Everything at Casa Pa’nibal is planned with certain objectives in mind. Planning a good future for our residents, planning our future investments, and planning our objectives for the short and long term are among those.

In the middle of all these plans there was also our move — something that we knew awaited us in the summer of this year. Choosing a house for Casa Pa’nibal has its peculiarities. Many things have to be taken into account to accommodate as many needs as possible: security, size, price, location, internet availability, accessibility for members of our community program, preparing the home for children and toddlers… so many things to think about!

An early morning view from our terrace.

The big news is that in the midst of all these needs and priorities, we have found our new home and we want to tell you a little about it! If you arrived at Casa Pa’nibal today, we would probably be very excited to show you the beautiful view from our terrace with volcanoes that seem freshly painted before your eyes and a daily spectacle of different skies. Beyond that is the view of the city and a beautiful cafezal (coffee farm) that extends to the Volcán Agua in the distance. All this new scenery that surrounds us is pure inspiration — and without a doubt it cultivates a beautiful feeling of gratitude on a daily basis. Let’s just say… It’s a very good start!

Our next step would be to show you all the new accommodations that we have now. We are so excited about the fact that this house has much more space for children! We also have a dedicated play area, something very important for the development of skills such as moving around, sharing, and sharing space and attention with others.

One of the kids of Pa’nibal getting to know their new space.

Speaking of sharing spaces, we love our new study room! In our previous home, our study room was also the living room, and it was the entrance of the home which led to innumerable interruptions and distractions throughout the day. Now, we have this very important space tucked away in its own area of the home — separate from the living room, and away from the most trafficked areas of Pa’nibal. It is so much more suitable! A perfect place to focus on the most important aspect of our project: guaranteeing education — the fuel of social transformations and personal opportunity.

Our new study room, or salón de educación

Another great piece of news is that in this house each resident has her own room. We have been hoping to establish this for some time as it really creates a sense of privacy and responsibility for the space. Many of our residents previously lived in situations where privacy — and time alone to reflect or be with their children — was a very limited luxury.

There are so many changes to our physical space that we could spend much more time describing them, but we can easily summarize with this:  we are very, very happy to be here!

Each resident at Casa Pa’nibal has their own room.

And as it turns out recent changes go far beyond the structure of the home itself. With our new and larger space we’re able to significantly grow and improve our volunteer program that has become such a powerful element of Casa Pa’nibal! We’re so excited to continue inviting volunteers into our home, and to be able to provide a comfortable living situation and a structured environment to work with us, our residents, and their kids.

Of course, we didn’t leave all of our challenges behind in our old home. Every day we engage with a variety of obstacles to help provide space for transformation in the lives of the women who count on our — and your — daily support. But you know what? We have new energy, new inspiration, and we’re so excited to keep developing our education programs and supporting the women and kids in our community.

Would you like to learn more about Casa Pa’nibal and our work? Please sign up for our newsletter. Have you ever considered volunteering with an NGO in Guatemala? Feel free to check out our Workaway page or contact our volunteer coordinator directly.

Casa Pa’nibal is 100% funded by private donors. Your commitment and generosity make what we do possible. Donate today to help provide a home, education, and future for women & kids that need it the most.

Amrita Chima is 26 years old and is born and raised in Scotland. She is Indian by background and now resides in London. She is a finance specialist by trade, enjoys writing, reading and traveling, and is taking a year to travel and volunteer in Latin America.

I arrived at Pa’nibal, in Sacatepéquez, Guatemala in early November. I had made my way north from Costa Rica to begin a work away at the refuge. I was excited but also nervous. It was the first time for me being involved in such specific community work in a country completely foreign to me. I need not have worried, I was coming to the right place. 

Once at the house, I was greeted by a number of friendly staff members, residents and their kids. I immediately felt welcome and my nerves started to subside. This was despite the communication gap due to my bad Spanish! Above my bed was a poster that had been hand-crafted by the kids – ‘Welcome Home’ it read with my name in bold below. Within a few days, I felt exactly how the poster predicted I would – at home. 

The first thing I noticed was how hard-working each and every one of these girls are – I was so impressed. It is a rarity back home and then we complain about it. I rarely saw my room-mate due to her hectic schedule – up at 5am, out the door by 6am, work all day in a physically intensive job, back home around 7pm, a quick rest for dinner and then on to her assigned chores for the evening. The earliest she joined me back in the room was at 9.30pm and this was on a good day! Sitting on her bed at 10pm, she whips out her medical books. Studying for an exam she has on the weekend at a university where she studies nursing. And this is a play-by-play of a resident without kids. Late at night, chatting to her about her ambitions, I could feel her determination and I felt inspired. I truly did admire her. 

This push for independence that she now so strongly held had been nudged forward by the staff team here at Pa’nibal. During my time here, I learned, both from witnessing and discussing, all the work that the team puts in to gently push the girls towards their goals, freedom and independence. From classes centered around self-defense and self-discipline such as Taekwondo, to support in finding work or developing a new skill to every day words of encouragement. It is heart-warming to see the support that is given and the passion with which all of the team here take on their roles.

My role here was to document, through photos, the ways in which steps were being taken each day to ensure a better future was being presented for the residents and their families. And it was never a challenge to find that next moment. Of course, there was the day-to-day volunteering or work the residents were involved with, attending classes on Woman’s Rights and Empowerment, the children graduating school etc. But for me, it was the little every day moments of passion and determination that really struck me. For example, afternoons spent side-by-side with Ana where I studied Spanish and she studied English. She took full advantage of my being here in order to learn a new skill. She had learned some as a child and wanted to improve. Or my roommate coming home one evening with a full Taekwondo suit, ready to commit to and incorporate a full-time hobby into her already hectic schedule. Or watching the young boys hand-craft kites all day only to successfully fly them later that evening (I would have no idea where to even begin). Or an evening spent around the dinner table, the boys asking me to quiz them on all the colors and objects I had taught them in English that day. There were so many of these everyday moments which really emphasized to me the movement and feel of the house. 

Although the residents have been through hard-ships in life that no one should have to face, on a day-to-day basis, it really is a lovely place to be. We have fun together. It is like living with a large, extended family where day-to-day everyone chips in to do their bit. We eat as a family, laugh and make fun of each other like a family and celebrate birthdays together like a family. I am taking away from this experience true friendships, drive and motivation inspired by the residents and a lot of admiration for the people who make a place like this possible and run it with such drive. And of course, lots of photos! It truly has been an unforgettable experience, and of my 8 months spent traveling and working on this side of the world, this tops my list. 

The only downside to my experience at Pa’nibal is that I had to leave.

Ana, Amrita’s roommate during her stay at Pa’nibal, moved out on her own in mid-December, 2019. She had been working at a local gym to save money for more than half a year and had been living at Pa’nibal for about eighteen months. She will complete nursing school in the Summer of 2020.

Want to invest in the women of Pa’nibal, like Ana, working to change their lives and futures? $100 per month covers basic costs for each of our residents; any amount helps.

Pa’nibal is all about practical education. This year we have been revitalizing and reimagining that focus with cost sharing programs, new in-home classes, more rigorous vocational training requirements, and a commitment to work programs with their focus outside of the home.

Cost sharing and domestic economics

A few months ago we introduced a new initiative that requires each of our long term residents — those with terms greater than three months — to pay a nominal monthly rent. The fee of about $15 doubles at the six-month mark, and is intended to help accustom members of our community home to managing their finances and planning for regular expenses.

As of this month 80% of Pa’nibal residents chosen to participate in the program are up to date with their contributions. For many women at Pa’nibal, this marks the first time in their life that they have been personally responsible for an ongoing domestic expense.

New in-home classes

Pa’nibal has in large part shifted away from volunteer-driven classes and instead begun focusing on paid workshops administered by experienced professionals. This shift has allowed us to maintain higher levels of quality as well as the schedule consistency that makes offering these resources to the public simpler and more successful. By bringing in members of our community on a regular basis we’re able to better communicate our mission and more publicly support our values of education, equality, non-violence, and self-determination.

More than twenty community members regularly attend workshops at Pa’nibal already, and with recent additions to our regular offerings like sport boxing and sewing we hope to see those numbers rise.

Commitment to vocational training

All long-term Pa’nibal residents (except children and one adult who is enrolled as a full-time student in Guatemala City) have begun three month vocational workshops with INTECAP, a Guatemalan technical and professional training and certification organization that has been operating for nearly half a century. These courses include more than 60 hours of hands-on instructor led training and result — for students who pass the coursework — in professional certifications well respected by employers throughout Guatemala.

Our residents have enrolled in a variety of programs from clothing production through baked goods preparation and personal beauty services — skills that translate directly into employability in our local Sacatepéquez economy.

Work programs

Sixty-five percent of current adult residents at Pa’nibal are engaged in paid part-time work as a direct result of vocational workshops. The women of Pa’nibal use their earnings to cover the nominal rent we charge long-term residents, to purchase foodstuffs outside of what the home offers at daily meals, to purchase goods for their children, and to begin saving for the future.

The women at Pa’nibal who are currently working are paid some Q25 – Q50 per hour ($3.5 – $7), compared with a national minimum wage of Q16 ($2.25) per hour which less than half the country is able to actually earn. The move from domestic labor (working as a maid) to skilled labor gives Guatemalan women a significant advantage and opens a variety of new opportunities. Many domestic laborers — even in the affluent Antigua area — make only $5 – $7 for a full day’s work.

What’s next? Bank accounts. Only one in three Guatemalan women have access to a bank account. At least in this respect, the women of Pa’nibal are on their way to not being just another statistic.

Do you believe in the power of education? Do you want to help someone truly transform their life? A one-time donation of $140 covers one of many three month vocational courses we offer to residents. Any amount helps.