our work
Our primary goal is to increase access to education exponentially, ensuring inclusive and equitable opportunities for all through an annual scholarship program for indigenous students around Lake Atitlán.
Guatemala has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the western world, with indigenous students disproportionately disadvantaged. On average, indigenous people have 2.5 years of schooling compared to 5.7 years for the non-indigenous population. Schools are underfunded and often have poor infrastructure, with few educational resources and equipment, inadequate facilities, and limited access to clean water/sanitation.
Indigenous parents generally have less schooling than non-indigenous parents, and thus, they occupy a lower socioeconomic status. With more than 50% of the population of Guatemala living below the poverty line, many families simply cannot afford the costs of school uniforms, sports outfits, shoes, books, stationery, supplies and a healthy snack (none of which are supplied by the government). Suffering from extreme poverty, many families choose to work together to sustain themselves during the seasonal crop harvest, causing many children to drop out of school and remain illiterate.
We partner with local schools to identify the children with the greatest need of support and help them remain in school for longer, bolster confidence, increase literacy, and expand achievement. This support provides students with a more promising economic future, giving them a better chance to live a longer, healthier, and more prosperous life. In our program, we pair international sponsors with students, providing an annual stipend of $365 ($1 per day), for the purchase of school materials, stationery, uniforms, sports clothes, shoes, and a daily healthy snack.
Find out more about how to contribute to our child sponsorship program here.
UNITED NATIONS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Our work in education contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4 & 8.
Every donation is a powerful catalyst that helps people gain access to the knowledge and tools they need to sustain their lives and livelihoods. General donations contribute to the running costs of our organization including accountancy, stationary/ office, transportation, legal fees.
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Sponsoring a child is a commitment to improving the opportunities for a student. With your support, you can be part of changing the future. We allocate and assign sponsorship to the children in most need.
Potential sponsors can sign up to donate a minimum annual donation of $365 to our program. With this, you will be paired with a child from San Juan La Laguna and receive updates of progress throughout the year. Your donation pays for:
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School Stationery
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Healthy Snack
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School uniforms, sportswear, and shoes
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Food Basket
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Music Instrument or Art Supplies
SPONSORSHIP
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ecolibri stories
who we are
get involved
For centuries, rural Maya people have forged a subsistence livelihood from their milpas, small rain-fed plots of land where they grow a mixture of corn, beans, herbs, and gourd vegetables. The country has one of the most unequal systems of land distribution, and with population growth, has left the most rural campesinos (peasants), with access to little arable land. After the food shortages in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, Ecolibri established a program throughout the village of San Juan La Laguna, to create an infrastructure for sustainable community farming methods. This includes a seed bank, vertical gardens, and allotments design, and an education strategy, to help alleviate malnutrition and food insecurity.
Guatemala is known for its ethnic diversity and creativity. In 2011, we launched Scarfitecture, a unique collaboration between indigenous female artisans of Lake Atitlan with seven internationally-renowned architects. The challenge was to translate architectural drawings into a collection of scarves using weaving, embroidery, natural hand-dying fibers, and recycled materials.
In the past Ecolibri has collaborated with international teams to construct and install sustainable stoves in homes throughout the Lake Atitlán region, to help combat toxic pollution in the home generated by open fires. These stoves help to remove toxic smoke from inside the home and use considerably less wood.
According to the United Nations, "COVID-19 is pushing rising rates of hunger and food insecurity even higher globally." In our communities, disruptions in food supply chains, income losses, widening social inequities, an altered food environment, and price hikes triggered food shortages throughout 2020. One of the most important symbols and practices at the heart of Mayan cultural identity is the production and consumption of corn, it is the staple food that connects communities as a way of life. In response to the food crisis, we fundraised over $20,000 to provide corn to over 365 families throughout the village of San Juan La Laguna. This video documents the first delivery of food aid in April 2020.
The adobe mudbrick is a traditional building material used historically in Guatemala to construct homes. As part of our series on discovering and documenting natural sustainable materials used in the country, in this video, we talk to a builder in San Juan La Laguna who demonstrates how the bricks are cast, the materials from which they are made, and how the building techniques have changed over the years in the village.
eco
colibrí
Spanish (n.)
a hummingbird
(adj./n.)
ecological or environmental
OVERVIEW
Ecolibri has operated since 2004 to advance education, nutrition, health, environment, gender equity, economy, independence ad creativity for the communities surrounding Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.
LOGO
Our logo is derived from the form of the Maya Nut/Ujuxte nut, (Brosimum alicastrum Swartz) a product of the Ramón tree, one of the tallest trees found in tropical regions of Guatemala, which can reach up to 45m in height. The Maya Nut has been a superfood for the ancient Maya, it is full of essential nutrients, antioxidants, amino acids, magnesium, niacin, and serotonin.
OVERVIEW
Ecolibri has operated since 2004 to advance education, nutrition, health, environment, gender equity, economy, independence ad creativity for the communities surrounding Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.
LOGO
Our logo is derived from the form of the Maya Nut/Ujuxte nut, (Brosimum alicastrum Swartz) a product of the Ramón tree, one of the tallest trees found in tropical regions of Guatemala, which can reach up to 45m in height. The Maya Nut has been a superfood for the ancient Maya, it is full of essential nutrients, antioxidants, amino acids, magnesium, niacin, and serotonin.
OVERVIEW
Ecolibri has operated since 2004 to advance education, nutrition, health, environment, gender equity, economy, independence and creativity for the communities surrounding Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. We are a highly sought partner by local and international parties in the development and promotion of social enterprises and community improvement programs.
METHOD
We carry out our work by leading and promoting local and international resources in the establishment of respectful and sustainable projects and activities. Throughout our work, we collect and analyze key data to shape our decision-making processes side-by-side with local community leaders We collaborate with international universities bringing students to work on projects and programs to share intercultural practices and experiences.
VISION
Our core purpose is to uplift indigenous communities in a region fraught with poverty, malnourishment, limited education, lack of opportunity, poor health, sub-standard living conditions, violence, and disease by leveraging international networks to provide people the access to resources that will have a lasting impact upon future generations.
VISUAL IDENTITY
Our logo is derived from the form of the Maya Nut also known as the Ujuxte nut, (Brosimum alicastrum Swartz) a product of the Ramón tree, one of the tallest trees found in tropical regions of Guatemala, which can reach up to 45m in height. The Maya Nut has been a superfood for the ancient Maya, it is full of essential nutrients, antioxidants, amino acids, magnesium, niacin, and serotonin.
UJUXTE NUT
As a highly nutritious endemic nut, we incorporated it symbolically as a seed form that holds a rich and significant Maya heritage. An emblem of heritage, knowledge, growth, and form. Read more about the nutritional facts of the nut:
Dita is the Founder of Ecolibri Organization. Since relocating to Guatemala from Czech Republic in 2004, she has led high-impact opportunities through a range of necessary projects in collaboration with indigenous communities surrounding Lake Atitlán. Using her background in business, passion for design, and early training in medicine, Dita has forged partnerships with renowned International Institutions, Artists, Architects, Medics and like-minded organizations to lead initiatives to foster education for all, provide nutrition and food security, improve health in the home, empower women through grass-roots programs and inspire creativity.
At age 19, Dita went to study medicine at Prague’s renowned Charles University in the midst of 1989’s non-violent “Velvet Revolution.” By day she and her fellow students devoted themselves to their studies, and by night they devoted themselves to democracy. After more than 50 years, the communist dictatorship fell, and she was free to follow her dreams, without fear of being followed herself. Ten years later, New York-based Horton International, a global executive search management team, hired Dita to establish its Prague branch. After years of hard work in the business world, in 2004 Dita felt it was time for a change and without hesitation traded her business suits to begin an entirely new adventure in Guatemala.
In the early years of Ecolibri between 2004-2011 Dita led projects including: building sustainable stoves in partnership with the Calcirya Foundation; hosted research-led discovery projects with students and faculty from Brown University; established sustainable community farming projects, kitchens and educational facilities, through construction of communal spaces; a collaboration with The French American School of Rhode Island and The Met School in Providence, Rhode Island; and she prioritized projects that would help create more sustainable opportunities and improve living conditions.
In 2011, Dita created Scarfitecture, a multifaceted interdisciplinary project between female weavers in Lake Atitlán and Internationally renowned Architects. Over 9 months Dita worked with and led a team of 50 artisans to interpret architectural schematics and concepts through a collection of scarves which were then auctioned in an exhibition launched in New York City to critical acclaim. Dita has worked extensively to design and create collections of textile goods and products from Guatemala through her design labels Untitled Collection and Materyal.
Over the past 6 years Dita has solidified Ecolibri’s Child Sponsorhip program which unites international donors with children in need to help them get the most out of their education.
In 2015 she established Anzan Atitlán, a boutique stay, restaurant and spa on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Through the Anzan network Dita creates relationships with international parties, to share and experience Ecolibri projects and work.
In 2018 she founded Anzan Creative, a collaborative platform to connect academic institutions, scientists, architects, artists, cooks, artisans, nonprofits and researchers through the production of imaginative and impactful interdisciplinary projects in art, architecture, brand, film, music, to design resilient resources for discovery in an expanded social practice.
In 2020 Dita established a unique partnership with Principals from Yale University’s Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA) to design and deploy sustainable farming solutions to impact 3,500 individuals within the communities of Lake Atitlán through the ELN Guatemala project starting in 2022.
Nohemi is Ecolibri's key point of contact between our sponsors, programs and community. She actively leads participation in our programs throughout the community network and is instrumental in the research, conception and development of our education outreach and child sponsorship program.
For the past 20 years Nohemi has been a central figure in the community of San Juan La Laguna, teaching the next generation of children at the Escuela Oficial Urbana Mixta "Enrique Gómez Carrillo", ENGOCA School, where she was School Principal from 2016-2020.
Through her experience, knowledge and relationship with the community network as a trusted leader, Ecolibri is able to position itself, international resources and projects as a key partner within the communities of Lake Atitlán.
Tara is a Czech-born long term volunteer of Ecolibri. From a young age Tara has honed her passion for people and photography in her adopted country of Guatemala, developing a keen eye and aesthetic through her portfolio. Tara has been involved in numerous projects since Ecolibri’s inception and has pro-actively worked alongside the rest of the team over the past 6 years documenting projects through her photography within the schools and communities of San Juan La Laguna. Internationally Tara helps to fundraise for Ecolibri through creative projects, which she initiates to further benefit communities around Lake Atitlán.
We seek to alleviate malnutrition by providing food relief and nutritious meals for school children and install sustainable micro-farming infrastructures.
In Guatemala, poverty disproportionately affects the indigenous population, where many cannot afford the basic food basket. The livelihood of regional subsistence farmers has been greatly impacted by recent extended dry seasons, driven primarily by global climate change, exploitation of natural resources, degraded and depleted land, small plot sizes, as well as lack of access to finances, agricultural supplies, and technical assistance.
This, in addition to the COVID-19 lockdown, has increased food insecurity and exacerbated malnutrition rates, stunting growth and jeopardizing health for the most vulnerable rural women and children. During 2020, we fundraised over $20,000 to provide food relief in the form of the staple food of corn. We have since established a program to initiate sustainable community farming methods, through garden design and a seed bank.
UNITED NATIONS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Our work in nutrition and food contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2, 14 & 15.
We partner with researchers and scientists to design and deploy low-cost systems to create healthier environmental quality in the home.
Surrounding Lake Atitlán, land degradation and deforestation, caused by excessive consumption of firewood, is having a devastating impact on the local environment. In addition to this, water quality is greatly impaired because of improper agricultural practices that contaminate the surrounding ecosystem. Municipal water is rationed across villages two to three times per week. This water is unfiltered and unprocessed. It is potentially contaminated by agricultural runoff and can harbor waterborne disease-producing pathogens.
Inside the home, indigenous women spend on average 8 hours per day cooking on open fires that expose families to toxic smoke that can lead to chronic respiratory illness and lower life expectancy. To combat this, since 2008 we have built safe, energy-saving, sustainable stoves, that vent 99.9% of toxic smoke produced from open-flame fires out of the home, and help to curb deforestation and climate change by consuming 70% less wood. Since multiple pots can cook simultaneously, cooking time is reduced, and injury from burns is drastically reduced.
To address the challenges to improve indoor environmental quality, we are collaborating with the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA), to design integrated plant wall infrastructures that simultaneously remediate indoor air, produce food, and filter water. Through these highly-adaptable novel systems, we aim to mitigate waterborne illness, eliminate harmful pathogens through on-site solar-powered chemistry, generate a full nutritional profile for families, and purify indoor air. This project will focus on designing architectural systems with the diverse material outputs of sister cropping farming practices. Read more about our project with Yale CEA here.
UNITED NATIONS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Our work in health contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6 & 12.
Our objective is to guarantee women’s rights and accelerate empowerment - by promoting gender equity and increasing participation at the local level.
Guatemala has a history of discrimination against indigenous populations and women in particular. For many women, access to financial resources, health services, and education is still limited. This is a country where simply being a woman can be a risk factor to being a victim of violence ad discrimination.
In 2011, the illiteracy rate among indigenous women was 48%, and for indigenous men was 25%, demonstrating the high level of female social exclusion. Women spend 6 hours a day in non-compensated labor for family well-being as well as 7.5 hours in paid labor per day. In essence, women are overworked and undersupported by weak State institutions.
Our projects support knowledge and skills development, as well as confidence-building through a range of opportunities to secure a favorable socio-economic environment for women, and improve the quality of life for all.
UNITED NATIONS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Our work in gender equity contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6 & 12.
We prioritize projects that encourage creative and critical thinking towards knowledge expansion, increased emotional intelligence, and personal expression.
Guatemala is a multi-ethnic country with a rich cultural heritage. The indigenous populations across the Highlands of the country are known worldwide for their outstanding creative work and traditional crafts including basketry, ceramics, weaving, embroidery, painting, and folk music.
Creative and critical thinking is integral to all possible occupations and situations. Through the process of artistic problem-solving and creation, interaction is increased across neurological pathways responsible for attention, focus, brainstorming, daydreaming, and monitoring of one's own internal stream of consciousness towards informed decision-making and mental well-being.
Through our projects, we have seen how creativity can galvanize women, instill a firm sense of identity and belonging, and shape individuals to become more responsible citizens towards their community and family.
UNITED NATIONS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Our work in the creative arts and industries contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 9, 11 & 17.
ecolibri
is a registered non-profit organization that has partnered with indigenous communities around Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, since 2004
COLLABORATORS
Yale CEA is an academic collaboration between the Yale University schools of Architecture, Environment, Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and Engineering and Applied Sciences. Together with Yale CEA principals, we design, test and deploy innovative science and technology into our communities.
An Intersectoral Material Design Framework for Soil Health brings together convergent research in agro-waste upcycling, phytoremediation systems, and circular material life cycle design at Yale’s Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (CEA) with circular textile companies Global Mamas in Ghana, a partner since 2011 and Ecolibri in Guatemala, a partner since 2004.
By exploring soil restoration practices and their generation of diverse, derivative material practices as a springboard for materials research, this approach represents a proactive rather than reactive approach to soil health. Building on existing partnerships with uniquely innovative enterprises for forging transformational circular models for agrarian economies in Ghana (Global Mamas) and Guatemala (Ecolibri) and their intersectoral communities of practice, we will explore practices of healthy soil cultivation as a guiding framework for the co-development and evaluation of derivative sustainable material practices. This project will focus on designing architectural systems with the diverse material outputs of sister cropping farming practices in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala as well as proka soil conservation practices across Ghana in order to generate and evaluate a broad range of material production logic, transformation pathways, and uses.
Batz' Textiles is a women-run weaving cooperative in San Juan La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, who design and craft woven textiles using traditional techniques and natural dyes. Creating the highest quality, authentic, handmade artisanal textiles from the highlands of Guatemala, a region famous for hand crafted textiles.
Anna Dyson is the Hines Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture and Professor at the School of the Environment at Yale University. Dyson is also the founding Director of the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (CEA). She has been a professor of architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she founded the Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology (CASE) in Manhattan with Skidmore Owings & Merrill in 2006.
Dyson is the recipient of the Innovator Award from Architectural Record in 2015—she holds many international patents on building systems innovations for the collection and distribution of clean energy, water, air quality, and material life cycle. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The World Future Energy Summit (WFES), and The Center for Architecture. Designs for novel systems have been recognized with over twenty awards, including a first prize from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for the Integrated Concentrating Solar Facade and Climate Camouflage systems, multiple Architect R&D awards for systems including the Solar Enclosure for Water Reuse (SEWR) and the Active Modular Phytoremediation System (AMPS).
Multiple systems are being deployed, with the AMPS system recently installed into the Public Safety Answering Center (PSAC II) in the Bronx, included in the Best Architecture of 2017 by the Wall Street Journal, as the first full-scale test of the production of fresh air from within a building through plant-based air handling systems.
Ecolibri USA is our US-based office. The office was organized to promote cultural awareness and understanding between people from greatly different backgrounds in Guatemala and the United States by supporting and advancing the work of nongovernmental organizations working for long terms solutions to poverty, illiteracy, hunger and homelessness.
Anzan Atitlán is a boutique hotel, restaurant and spa on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Through the hotel and restaurant guests, we design and share immersive experiences and tours alongside Ecolibri communities.
Lorne Adrain is an active philanthropic and community leader. He is the founder of Global Fellows in Courage, an accelerator for human rights advocates around the globe. Lorne works with us on the development of our work and networks.
Green Sprout Preschool is a Montessori and Reggio inspired preschool that aims to provide children, ages 3 months to 5 years, with a quality early childhood education based on principles of peace, respect, responsibility and community.
Alan Harlam, Director of the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship at the Swearer Center is working to develop opportunities for Brown students to work on international social enterprise initiatives.
The Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) (University of the Valley of Guatemala) is a private, not-for-profit, secular university in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was the first private university to give a strong emphasis to technology and technical background in the country.
The Center for Atitlán Studies (CEA) is a multidisciplinary research center based in Sololá at the University Del Valle Guatemala, that was formed after the major cyanobacteria bloom in Lake Atitlán in 2009. The center acts as a base for scientific research in Lake Atitlán and its basin, focussing on the ecological, environmental, and health of the population. They actively promote action and solutions designed towards the sustainable development of the region as well as the preservation of ancestral, cultural, and natural heritage.
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