The academies are more than a safe haven for the children in La Limonada. While we believe it is important to provide a beautiful alternative to the negative influences of gang-ridden streets, we also want to develop the children into flourishing young adults, poised to be the future leaders of a peace-filled community. One important […]

Today is World Day of #SocialJustice. “The poor need the motivation, the incentives, the skills, the education so they can help themselves.” – John M. Perkins    

The academies are more than a safe haven for the children in La Limonada. While we believe it is important to provide a beautiful alternative to the negative influences of gang-ridden streets, we also want to develop the children into flourishing young adults, poised to be the future leaders of a peace-filled community. One important […]

Aileen joins her fellow classmates in the Mandarina Academy each day. (Photo by Rebecca Gant)

Education is a powerful tool to break the cycles of poverty, violence, and injustice in La Limonada. (Photo by Silent Images)

The academies are more than a safe haven for the children in La Limonada. While we believe it is important to provide a beautiful alternative to the negative influences of gang-ridden streets, we also want to develop the children into flourishing young adults, poised to be the future leaders of a peace-filled community. One important […]

A special thanks to everyone who gave generously to Give Christmas 2014—and to everyone who shared the campaign with family and friends. As you know, the funds raised will address real and tangible needs in the La Limonada community, providing children and families with opportunities to escape cycles of poverty, violence, and injustice. It was […]

This week, the children of La Limonada returned to the academies filled with excitement and joy for a new school year. Registration took place last week and classes filled up quickly. 98 children were registered in the Limon Academy, 63 in the Mandarina Academy, and 40 in the new Lima Academy — for a total […]

The Academies are filled with light, hope, and laughter. We are all ready for a new school year to begin! (Photo by Rebecca Gant)

Students in the academies hold up the school packs we plan to distribute in January after reaching our Give Christmas 2014 goals. (Photo by Rebecca Gant)

The academies in La Limonada offer a safe haven of hope, where children are given an alternative to the streets where their greatest physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are addressed by deeply committed, passionate teachers. Students will head back to school in January after their Christmas break. Children and classrooms will need basic supplies, including […]

Kids being kids in the Lima Academy. (Photo by Rebecca Gant)

Today’s guest post is by Brooke Fontoura, blog manager of the The Root Collective. Today is Small Business Saturday. A day designed to highlight not the big box stores and shopping malls famous for their Black Friday sales, but the local businesses who are helping to provide jobs for their communities. Like Otto, dear friend and master […]

As you begin to think about Christmas shopping for the children in your lives, you may be contemplating what they would most enjoy or considering what would serve them well as they begin school again in January. For the children in La Limonada, a new pair of shoes enables them to walk confidently to school […]

Every year, the holiday season is a time of preparation, reflection, and celebration. We gather with friends and family, bake cookies, put up festive decorations, and savor all we are grateful during the year. And the joy of the season swells and overflows when we choose to extend our abundance with the vulnerable. Give Christmas […]

Carlitos plays with blocks in the Mandarina academy. (Photo by Silent Images)

Earlier this year, we introduced you to Gadiel Avalos. He has since come on staff with the team in La Limonada, including work with gang members. Gadiel has contagious joy and love for the community. He recently took Instagrams on his phone throughout his day, capturing “a day in La Limonada.” We wanted to share […]

Beatriz is 3 years old and attends the Mandarina academy. Her teachers Ana and Gloria take care of her every day from 8:30am – 4:00pm. Her smile is contagious. (Photos by Rebecca Gant)

Today is World Food Day, a day of action against hunger. In La Limonada, children and families face the threat of insufficient nutrition needed to grow, develop, and thrive both physically and mentally. According to the USAID, “Guatemala ranks sixth for chronic malnutrition in the world and has the highest rate of stunting in the […]

The love, lessons, exercise and fun experienced in the academies are often a stark contrast to life in extreme poverty. Kids can be kids here. Students grow intellectually as they are educated. They grow socially as they play with their friends. They grow physically as they are fed, clothed, taught proper hygiene, and receive vitamins. And […]

Jim Hutton visiting Guatemala with his pastor Karl Roth, along with Tita Evertsz and Rebecca Gant. After meeting Tita and visiting La Limonada last year, it was clear to Jim Hutton that supporting the work of the academies and the scholar program was exactly what his late wife Bev would have wanted. Bev passed away […]

Tita visiting Ana’s 0-3 year old class at the Mandarina academy and interacting with Beatriz. (Photo by Rebecca Gant)

On September 15, 1821, Guatemala declared its independence from Spain along with five neighboring countries. As a national holiday, this date is commemorated as an opportunity for all Guatemalans to honor the birth of their country with celebrations and gatherings. Last Monday, staff at the Mandarina academy prepared the children for their own celebration. Parents […]

Classes at the Limon and Mandarina Academies are in full swing, with the new Guatemalan academic year having kicked off in January. And in March we celebrated the start of classes at the third academy in La Limonada. The new Lima Academy is in the El Esfuerzo neighborhood, not far from where Otto’s shoe shop […]