By Natalia Anariba – educate. Executive Director

Spanish version below / Versión en español a continuación

In the month of October 2025, I traveled to Guatemala for a week of conferences and organizational learning exchanges in representation of educate.

For the first time, we participated in the Central American Donors Forum (CADF), which this year took place in Guatemala City. CADF is a multi-sectoral networking and learning space to advance development efforts in Central America. Each year, it brings together the international philanthropic community with hundreds of civil society, corporate and government leaders from across the region.

There, I was able to reconnect with many current partners and friends of educate. – such as Chispa Project, OYE – Organization for Youth Empowerment, Warriors, FOCUS Central America, Global Fund for Children, and Tinker Foundation, among others – as well as to meet other organizations and develop new connections.

The event included training sessions, and panels on crucial topics for the region, including educational advancement, democratic governance, and the ongoing struggle for sexual and reproductive health and rights. I left the conference feeling deeply inspired and with my commitment to the work that I do reaffirmed once again.

Yo’o Guatemala

With support from FOCUS Central America, who this year launched a new organizational exchange initiative for their partners, I was able to extend my stay in Guatemala and visit the town of Purulhá in the country’s central highlands to meet and learn from the team at Yo’o Guatemala.

During my visit to this organization, I had the opportunity to learn about the work of an admirable team of women, led by Brenda Itzé Lemus Gordillo. From the very beginning, I felt welcomed with warmth and respect, and I travelled in a friendly and safe manner to their residence.

There, I shared time with a group of girls who were cared for at the residential home, where I was able to observe the enormous power that education has to transform lives, from preschool to university. It was deeply inspiring to see young people leading spaces that promote learning, solidarity, and community development.

During the visit, I also met a young man named Bruno, who motivates and inspires girls and boys to cultivate gardens and promote organic production, strengthening local food security.

Another significant moment was visiting the organization’s library, coordinated by a young woman who was also a university student, a symbol of youthful commitment to education.

This experience reaffirmed for me the importance of institutional exchanges as spaces for mutual learning and strengthening regional networks. Learning about the impact of YOO Guatemala on the lives of children, adolescents, and young people allowed me to reflect on how access to education and youth leadership can change realities.

Furthermore, this meeting gave me the opportunity to share experiences from our own context at educate., Honduras. Observing how youth-led organizations generate opportunities in communities where these are almost nonexistent was deeply motivating. This experience increased my commitment to the mission we pursue at educate., reaffirming my conviction that education, leadership, and cooperation are essential paths to building a more just and inclusive future for the youth of our region.

Ser Niña

To conclude the trip, I had the opportunity to travel to Antigua, Guatemala, to meet with the organization Ser Niña Guatemala, with whom we connected through the HEEL Initiative that we are both part of through Global Fund for Children.

My visit to Ser Niña allowed me to see firsthand how important it is for processes and projects to be led by teams from the same community. This approach has a profound impact on the participating individuals, strengthening their sense of belonging and ensuring the sustainability of the actions being promoted.

During my stay, I had the opportunity to attend the launch of the book “Volver a la Ternura” (Returning to Tenderness), written by boys and young men from the organization. This work brings together texts with a distinctly masculine focus and reflects the positive change that boys and young men are experiencing through their learning processes about healthy masculinities. It was inspiring to see how this contributes to breaking down cultural barriers that have historically limited young men’s emotional expression and active participation in community development processes.

At Ser Niña I also participated in a training session where we addressed a deeply relevant topic: adult-centrism. Reflecting on how traditional structures can limit the voice and participation of children and youth left me with a strong commitment to continue promoting practices that recognize their leadership and transformative capacity.

This experience reaffirmed once again the value of exchanges between organizations, especially when they take place in diverse contexts. Learning from other perspectives and sharing experiences enriches and strengthens our work.

I am very grateful for this space of learning and connection, which left me inspired to continue building more inclusive, humane, and participatory processes.

Reflections

Reflecting on this week of experiences, exchanges and learnings, I have three takeaways to share:

1. To continue to learn and grow as a leader, and to use these learnings to further our work at educate.

I want educate. to always be an organization where learning is central. I believe that I and the rest of our team should be continuously striving to learn and gain new knowledge and experiences, so that we can bring this learning to our work. A stronger and more empowered team will allow us to continuously strengthen our work.

2. To continue to engage in the power of partnerships and collective work.

In the midst of widespread funding cuts and rising authoritarian politics across the region – something that was central to discussions at CADF – I believe in the importance of partnerships and collective work to further development in Central America. As impact-focused organizations, we do not (and cannot) work in isolation. Engaging in networks and taking the time to visit, learn from and engage with other organizations and leaders is a powerful way to strengthen our work and effect long-term change.

3. To keep the doors at educate. open as an organization that strives to share our knowledge and experience with others.

We have been lucky to learn so much from others, and in recent months we have also had the privilege of receiving visitors interested in learning from our work. In August, a visit from the US-based NGO ‘The Childrens Initiative’ was one such example, where we were able to share with them our model of rural youth empowerment. As a leader, I remain committed to keeping educate.‘s doors open for these kinds of exchanges, and I welcome other organizations interested in visiting us in Trinidad, Honduras.

Thank you to FOCUS Central America for the support as part of the organizational exchange grants programme that made possible this visit, and especially the exchange with Yo’o Guatemala.

For more information about our work or to arrange a visit to educate., please reach out to us at educate.ngo@gmail.com.

El poder de los intercambios de aprendizaje organizacional

Escrito por Natalia Anariba – Directora Ejecutiva de educate.

En octubre de 2025, viajé a Guatemala para una semana de conferencias e intercambios de aprendizaje organizacionales en representación de educate.

Por primera vez, participamos en el Foro Centroamericano de Donantes (CADF), que este año se celebró en la Ciudad de Guatemala. El CADF es un espacio multisectorial de redes y aprendizaje para impulsar los esfuerzos de desarrollo en Centroamérica. Cada año, reúne a la comunidad filantrópica internacional con cientos de líderes de la sociedad civil, empresas y gobiernos de la región.

Allí, pude reencontrarme con muchos socios y amigos actuales de educate., como Chispa Project, OYE – Organización para el Empoderamieno Juvenil, Warriors, FOCUS Centroamérica, Fondo Global para las Niñeces y Juventudes (GFC), y Fundación Tinker, , entre otros, así como conocer otras organizaciones y forjar nuevas conexiones.

El evento incluyó sesiones de capacitación y paneles sobre temas cruciales para la región, como el avance educativo, la gobernabilidad democrática y la lucha continua por los derechos sexuales y reproductivos. Salí de la conferencia sintiéndome profundamente inspirada y con mi compromiso con el trabajo que hago reafirmado una vez más.