Internacionalista Taz (they/elle) wrote this reflection in August 2025. Late July, it is hot in Santa Anita las Canoas, the small Maya Kaqchikel community in Chimaltenango, a department in the central highlands of Guatemala. The dirt glows orange. Leaves of the coffee trees shift and shimmer. Don Aguilar(1) sits [...]
Internacionalista Nick (he/él) wrote this letter in the months of June and July 2025. From Guatemala City to Nebaj, the largest city in the Ixil region of Guatemala, it's a seven-hour drive, up and down mountains on steep roads chiseled into the hillside. NISGUA arrived at around four PM [...]
Ethan was in Guatemala as an Internacionalista with NISGUA during 2024–2025. They wrote this final letter in January 2025, reflecting on their experience and the people and movements that left a deep impression on them. On November 28th, 2024, the First Court of Appeals (whose members all have connections [...]
Internacionalista Greta (they/elle/ella) wrote this letter in September, 2024 and revised it in March, 2025. Today I’d like to write about intergenerational organizing, rural community building, connection to the land, and what it takes to sustain a movement for nearly two decades. These learnings have percolated during accompaniment trips [...]
Ethan, Internacionalista 2024, wrote this letter on October 9th, 2024 after a visit to ex-political prisoners in Huehuetenango. The Cuchumatanes mountains stretch 400 kilometers across the departments of Huehuetenango and Quiché in northwest Guatemala, the tallest non-volcanic mountain range in all of Central America. The name might [...]
Michelle Liang (she/her) wrote this letter in July, 2024. This Friends and Chosen Family letter is a little different. I thought, sometimes my favorite way of receiving stories is sitting down with my friends and flipping (or scrolling) through a photo album and listening to their commentary on each [...]
Michelle Liang (she/her) internacionalista 2023-2024 wrote this letter on February, 2024. Photo by NISGUA Internacionalista. Guatemala City. January 2024 Thank you for reading! I had written this letter a while ago, but as it is time for my next letter... here it is. A quick update [...]
Right now the most well documented genocide in recorded history is being committed by Israel–with the full throated military and political complicity of the United States–against the Palestinian people in Gaza. On Friday, March 8th (International Women’s Day) the biggest public display of solidarity with Palestine I’ve witnessed here [...]
An Internacionalista 2023 wrote this letter on August, 2023. Hello All, Welcome to my friends and family letter after 2 months of being in Guatemala! This letter is part update/part reflections on my time in Guatemala. I am so new here that I feel as though I [...]
![[ESP] Una tarjeta blanca sostenida por una mano. en la tarjeta se dibuja una vela con lápiz negro y unas letras que dicen: Don Noé presente. Por arriba y debajo de la vela pegado unos pétalos de rosas. [ENG] A white card held by one hand. On the card is drawn a candle with black pencil and some letters that say: Don Noah present. Above and below the candle glued some rose petals.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-11-320x202.png)
Ana (they/elle/ella). Internacionalista 2023 wrote this letter on January 18th, 2024. Dear friends, family and comrades: Bernardo Arévalo is president of Guatemala as of Monday in the very early morning. Even though he was elected on August 20th with 60% of the vote (aka landslide victory), that [...]
![[ENG] Landscape of Guatemala. With blue sky and green grass and mountains at the bottom. [ESP] Paisaje de Guatemala. Con cielo azul y hierba verde y montañas al fondo.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/signal-2024-02-01-141339_005-320x202.jpeg)
Michelle Liang (she/her), Internacionalista 2023 Welcome to my first Friends & (Chosen) Family Letter from Guatemala. Part of my responsibilities in my year with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), in the road to global solidarity, is to write a letter to my [...]
Ana (they/them), Internacionalista 2023 wrote this letter on October 23rd, 2023 during the Guatemala National Strike. Right now, it is day 21 of a massive Plurinational Strike in Guatemala, led by the Indigenous Authorities. There have been days with over 100 points of shut down highway [...]
Esta reflexión es de Maisie (elles/elles) actual Internacionalista. Llevo ya más de 8 meses en Guatemala. Desde la última vez que les escribí, mis reflexiones se han multiplicado por diez. Estar aquí es como mirar el océano; al principio, la superficie del agua es sólo una gran extensión, pero [...]
This reflection is by Maisie (they/them) current Internacionalista. I’ve been in Guatemala for more than 8 months now. Since the last time I wrote y’all, my reflections have increased tenfold. Being here feels like looking at the ocean; at first the water’s surface is just a single large expanse, [...]
![[ESP] En una calle de guatemala, en el muro de un parque, hay un grafiti con letras blancas que dice: La memoria es justicia para nuestrxs abuelxs. [ENG] n a street in Guatemala, on the wall of a park, a graffitti with white letter said: The memory is justice for our ancesters](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5471-320x202.jpg)
Oli (elle) ex internacionalista de NISGUA y compa para siempre, escribió esto después de su segunda estancia como voluntarie en Guatemala con NISGUA. Durante mi primera semana de vuelta a casa en Filadelfia después de estar como acompañante en Guatemala, terminé el libro "Let The Record Show de Sarah [...]
Oli (they/them), former NISGUA Internacionalista and forever compa, wrote this after their second stint as a volunteer in Guatemala with NISGUA. During my first week back home in Philadelphia after accompanying in Guatemala, I finished the book Let The Record Show by Sarah Schulman about ACT [...]
Claire (they/them), former NISGUA Internacionalista, wrote this update during their time as a volunteer with NISGUA. Dear NISGUA family, Almost exactly one year after leaving staff, I’m honored to come back for a month as an accompanier. Frankly, it's a disturbing political scene to return to. You [...]
Maisie (They/them/elle) current NISGUA Internacionalista, writes their reflections on accompaniment and solidarity. Enjoy the reading and the educational materials! Dear community, I have been in Guatemala for over two months now. I will admit that the beginning was hard - I missed you all. I missed our conversations, our [...]
Ruby Tedeschi (she/elle/ella) former NISGUA Internacionalista, recorded this update during their time as a volunteer with NISGUA. Turn the volume up and enjoy! Dear Friends and family I enjoy talking a whole lot more than I enjoy writing so I attached a voice recording [...]
Far away communities, one struggle. My name is Isabel Ruano. I was born in Guatemala City in the 70’s, in the middle of a siege during a war. I grew up in the Capital of Guatemala while the armed confrontations happened in the mountains and outside of the city. [...]
Para leer en español Dear friends, family, and comrades, It brings me a lot of joy to be writing y’all again this fine Leo season! These past few months have been full of chaotic energy and change for me, both in beautiful and challenging ways. When things feel a [...]
Straigth from NISGUA's archives, we invite you to read this letter written by Kayla Myers, who was an accompanier in Guatemala from November 2014 to November 2015. Dear Family and Friends, I write you with a feeling of gratitude. Your messages of support and kindness give me [...]
As I write these lines, I can’t help but think that just a year ago, on March 15, 2020, the first COVID-19 death was reported in Guatemala. On March 17, the state closed the borders and imposed a stage of siege. One month later, on April 23, I closed [...]
Graphic credit: IG @bbyanarchists Hello Everyone, A lot has happened in such a short amount of time. Adjusting to a pandemic that pushes pre-existing inequality to a new limit while also seeing the popularity of mutual aid and community care efforts rise has been such a mind [...]
Para leer en español Nicole Estrada (she/her/hers), current NISGUA Internacionalista, wrote this letter during the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter uprisings in the U.S. Picture of a dreamy trail in Birmingham, AL Dear friends, family, and comrades, It’s officially Leo season, and so much [...]
Isa Villalon, NISGUA internacionalista, wrote this letter upon their return to the United States in March, 2020. Since her return, Isa has been organizing with Abolish ICE Denver. I wasn't able to send out my last friends and family letter before I left Guatemala. Now, [...]
[Christina Reyes, NISGUA Internacionalista, wrote and sent this letter in early January 2020. It now includes modifications they made in early March 2020 for International Women’s Day] Hello loved ones, I hope this message reaches y'all in a time and space where the world isn't weighing so heavily on [...]
Nicole Estrada (she/her) wrote this blog while volunteering as an international accompanier in our GAP Internacionalista program. Her blog is here both as a text and an illustrated booklet -- check it out! Read Nico's illustrated booklet! Check out our "No safe third country [...]
Welcome to this second Friends and Family letter, I hope you are staying warm and cozy this winter days! I wish you a festive, joyous and reflective time. Below you’ll read about my reflections as well as my wishes for the next decade: for political prisoners to be freed, [...]
Accompanier Olivia Pandolfi (they/she or elle/ella) writes about climate change and indigenous resistance in Quiché, Guatemala. In the text you'll read about extractivism, linguistics, and a multiple-hour Google Earth tour of Guatemala's river systems. ————— As the nine of us sit, crowded into the small meeting room on stools and [...]
A seed of transformation and liberation was planted two years ago, when we shared NISGUA’s vision for solidarity and our commitment to an organization-wide racial justice framework. We committed to increasing participation of People of Color and low income/working class comrades in the Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP). Your donations [...]
Former NISGUA accompanier Olivia Pandolfi (they/them or she/her) created this zine about militarization and resistance as a Friends and Family Letter to their community. To read the zine as a PDF, click here. To download the zine, cut it up, and fold it into your own mini [...]
Dear Friends and Family, As I reflect on the past year since joining Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) and officially finishing my first period in Guatemala Accompaniment Program, I hold my deepest gratitude to you all who have supported my journey in this accompaniment work. [...]
Current NISGUA accompanier Olivia Pandolfi (they/them or she/her) created this zine about community consultations as a Friends and Family Letter to their community. To read the zine as a PDF, click here. To download the zine, cut it up, and fold it into your own mini [...]
Maya Achi women demanding justice for sexual violence enter the court for a trial date in the case's intermediate phase. Photo credit: ACOGUATE Current accompanier, Tal Netter-Sweet, shares their experience of accompanying Maya Achí women who survived sexual violence committed by civil defense patrols, operating [...]
Current NISGUA accompanier Meredith Wilkinson shares the journey that brought her to accompaniment and the lessons she'll take away. She invites others to join NISGUA's cross-border work for justice through the Guatemala Accompaniment Program. If you're interested in being a part of our 2019 Accompanier Cohort, we call on [...]
Washington, D.C. local, Clara Lincoln is a recent NISGUA accompanier through the Guatemala Accompaniment Program. She spent ten months accompanying land and human rights defenders in Guatemala. Since returning, she has collaborated with ONE DC, an organization fighting for the rights to housing, wellness, and economic equity for low-income [...]
Accompanier Claire Bransky dedicates this article to Claudia Patricia Gómez González and the many other victims of the United States' imperialism and racialized violence. The US's funding and training of genocidal dictators and its imposition of mega-projects on indigenous and campesino lands have created conditions that have forced many from [...]
In her final letter as a human rights accompanier in Guatemala, Clara Lincoln draws connections between the US and Guatemalan governments' violence against indigenous peoples and people of color, through genocide, sexual violence, state brutality, and attempts at erasure through the imposition of mega-projects and gentrification models that strip people's [...]
In her first letter from Guatemala, Claire Bransky provides a brief history of Guatemala and how its people have been affected by forces of racism, exploitation, and the US's imperialism. As a volunteer with NISGUA's Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP), Claire provides accompaniment through the international coalition ACOGUATE to Guatemalan [...]
