Living Heritage Foundation is a Guatemalan non-profit organization that has been working in the South West of Guatemala for more than 13 years. We focus on developing partnerships with communities to promote empowerment and organization within them, based on a comprehensive approach to provide the community the opportunity to have a better life quality.
Through the collaboration of Fundherviva’s staff and its programs, as well as national and international volunteers, schools, local leaders, and the proactive work of people, actions are carried out for prioritizing their needs in order to find the best solutions in a sustainable way.
General Information
Start date of operations:
January 4, 2010; Headquarters located in zone 3 in the City of Quetzaltenango.
Legal personality and approval of statutes:
Ministerial Agreement No. 113-2012
Vision
Families and communities in Western Guatemala are empowered to lead sustainable individual and community growth in infrastructure improvements, access to basic services, entrepreneurial income, and providing children and youth access to academic and leadership training, to get involved in local development.
Mission
Living Heritage Foundation (LHF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing poverty through sustainable community development projects in the Western region of Guatemala. LHF values the skills, knowledge, and experiences of Guatemala families and communities, and works with them in health projects, infrastructure/environmental improvements, education attainment, and micro business development. LHF provides training, scholarships, mentoring, healthcare, food security, water resources, and construction by matching volunteer teams and donors with community needs and resources.
VALUES
Transparency
Inclusion
Efficiency
Responsibility
Solidarity
Justice
Quality
Respect
Excellence
Cooperation
Equality
EMPOWERMENT MODEL
EDUCATION
We offer a scholarship program for students, that provides them a monthly payment, shoes, backpacks and school supplies. This scholarship allows students the opportunity to fulfill their dream of becoming professionals and leaders of their communities. Is well known that in remote rural communities, schools often do not count with appropriate classrooms for their students. Schools in those areas are often in extremely terrible conditions, so this axis responds to these needs, building or remodeling these spaces, to turn them into adequate and safe areas.
HEALTH
Medical Missions are held with the help of professional volunteers from the United States. Critical cases that are identified in a medical mission are prioritized to give them proper follow-up, providing the value of medical consultations with specialists, medications or surgery payments. As well as training for local health promoters and health committees.
CLEAN WATER
We have a water filter providing program and a training program on the proper use of water filters and prevention of diseases due to contaminated water.
ENVIRONMENT
To us the environment is an area of utmost importance and that is why we count with recycling and reforestation projects, they are executed by local and foreign beneficiaries and volunteers, as well as work in response to emergencies due to natural disasters, providing humanitarian aid in the affected locations.
SMALL BUSINESS
With this program, we offer alternatives to migration, through the creation of small businesses that allow beneficiaries to start their own business and generate sufficient resources for family sustainability.