Annual Report 2011
Table of Contents Letter from the Director Volunteer Programme EntreMundos Magazine Capacity Building Workshops IT Skills Training Courses Rural Workshops Community Tourism Workshops The EntreMundos Team Financial Report
Letter from the Director It has been a very busy year for us here at EntreMundos. We have worked hard to make improvements to all three programes - the community capacity building, volunteer programme and magazine. We have been fortunate to receive support from several amazing foundations who have helped us take the capacity building to a new level, and assist more organizations and groups than ever. We hope to continue to work with them in the years to come and endeavour to go above and beyond expectations of a small organization such as ours. Thank you for your support. Jocelyn Bates Director of EntreMundos
Volunteer
programme Introduction Continued global economic instability, a national election, several high-profile crime-related incidents, and Tropical Depression 12E, contributed to the 3% decrease in tourism in Guatemala from 2010. Regardless, it was a positive year for EntreMundos Volunteer Program: 162 volunteers used EntreMundos four services, a major increase from the 109 volunteers in 2010. In 2011, the Volunteer Program experienced several major transitions These included the expansion and renaming of the “Volunteer and Cultural Program,� the launch of an Internship Program, the establishment of three new policies concerning volunteer behavior and child protection, and a change in the management of the Volunteer Opportunities Database.
The Consultation Service Between January and November, 129 individuals prospective volunteers used the Consultation Service, a major increase from 2010. This service was held at the EntreMundos office between 2pm and 5pm, Monday to Thursday, and provided personalized advice on appropriate opportunities, as well as the arrangements for the placement. Pre-Departure Placement Service The donation-cost of the Pre-Departure service was raised in February, from $25 to $40, but this increase in price did not affect numbers of participants: 18 volunteers took advantage of this service in 2011. This donation included advice, assistance, and arrangements for an appropriate placement, pre-departure information and support. Community Service Learning Program In 2011, EntreMundos hosted a 9person group from Clark University in January under the “Volunteer and Cultural Program”. After the group left, a publicity pack for the program was made, and publicized with over 200 university contacts throughout North America. In September, this programme was renamed “Community Service-Learning,” and was reframed to focus more on the community service rather than on cultural activities.
Internship Program The “Internship Program” was a new EntreMundos initiative in 2011. This program attracts more qualified volunteers with longer term commitments to organizations looking to fill specific positions. Launched in March, the program offered 8 different placements with 5 organizations, a number that will be increased in 2012. EntreMundos asks a donation of $100 per month for the duration of the program, split evenly between the host organization and EM. There were 3 interns in its first year of operation, some of whom received university credit and others whom received job offers following their program completion. Three New Policies Three new policies were launched in February, 2011. Since their launch, all volunteers coming through any of the services have been required to sign the two volunteer-related policies, and signatures for all three policies have become a requirement for host organizations. As of November, all participating organizations had signed, and those unable or unwilling to sign were removed from the Volunteer Program. The Volunteer Opportunities Database As the cornerstone of the program, the Volunteer Database is a very important service. Between January and December, 2011, the listings of all 89 organizations were updated. While there are less organizations than in previous years , the database now is of higher quality featuring only organizations committed to working with EntreMundos. Other Developments In 2011, publicity strategies were diversified with outreach targeted at specific individuals and networks rather than at general websites. Objectives for 2012 The Volunteer Program will focus on expanding the above services for 2012, and further improving the publicity network. Further, the gathering of volunteer feedback – from all programs – will be a priority. Finally, the program will be increasingly involved in advisory activities such as a series of Volunteer Management workshop and the creation of a Volunteer Management Handbook
Magazine EntreMundos' bimonthly magazine is a unique project that it works not only to complement the organisation's workshop, conference, and volunteer programmes by increasing the visibility of the organisation and generating interest in our projects, but also functions as a standalone publication. A publication that addresses problems that people is not aware of, due to the lack information of that media has generated in the country. We follow the school of “Peace Journalism� which focuses on a problem not through the horrific side of it, but through the voice of the people involved. Since 2001, the EntreMundos magazine has been one of the main pillars of our work, as a means of raising awareness amongst both foreigners and locals on social, political and cultural topics relevant to Guatemala and Central America as a whole. It is a free-of-charge publication with printing and administration costs offset by revenues generated through advertising from local businesses. As well as informative articles from local and international journalists, we also offer space to local NGOs seeking volunteers.
2011 was the year when we managed to increase the magazine’s distribution list to up to 230 different places throughout the country (mainly in the highlands and the Guatemala city). Due to a consistent work devoted to our vision of information and democracy supporters, the EntreMundos Magazine was mentioned in the book “Guatemala la Infinita Historia de las Resistencia” Flacso – USAC, page 361. As the only newspaper or magazine that covered the -Tecpán Treaty- which was an indigenous denounce to the harassment they were facing due their position against mining. And also because it was one of the few that discuss the “black lists” during the war years. And the fact that we are constantly having feedback on our publications and volunteers asking to work for us as an important issue on their lives; sets a record to us that it has become a reference in the community.
We seek that through a sustained publication of the magazine, we can increase awareness of social, political, and cultural realities in Guatemala beyond the current distribution area. This includes: a. Greater civic participation, including the potential to encourage a greater number of citizens to take actions such as voting, educating themselves and their communities on their rights and their country's history, and envisioning a different future for Guatemala. b. Greater public and organizational pressure calling for government and corporate accountability on issues such as multinational mining, hydroelectric, and other resource extraction projects, harassment and killings of union leaders, and resolution of land disputes. c. Greater understanding and potential for collaboration between Guatemalans and foreigners, whose presence in the country as tourists, volunteers, and development professionals has been both a boon and a challenge for the country. The publication's 100 percent bilingual format serves to create a shared body of knowledge among groups of people whose experiences otherwise often differ dramatically.
Capacity Building
Introduction Our Capacity Building Workshop Programme has been one of our key programmes since the inaugural series in 2006. It is specifically designed to increase the institutional capacities of local grassroots NGOs, cooperatives and community groups here in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. By offering local NGO managers and staff high-quality technical training in key aspects of organisational management, project planning, implementation and evaluation we can help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their projects and programmes and generate enhanced results and impacts for the indigenous communities they serve across the region. .
After a thorough Needs Assessment conducted between January and March of 2011, we were able to identify the current training needs of our development partners in the region. From this participatory research we produced our 2011 Capacity Building Workshop Programme schedule. Details of the themes and dates of these workshops are illustrated below; Strategic Planning Day One – 17th June Strategic Planning Day Two – 8th July Diplomado in Investigation and Design of Projects: Day One – 28th July Diplomado in Investigation and Design of Projects: Day Two – 4th August Diplomado in Investigation and Design of Projects: Day Three – 25th August Diplomado in Investigation and Design of Projects: Day Four – 8th September Diplomado in Investigation and Design of Projects: Day Five – 22nd September Leadership and the Role of the Board of Directors – 10th November Fundraising Day One – 23rd November Fundraising Day Two – 24th November Our Capacity Building Workshop Programme for 2011 began with a two-day workshop on Strategic Planning and took place on the 17th June and the 8th July. Day one focused on the theory of how to conduct an organisational diagnostic, including guidelines to conduct an effective diagnostic, how to build good indicators and the structure and objectives of baseline data. Day-two focused on how to conduct a SWOT analysis and prepare a strategic plan. Feedback from our first two-day workshop was very positive and as a direct result, four organisations conducted new diagnostics. Following on the success of our first Diplomado series on Formulation and Evaluation of Projects in 2010, in 2011 we offered our second Diplomado course on Investigation and Design of Projects. This five day workshop course ran between July and September and covered the themes of Needs and Capacity Assessments, Problem and Objective Trees, the Logical Framework, Cost / Benefit Analysis and the Presentation of Budgets and concluded with Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects.
As a result of our Diplomado, ten organisations produced new technical proposals for local development initiatives with budgets ranging in size from USD$200 to a programme with a budget of USD$135,000 for a project designed to improve the housing of 200 families in a community just outside of Quetzaltenango. “By producing a Problem and Objective Tree with all our staff, we have identified several new areas on which we will now work on in the New Year. Without conducting this activity we would never have identified these problems.” (Edith Ruth Marroquín de Ronquillo, ARICO, November 2011) On the 10th November we conducted a one-day workshop on Leadership and the Role of the Board of Directors. Themes covered during the day included Different Types of Leadership Style, the Importance of Effective Leadership and Teamwork and the Role of Members of the Board of Directors. With one of our objectives within our Capacity Building Workshop Programme being to encourage increased participation of women in decision making within local NGOs we were delighted that for our Leadership and the Role of the board of Directors workshop, 15 out of the 16 participants were women. Our 2011 Capacity Building Workshop programme concluded with a two-day workshop on Fundraising. It was held on the 23rd and 24th November and covered themes including Strategies for Organisational Sustainability, Different Types of Donors, How to Develop a Marketing Strategy, Requirements and Key Points to Attract Interest From Donors, How to Create a Project Using the Logical Framework along with a practical exercise of producing a funding request. As a result of this workshop six organisations sent out a letter of enquiry to an international funding organisation and we look forward to tracking the progress of these applications in 2012.
A cumulative total of 194 NGO managers and staff attended our 2011 Capacity Building Workshop Programme from the following 36 organisations; ADAFIS, ADISS, Agua del Pueblo, AIDG, Alterna (CCAM), Amigas del Sol, AMRIS, APICS, Asociación Amigos Fiel, Asociación Auge de Guatemala, Asociación CDRO, Asociación de Mujeres Ixchel, Asociación MUJBÁB’L YOL, Asociación Nuevos Horizontes, Centro Educativo para Niños Sordos y Ciegos, CODECOT, CODISMA, COIMO, FECCEG, Finca La Florida, FPM, Fundación Riecken, GUATEMAYA, Guías de Turismo Comunitario “Kamal Bey,” Hábitat para la Humanidad Guatemala, Hermano Pedro, Hogar Temporal, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, OM del Cantel, Primeros Pasos, Proyecto Miriam, SCIDECO Pérez López S.C, SERJUS, Servicios Comunitarios ABAJ, Servicios para el Desarrollo y Sociedad Civil el Adelanto.
IT Skills
Training Introduction 2011 saw the continuation of EntreMundos’ highly popular IT Programme, which aims to equip local NGOs, community groups and cooperatives with the skills they need so that they can use information technology in order to achieve their own development objectives. In particular our courses focus on providing organisations with enhanced connectivity and online visibility; improved communication and administrative skills; and greater abilities to seek out and secure funding. In 2011 we offered four ten week courses, which enabled us to expand the scope of our training to cover new topics such as advanced Excel and Powerpoint, designing and administering Weblogs and creating and editing movies with MovieMaker. These courses stood alongside training that we offered for users at both beginner’s and intermediate levels. This expanded scope has enabled us to offer training to development workers with a very wide spectrum of IT abilities: from those who have never used a computer before up to those who are now very competent in using Microsoft Office programmes and are independently administering and updating their own pages online.
Successes Each of our courses in 2011 achieved notable successes. All of the participants in our beginner’s course opened new email accounts and expressed far greater confidence in using the internet. In our intermediate course, the participants all stated that they had improved their skills for using the internet, social networks and Microsoft Office. In our more advanced courses, participants learnt how to manage statistics and create graphs in Excel and also developed professional PowerPoint presentations about their projects which they can use as a fundraising tool to present to potential donors or as an introduction to their work for visitors or volunteers. The organisations that participated in our final course now all have their own weblogs online, which for five of these organisations represents the first time they have had information about their work online.
Outputs A total of 30 NGO workers, community group and cooperative members participated in our IT Skills Training courses in 2011, representing the following 15 organisations: AEMG, AFOPADI, Asociación Pro Desarrollo Social, Asociación Victoria, Bomberos Voluntarios, CODECOT, CO DI SMA , CO MA G UA TI , Con ocimiento Para Todos, El Nahual, Fraternidad Presbiterales Mayas, Hábitat para la Humanidad Guatemala, Luz y Vida, Niños en Xela, Oficina Municipal del Cantel. “When I began on the course I had very little knowledge of computing. I had an email account but did not know how to use it. Now I am sending emails to the Board of Directors with monthly reports of my programme that I make in Excel. I am no longer afraid of computers.” (Carmelina Sam Sop, Fraternidad de Presbiteriales Mayas, July 2011) “Thanks to the opportunity that EntreMundos has provided, organisations low on resources now have the opportunity to reach a far wider audience than would otherwise be possible.” (Gonzalo Marroquín, Bomberos Voluntarios, November 2011)
Community Tourism Workshops
Introduction Guatemala’s wealth of natural beauty, huge ecological diversity and breath-taking landscape represents a tremendous opportunity for rural communities to diversify their incomes away from over-dependence on agriculture and to take advantage of the booming tourist industry in the country. For this reason, many rural indigenous communities are uniting and forming basic structures of cooperatives and non-profit organisations. They want to identify how they can manage their natural resources most effectively to attract visitors and generate vital and sustainable income streams that will benefit their communities.
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Why Community Tourism? As many of these community groups have little to no experience in planning and managing such projects, we are increasingly being approached by communities to meet this specific need of training in community tourism project. For this reason, in 2009, we launched our first Community Tourism Workshop Series, which has gone from strength to strength since then. The emphasis of this training programme is on best management practice for a very controlled number of visitors. It focuses on attracting tourism whilst at the same time maintaining the integrity of local community life and above all protecting the surrounding environment. Successes 2012 began with a series of four workshops at EntreMundos for a total of six communities: Cantel, Loma Linda, Xecaracoj, Magnolia Miramar, Aldea Villa Real and La Uni贸n Reforma. These workshops provided an introduction to Community Tourism for the participants and covered such issues as the positive and negative aspects of community tourism; how to minimise risks; ascertaining the natural and cultural heritages within a community; identifying the different types of tourists that come to Guatemala; and how to develop, market and publicise a business plan. The workshops equipped the participants with new skills to either develop new tourism projects or to strengthen existing projects, and as a direct result of the workshops all six com-
EntreMundos then facilitated a series of workshops within these communities themselves, helping them to further develop their plans and to provide them with the skills and assistance so that they could put them into action. A total of ten workshops were delivered, with two organisations receiving three each (Cantel and Xecaracoj) and the remaining four receiving one each. These workshops provided training to a total of 95 community members (including 49 women) on specific themes that were identified through each community’s respective needs assessment. These themes included: defining a community’s values, mission and vision; developing a short and medium-term plan of action; marketing strategies; preparing food hygienically; understanding the potential impact of inviting tourists into a community; and identifying potential risks and problems for tourists visiting a community and how to minimise them. As a result of the workshops the various communities and cooperatives developed action plans based on their SWOT analyses; designed marketing materials and drew up guidelines on how to serve and manage visitors.
Rural
Workshops Introduction Chajul Workshops The Asociaci贸n Chajulense de Mujeres is comprised of 360 women mainly from the community of Chajul, El Quich茅, Guatemala. They endeavor to further economic development in the area and currently have two programmes; a Microcredit and Savings Programme for women and a Production and Marketing of Handcrafted Textiles Programme. They also provide training to improve the local economy, education and the health of local families.
In 2010, EntreMundos was approached by a previous funder of the Asociation de Mujeres Chajulense to conduct an organisational diagnostic and identify areas in which they could benefit from capacity building training. This diagnostic was conducted in December 2010 and from the results we created, in partnership with the association, a series of six one-day workshops in the form of a Diplomado titled “General Administration and Credit Control.� The series ran between April and September 2011 and themes included; Organisation and Direction, Strategic Administration, Management by Objectives, Use and Interpretations of Micro Credit Indicators, Use and Interpretation of Financial Indicators. We were extremely impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm demonstrated by all participants from the organisation and are pleased to report significant advances have been achieved. These included the redesign of their organisational chart, the creation of a new vision and mission statement, the establishing of organisational and departmental objectives, the creation of a new strategic plan and the establishment of financial and micro-credit indicators.
“…we have grown as professionals and as individuals… the history of the association can be divided into before and after the Diplomado… the knowledge obtained would have been difficult to acquire elsewhere in such an organised and concise form.” (Gonzalo Rodrguez, Consultant and Fundraising Officer, September 2011) Participants of the Diplomado in General Administration and Credit Control were; Juana Hu Mateo (Coordinator and President of the Association), Magdalena Brito (Accountant), Esperanza Canay (Micro-Credit Promoter), Angélica Laynez (MicroCredit Promoter), Gonzalo Rodríguez (Consultant and Fundraising Officer) Plans for 2012 In May of 2012 EntreMundos will be returning to the Asociación Chajulense de Mujeres for a follow-up workshop where we will be evaluating their progress with the strategies laid out in their strategic plan and conducting a further diagnostic. We look forward to working together with the association again in 2012 as we track their progress towards organisational sustainability. .
The Inter-American Health Alliance (IAHA) is a U.S.-based 501(c) 3 non-profit that was started by volunteers to support development operations in Guatemala. IAHA acts as EntreMundos’ US fiscal sponsor and takes no percentage of grants processed through them for this service. IAHA also manages individual donations made through our website. It is entirely volunteer-run, which means that the maximum amount of funds raised go directly to EntreMundos in Guatemala. IAHA's status as a tax-exempt organisation also allows U.S. donors to receive a tax discount on their donation to EntreMundos. IAHA also works closely with other charitable U.S.-based groups and universities to develop sustainable relationships that can help support the work of EntreMundos. For more information about the organization, please visit www.interamericanhealth.org
Global Development Group is a Non Governmental Organisation [NGO] carrying out humanitarian projects with approved partners and providing aid to relieve poverty in a tangible way. They provide long term solutions through the provision of quality aid development projects in approved countries. Global Development Group has been partnering EntreMundos since 2009 on our Community Capacity Building Programme. For more information about the organisation please visit www.globaldevelopment.org.au
The Planet Wheeler Foundation was established in 2008 by Maureen and Tony Wheeler, founders of Lonely Planet Publications. Planet Wheeler is based in Melbourne, Australia and currently funds over 60 projects in the developing world. While they focus on South East Asia, East Africa and South America they currently provide support to NGOs in 30 different countries. Their purpose is to support practical and effective projects which make a difference in the alleviation of poverty. Planet Wheeler has been partnering EntreMundos since 2006 most notably on our Community Capacity Building Workshop Programme which was launched in 2007. For more information about the organisation please visit www.planetwheeler.org
The EntreMundos Team Staff for 2011: Director: Jocelyn Bates Development & Workshop Programme Coordinator: Ian Taylor Volunteer Programme & Community Tourism Advisor: Laurel Carlton Magazine Editor: Valeria Ayerdi Workshop Assistant: Julia Rao IT Trainers: David Matul Hernandez and Julio Amezquita Publicity Coordinators: Lennert Rohde and Karina Minera Reyna Accountant: Aldy Cajas Cajas Magazine Intern: Colton Totland Board of Directors: President & Legal Representative : Manuel Rodolfo Sanchez Diaz Vice President: Sergio Fernando Villatoro Curnes Treasurer: Thomas Anthony Lingenfelter Secretary: Yovani Alberto Cux Chan Vocal: Glenda Gabriela Lopez Ximin Vocal: Lucas Edward Vidgen Staff for 2012: Director: Jocelyn Bates Development & Workshop Programme Coordinator: Chris Alford Volunteer Programme & Community Tourism Advisor: Laurel Carlton Magazine Editor: Valeria Ayerdi Accountant: Aldy Cajas Cajas
Condensed Financial Information for year ending 31st December 2011
All amounts are displayed in Guatemalan Quetzals (GTQs), with the Exchange rates as of 31st December 2011 as follows: 1Euro = GTQ 10.19 1 USD$ = GTQ 7.72 1 AUD$ = GTQ 8.06
How We Used Our Funds 2011
8% Total Programme Expenses Administrative, Fundraising and General Expenses
92%
Programme Expenses Compared
12%
10%
Capacity Building Programme
Volunteer Programme 78%
Magazine
Sources of our Support and Revenue 2011 Foundations 7%
37% 56%
National/International Donations & In Kind Support Magazine Revenues