Historia: La Escuela Popular de las Niñas

 It's already been seven years since the state of Guatemala punished and imprisoned 56 girls in Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción. On March 7, 2017, the day before International Women's Day, a day to honor the hard work of women worldwide, 56 girls tried to escape ongoing sexual abuse, child sex trafficking, malnutrition, and the physical abuse they suffered at the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción state shelter in San José Pinula, Guatemala.

After a couple of hours, a fire broke out inside the shelter. The girls screamed for help, kicking in the door to escape the fire. The negligence of the shelter's staff and the criminalization of the girls by the police resulted in 41 deaths, while 15 survivors were left scarred with physical and emotional injuries.

In Guatemala and in the diaspora colectivas emerged to support the families of the girls seeking justice. Since 2019, I’ve been involved with some of the colectivas and written about their stories in my doctorate thesis and continue to uplift their stories. La Escuela Popular de las Niñas is a grassroots effort by La Colectiva 8 de Marzo and Colectiva las Libelulas.

• Education is a privilege in Guatemala. In 2014, 19% of the adult population (15 years and older) was illiterate, compared to 7% in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
• 76% of all rural , Indigenous children who enter first grade drop out before completing primary school.
• Urban female literacy (2009) Non-Indigenous: 86% Indigenous: 55%

These transnational efforts are a small gesture to dismantle structural inequality in Central American regions. Our collective support, mutual aid, and education raise our consciousness in the diaspora across settler colonial borders.