna, Inc., a not-for-profit organization recognized as a 501c3 in the United States (EIN: 83-2802878) and incorporated in New Jersey. This statement includes Asociación Colectivo Vida Digna and Vida Digna, Inc.’s fiscal year, which covers January 1 to December 31, 2020.

"The Guatemala that we Mayans long for is in our very abilities and with the guidance of our history traced in the knowledge of our own hands. It is the one we are working to build."

—CARLOS ESCALANTE

MAYA K ’ ICHE’ SPIRITUAL GUIDE

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