GLXi to Celebrate 10 Years of Changing Lives through Literacy
The two 16-year-old girls came from two very different worlds.
One, from the United States, was visiting Guatemala with her father. A typical teenage life, full of educational opportunities, awaited her back at home.
The other, a Guatemalan native, lived in a house with a dirt floor, with few material goods. She was illiterate and taking care of her baby on her own. Her husband had left for the United States the year prior and hadn’t been heard from since.
Even though their circumstances were polar opposites, these girls were alike in many ways. They became fast friends.
The U.S. girl’s father couldn’t help but watch with wonder.
“How do we give all 16-year-old girls every chance in the world?” he thought to himself.
That father was David Barford, who founded Global Learning Exchange Initiative in 2013 after years of visits to the country, and interactions similar to the one his daughter had with her Guatemalan friend.
Barford, a business executive in the telecommunications and entertainment-media industries, saw impoverished conditions but also saw hope and promise.
He had a vision for eradicating illiteracy in underdeveloped countries like Guatemala. And he believed that this type of change had to come from within the country itself.
Let’s Fiesta!
Today, GLXi prepares to celebrate 10 years as an organization, delivering high-quality, comprehensive literacy education to public school teachers in grades one through three.
Our Fiesta on September 23 will be a chance to celebrate all that has grown from our founder’s vision, through the efforts of so many people both in the United States and – most importantly – within Guatemala.
We hope you will join us for an evening of fun, celebration, shared vision and reflection.
“This is a chance to come together and recognize GLXi’s progress and impact over the last decade,” said Ana Schulz, GLXi’s Executive Director in the United States. “It is also an opportunity to pool our resources, and our collective brainpower, to propel our organization forward. When we look at all that GLXi has accomplished in the last 10 years, we are downright giddy imagining what we can do in the next ten. The possibilities are endless.”
More information on how to buy a ticket or sponsor a table can be found on our Fiesta page. Your involvement is what will make this annual fundraiser our best event to date, particularly as we mark our 10-year anniversary as an organization.
10 YEARS of vision
Anniversaries are a chance to look at how far we have come, and also an opportunity to plan for the future. With that in mind, we spoke to several individuals who have played a role in GLXi’s evolution over the years, asking them to share their thoughts as we approach this milestone.
We think you will enjoy hearing directly from them.
After you read their comments below, we hope you will be further encouraged to join us at the Fiesta, where you will have even more opportunities to learn about GLXi’s work and continued mission.
“These individuals continue to play such a strong role in GLXi’s growth as an organization,” said Jaime Vielman, GLXi’s executive director in Guatemala. “We are grateful to them for their time, energy, vision and commitment. Of course, there are so many additional stakeholders who we also want to thank. The Fiesta is one opportunity to do so.”
“The biggest difference over the last 10 years is the depth and breadth of our in-country resources. Jaime, his team and the teacher corps have made all the difference in the world for our program in Guatemala.”
our guatemala team:
JAIME VIELMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - GUATEMALA
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DR. JUAN FERNANDO PORRES, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
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ANDREA TUMAX, IMPACT COORDINATOR
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182 TEACHERS IN 56 SCHOOLS
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JAIME VIELMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - GUATEMALA 〰️ DR. JUAN FERNANDO PORRES, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION 〰️ ANDREA TUMAX, IMPACT COORDINATOR 〰️ 182 TEACHERS IN 56 SCHOOLS 〰️
“Guatemala is a country with great potential, in my opinion. Its people are empowered to move their country forward. I am always struck by the generosity of the culture — so warm and giving when they have very little to give.”
“As a board member, I have visited the Guatemalan schools and students that are being served by GLXi. During our visits, parents would invite us to their homes to thank us for investing in their children. I have great memories of sitting with families, having a delicious cup of coffee and appreciating how much we have in common. We all want our children to grow into happy, healthy and capable adults with the opportunity to share with the world their gifts.”
“Education has big and complex problems in the United States, but it is a crisis in places like Guatemala where many children do not go to school. If children can learn to read, write, and think critically and creatively, they have more of a chance in this world.”
“GLXi provides teachers with tools to be able to do their work well, and provides students with a better future. My hope is to see our Open Books, Open Minds program expand throughout Guatemala. There are so many schools and classrooms yet to reach.”
“We were interviewing a young girl, maybe about 9 years old, who was amazed that an American like me knew how to speak Spanish. I told her I was raised in Texas, that I was of Mexican descent. I asked if she knew where Texas was. She did not. I told her it bordered on Mexico and asked if she knew where Mexico was. She did not. In fact, she knew very little of anything outside of a 10-mile radius of the village where she grew up. That’s when we realized that the challenge was not only getting children to ‘dream big,’ but to help them understand what ‘big’ was.”
“The impact is real, and the work will change you as much as it changes the GLXi families.”
