In 2015 I was awarded a Global Youth Ambassador Fellowship through Planned Parenthood Global. Through this Fellowship, I visited Tan Ux’il, a non-profit organization in Flores, Peten, Guatemala. Tan Ux’il is Maya-Itzá word meaning, “we are growing.” They do incredibly comprehensive and innovative sexual and reproductive health education in over 14 communities in the state of Peten. Their network of young promotores and youth peer providers “health promotores” not only do sexual and reproductive health education but even distribute some birth control methods like condoms, the pill, and a monthly birth control shot. Some of the communities are so remote that they take up to 4 hours driving to get there.
They also have a bi-weekly radio program called “Codigo Cero,” (Code zero) in which they talk about sexual and reproductive health. Their tagline, “Hablamos en serio, educación sin misterio,” meaning, “let’s talk for real, education without the mystery,” is no joke, as no topic is off limits, from masturbation to dismantling the patriarchy. They talk about all of it. They receive anonymous questions via text, fb, and even by phone. The work they do is so revolutionary, that when the show first began in 2002, they received threats of violence for even saying the word, “sex.” Now, schools and other community organizations take time from their schedules to tune into the show.
In order to train their network of promotores and peer providers, Tan Ux’il invites 90 youth to a 5 day camp. During the camp, youth learn about sexual and reproductive health, leadership, and community building. They use interactive and affective teaching techniques. I have not seen such incredible methods used since those used by my graduate school professors at Widener University.
The youth camp is 5 days long and aims to do the following:
Proactive leadership transformation
Adopt best practices as it applies to safer sex and drug use
Behavior change for gender equity
Increased knowledge and skills
Greater awareness of the topics addressed
Personal commitment to the issue
Exchange of experiences for collective learning
Responsible decision making as their own agents of change
Recently, they have also taken on the task of educating about consent and rape culture to specifically as it applies to rape and incest, including access to emergency contraception after an assault. Currently, 80% of reported rape cases are insest, of those, 30% of the cases the father is the perpetrator. Many of these cases the survivor is only 12 or 13 years old.
The work they are doing is truly innovative and they are changing lives every day.
Recently, they’ve had to cut back on expenses, one of which is their Youth Camp. This has come as a blow to both the organization and their network of volunteers, as this is the one time a year that they all get together as well as train the volunteers since their service area is so large. Not once have they visited a community and not had an aspiring promotor run up and ask when the next camp will be.
This is where you come in. I need your help raising funds so that Tan Ux’il can still run their camp this year. They need $7,500 (Q 57,423.75) to run a camp for 90 participants.
This will pay for transportation, food, housing, materials, and the cost to rent the campgrounds for 5 days.
That is approximately $84 dollars per participant, a cost that is prohibitive for every participant.
I know that $84 is a lot to ask, but any little bit helps. Even if we cannot raise the full funds, even being partially funded will allow them to run the camp, even with less participants.
Those of you who know me, know how important sexual health education, especially for latinos, is to me. To have them open their doors to allow me to come see their work, is something I am incredibly grateful for. They were hoping to learn from me, but in reality, they taught me so much, and more so, renewed my love and energy for the work that I do. They are truly an inspiration. I asked them what they needed the most help with, and ensuring they have a camp this year is their top priority. Please help if you can.