Guatemala

Last Spring YAP sent a three-person team to Guatemala to show solidarity and support for Carlos Toledo and his dedicated work with street children and at-risk youth via "Movimiento". Carlos continues to withstand financial strains, harassment by the police, and being labeled a criminal by the Guatemalan courts as a result of his advocacy for street children. Carlos and Movimiento are mourning the loss of Carlos' assistant director and two youths living at the Movimiento shelter, murdered as a consequence of their human rights activism. This debilitating loss to Movimiento led to the formation of a North American YAP team that traveled to Guatemala to buoy Carlos and demonstrate YAP's full support of Movimiento. CEO Jeff Fleischer was joined by Monmouth International graduate student Katy Holland and YAP Dauphin County Family Clinic therapist Diana Matteson. The YAP team worked alongside Movimiento staff and volunteers, getting to know the young people served by Movimiento, evaluating program needs, and facilitating meetings to assist Carlos in strengthening existing and pursuing new relationships with human rights and non-governmental organizations. Movimiento has a 15-year history of collaborating with YAP, sharing core YAP principles such as a strength-based approach, individualized service plans, and a willingness to work with youth rejected by other organizations and the community itself.

To read more about YAP's work in Guatemala, click here.