Aug 26 2009
Sample of Non-Profit Profile Article
This is a sample of a non-profit profile article.
Roots and Wings International gives much needed lift to those in need
By Mrs. Killeen Gonzalez
Before being able to study social services at the University Galileo, 22 year old Diego Guachaj Chox literally climbed mountains to get his education. Diego lived in one of the poorest villages in Guatemala’s Boca Costa region and was one of the lucky few to attend school past elementary grade level. He spent two and a half hours walking down the mountain from his home in Chuinimajuyup to the school and another three and a half hours walking back up the mountain to go home.
And though Diego is now enrolled in the University he is still climbing mountains for a cause as told by Roots and Wings founder, Erik Swanson.
Roots & Wings International is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide scholarships and promote community development as defined by locals themselves. They have offices in both Washington, DC and Southwest Guatemala in the mountains of Boca Costa. Though an independent organization they also engage in activities in tandem with a Guatemalan founded, sister non-profit called Raices y Alas Guatemala.
Erik’s story begins with Diego inviting him and another RWI staff member, Cristobal to his house for lunch at 1 PM. The three and a half hour mountain hike to Diego’s home was more arduous than they had expected. As they continued hiking to Diego’s home, nearly an hour late for their appointed lunch meeting, they spied 12 young men trekking up the mountain carrying a full size electric pole on their heads. One of the men was Diego.
After a quick explanation, Erik and Cristobal learned that Chuinimajuyup, Diego’s community, did not have electricity and these driven young men were attempting to change that. Each pole required 12 men to carry it for 3.5 hours up the mountain side. They would need many poles before the project was complete. As Erik and Cristobal continued towards the appointed lunch spot, Diego and his comrades continued with their labors. Diego promised to catch up with the two men later in the day.
When Erik, Cristobal and Diego were finally able to sit down for some much deserved repast Diego though obviously exhausted from his day long labors was literally beaming with pride at what he had to tell his table mates. “Because of his (Roots and Wings sponsored) education, the community had asked Diego to prepare the solicitation to the government which secured the funding for the electrification project” recalled Erik.
In a country that has never fully recovered from a prolonged civil war in the 1960’s, and has an illiteracy rate of up to 70% in many areas such as Chuinimajuyup, Diego’s story is inspiring and unfortunately rare. It is the rarity of Diego’s story that Roots and Wings International hopes to change over time. As it stands now only three out of every ten Guatemalan students (60 percent) graduate from the sixth grade. Coupled with those staggering figures is the fact that the country has only a few public schools in existence that serve a very small segment of the indigenous population.
In addition, the Guatemalan government does not provide junior or senior high schools. As a result private schools that cost more than an average Guatemalan family’s income fill in the educational gaps. RWI founder Erik Swanson knows these facts all too well. For it was his foray into the Guatemalan school system that in part prompted him to start the organization. In 2004, Erik, then an industrious Washington, DC law student, took some time off from his studies to serve as an administrator at El Instituto La Asuncion, a combination junior and senior high school located in the village of Xejuyup. “He got involved in the community right away and made a big effort to involve himself with people” said Rachel Cope, former catholic school teacher who worked with Erik at that time. And it was from those humble beginnings that Roots and Wings International was formed, with the organizations first two scholarships coming directly from Erik’s pocket.
Diego is not the only one this non-profit has helped. At Galileo University Diego is joined by 24 year old Pascual Esteban Rajpop Sac who is studying to be a high school teacher. The oldest of seven siblings, Pascual was no stranger to the difficulties of obtaining an education in his family’s small village of Pasac, Sololá. Pascual’s mother never received a formal education and his father was only able to complete the 6th grade. Although his parents, who made their living through farming, barely earned enough to survive, they insisted that their children go to school. Accordingly, Pascual alternated his time between working in the family’s fields and his studying. Thanks to a Roots and Wings scholarship, Pascual is now able to study at the University as well as work as an elementary school teacher. His teaching job allows him to help pay for his younger siblings´ junior high and high school education.
With extreme poverty come other stories of hardship and perseverance, such as that of 28 year old Pascual Can Chox and 25 year old Cruz Tzep Can. Abandoned at age 12 by an alcoholic father Pascual was left to fend for himself. His mother had died previous to his abandonment. Without parental support this strong spirited young man managed to put himself through high school. After graduation he was bestowed a Roots and Wings scholarship that enabled him to begin attending the University Mariano Galvez where he is studying school administration.
In a similar situation to Pascual, Cruz death claimed both of his parents when he was but a young lad. With no family for support and a meager monthly salary of $12.00, all of Cruz’s money went towards living expenses at the boarding house in Xejuyup, Sololá where he resides. Determined to overcome his bleak situation, Cruz, thanks to help from Roots and Wings, is now in his first year of high school at El Instituto La Asuncion, the very same institution where Roots and Wings Founder Erik Swanson was introduced first hand to the dire situation of Guatemala’s indigenous people.
Scholarships are not all that Roots and Wings provides. They assist with giving Guatemala’s indigenous people a “hand up” instead of merely a “hand out”. Erik explains “The region in Guatemala where we work is made up of dozens of coffee-producing communities. Although there is high international demand for the shade-grown organic coffee produced there, the average coffee farmer earns less than $2 per day. Because we believe that it is important for communities to have ownership over their own development, we believe it is appropriate to reinvest coffee proceeds back into the communities that grow it. By using coffee proceeds the communities are truly investing in their own future”.
In addition to the coffee program, scholarship winners are asked to create at least one traditional Mayan weaving that is then sold with the profits going back to the student’s community through other programs like after-school tutoring and computer labs.
Staffed almost entirely of volunteers, RWI puts 90% of what it raises back into the communities it serves. As a result they attract a wide range of volunteers who all agree on the importance of education in relation to breaking the cycle of poverty.
One such volunteer is Anna Heatherly who of other RWI volunteers remarked “I’ve never worked with volunteers who were more passionate or dedicated to a cause”.
If you would like to be like Anna and volunteer with Roots and Wings International or donate towards their cause you can log onto their website www.rootsandwingsIntl.org for more details. The site also features additional heart-warming stories of the countless Guatemalans’ that they are helping to lift out of poverty one step at a time.
