As Limitless Horizons Ixil celebrates our 20th anniversary, I’m inspired to reflect on our growth and the countless lives we’ve impacted through a simple but revolutionary vision: that a new generation of educated professionals would transform Chajul into a community of opportunity. When I first arrived in Chajul, our co-founder Pedro Caba was the only college graduate in town. Twenty years later, I see many Limitless Horizons Ixil high school and college graduates thriving in professional roles.
One such student is Josefina Imul Calel, from just our second Youth Development Program cohort. I remember my first visit to her family’s home: a tidy, one-room house on a hill overlooking mountains and farmland, with an open fire pit and just two wood-plank beds for the whole family. I learned that just 20 years earlier, during Guatemala’s 36-year-long civil war, Josefina’s parents and older siblings had fled their home, leaving behind all their land and possessions, eventually settling in Chajul. Her mother had never gone to school and her father had attended just one year of elementary school, a three-hour walk from his home.
This giving season, please donate to support countless more students like Josefina to overcome social and financial barriers and become the first in their families to pursue higher education.
Thanks to a few generous donors, gifts up to $65,000 will be TRIPLED while funds last!
It was clear to me that Josefina was driven and intelligent. However, with a family income of just $38 a month, it was also evident they could not afford to send her to middle school. In 2005, with our support, Josefina became the first in her family to attend middle school. Despite her academic achievements, her father nearly put an end to her dreams of higher education, insisting she leave school to work and help support the family financially.
Limitless Horizons Ixil has always pioneered solutions to challenges. When Josefina was at risk of leaving school, our work-study program (now our fellowships for Emerging Leaders) in addition to our scholarship ensured she could continue her education by covering 100% of her school expenses. As a result, Josefina proudly earned her high school diploma in 2011. During and after high school, our extracurricular workshops (now our Emerging Leaders Program) complemented her half days of public school classes with workshops on topics like leadership and financial literacy. In our early years, we also observed students struggling academically, so we started offering tutoring and a computer lab. In 2010, responding to children without books at home, students lacking support or a place to do homework, and teachers without access to basic educational resources, we opened our Community Library, which remains a hub of educational activity for Chajul’s youth and has an ever-growing membership!
In 2022, we opened the Colegio Horizontes middle school, and in January we’ll open its high school. This was the natural evolution of our Youth Development Program into a more effective way to meet our students’ academic, gender equity, and safety needs. At full capacity, Colegio Horizontes will provide 125 students with two nutritious meals a day, ongoing socio-emotional support and family workshops, and educational and career counseling to empower students to achieve their academic, professional, and leadership goals. With quality holistic education and a growing group of emerging leaders like Josefina paving the way, we know Colegio Horizontes graduates will become needed community professionals and changemakers!
Josefina went on to earn a university scholarship to study social work, becoming one of Chajul’s first female college graduates and an inspiring role model for Indigenous girls who aspire to follow in her footsteps. Beyond her impact as a trailblazer, Josefina creates change working with Guatemala’s Ministry of Agriculture, where she provides training for hundreds of women in 17 villages around Chajul—a job previously only held by men. Now, with five years of professional work experience, Josefina reflects on the impact Limitless Horizons Ixil had in her life:
Limitless Horizons Ixil gave me access to education and taught me to lead with empathy—a lesson I carry into my work to this day. Most importantly, my financial freedom has allowed me to support myself and my family without relying on a husband—economic independence unheard of among my peers.
Josefina’s incredible educational achievement is one of many in our history. The middle school graduation rate of Limitless Horizons Ixil scholars is threefold that of the community at large, and our high school graduation rate is 10 times higher—and our impact will grow exponentially with Colegio Horizontes! Spanning nearly our entire 20-year history, Josefina’s story is a testament to the power of education and perseverance. From a young girl dreaming of attending 7th grade to a college graduate who’s part of the just 6% of Chajul’s population in the formal workforce, Josefina’s journey embodies Limitless Horizons Ixil’s mission to empower Indigenous youth to unlock their potential to transform their futures and their community.
Generous contributions from donors like you have made our impact possible over the past 20 years and we can’t wait to see what our next 20 years will bring to the youth and community of Chajul. With well-developed plans to support our students, library members, and graduates as critical thinkers and leaders, the future is bright. However, with more young people and a growing team depending on Limitless Horizons Ixil, we need your support to ensure we can continue our life-changing work to empower more Indigenous youth like Josefina to achieve their dreams and create lasting community change.
Please join us by giving today and have your gift tripled (while funds last)!
Give today in honor of our 20th anniversary and have your gift matched two to one in support of our programming developed by and for community members! We have proven success in developing Chajul’s future professionals like Josefina, who are already creating a positive ripple effect in Chajul.