Letter from the Executive Director Jorge Gándara 40 years of hope and opportunities.
In the month of August of this year, the 40th anniversary of the Foundation will be celebrated, which was made with the interest of Don Rodolfo Paiz Andrade and Don Jaime Camhi Capón, who wanted to create an institution dedicated to helping those most in need, originally with an approach to education in Guatemala. Since then, many years have passed and thousands of people have been supported to achieve a better quality of life for themselves and their families. There are countless examples that we have seen of children, youth and adults who, with the opportunities offered to them by the Foundation, have changed their lives towards a more promising future and, above all, with hope. When I started working at FUNDAP in 1985, at the invitation of Don Roberto Gutiérrez, I saw it as an opportunity to specify and harmonize a concern for service, with the development of an organization that would fulfill my personal dreams of, on the one hand, working in a climate of honesty and transparency and, on the other hand, address with business criteria the opening of options to solve the most enormous problems, especially that of poverty, which manifests itself, above all, in the rural area of the southwest of Guatemala . Currently, we are witnessing radical changes in our countries that herald a transition period as a result of globalization, technification, demographic and environmental changes, and not to mention the consequences of COVID. For the members of our rural societies, this implies new situations and challenges in their personal, family and social environment, much of it will generate more poverty and the search for opportunities through emigration to other countries, which as Don Roberto says: “emigration is the failure of a country”. Many people react to these profound changes with concern, insecurity, resignation, and often fear as well. We must not forget that it is in times of radical change that the creativity and intrinsic value of organizations in the search for solutions is measured. In our society, all people should take responsibility, to the best of their ability, for the problems of the community to which they belong. Among the essential components of corporate culture, the acceptance of Social Responsibility by companies, as a factor of personal commitment of their leaders. Together with the quality of the people who are in charge of the direction of FUNDAP and who in our case were integrated from the foundations of the same, this work has been part of his personal life project. The motivation, creativity and willingness to work of the collaborators are also decisive, starting with guaranteeing the sustainability 8
