Guatemala Relief Project

My name is Alex Landau and I am a human rights activist. I say human rights because it is all inclusive to the individual forms of oppression we as a diverse population face. I live in Denver, Colorado. I was launched into Social Justice work after I was beaten almost to death by Denver police officers in 2009. After beating false charges in court,I sued the city of Denver and won. It was then that I realized that social justice can only occur when victims activate and choose to mobilize. My primary focus began with police accountability in Denver; but in the 5 years, I have expanded my lens to be far more inclusive.

In the summer of May, 2013, I had the opportunity to travel abroad to earn college credit doing service work with Guatemalan communities (primarily San Lucas Toliman). I traveled with my Noble Cause Peace & Justice class. it was here that I learned of the harsh realities of global inequalities. The Pavarotti Education Center is a school where youth in the community go to receive what we consider a middle school and early high school education. The youth who I worked with in this facility are extremely intelligent, creative, and hardworking.

The Pavarotti Education Center has been suffering from a lack of financial backing. In May of 2009, the teachers who work the Center were going on their 3rd month without pay, and yet were some of the most humbled people I have ever met.



This is a partial list of what we did as volunteers:



Built beds, tables, stools, & chairs
Established Wi-Fi
Taught English classes and learned in Spanish classes
Cleaned and updated computers
Taught gym classes
Collaborated on talent shows
Planted gardens out of old tires
Brought supplies
Worked with the students, helped build self-esteem

Most importantly we learned from them.




While there, I snapped as many photos as I could with my phone and my Nikon. The painful disparity I witnessed between rich and poor---such as the multi-million dollar mansion neighboring cinder block houses--brought tears to my eyes. And then I met the beautiful people with their beautiful personalities.



I was inspired to continue my travels through Central America.



I created this calendar with some of my pictures; the story of the Pavarotti Education Center is included. The calendars are $10.


Of the $20,000 raised, I will subtract the cost of expenses.
One round trip flight to Guatemala from Denver is in between $700- $800 per person
Housing at the Pavarotti education Center is roughly $60 per person through UC Denver for 2 weeks, meals included
The most that would be deducted would be for expenses would be $1300 for the price of Calendar materials and $700 for the plane ticket and $60 for housing totaling $2060, the rest - ( $17,940) considering I meet my goal, would go to the preservation of the Pavarotti education Center and the folks who staff the facility.
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We are also collecting Spanish education materials for are return trip, pencils, pens, paper, books, games, music, etc.
The truth is Guatemala is a rich country abundant in natural goods and resources, but the financial disparities created by large companies and rich land owners keeps people poor. Guatemala is roughly the size of the state of Tennessee with a population around 14 million and 93% of the people live on 8% of the land. 12 families own the majority of the country’s land and wealth. No one here wants to be poor or live in these conditions but it’s a product of such inhumane divisions and I feel my calendars are a small step in the right direction away form a complex of overwhelming proportions and inequalities.

Monies in this country of such magnitude in this country would go a long way, the engage rate is
1 Dollar to 7 Quetzal. Money like that can bring accesses to better resources; ensure food for the youth throughout the day who at time only eat at the school. This would provide access to clean water jugs because the taps cannot be drunk from. Money like this would provide the cost to ship old cloths and materials, the benefits are endless when we went last time we worked from our hearts and less with our pockets and we achieved so much so I imagine if we meet are hearts with our funding we could do phenomenal things with this community.