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Learn more about the work that ALDEA does to improve the quality of life among Mayan communities in Guatemala. Watch films Hope for Water and It Takes a Village to learn more about what chronic childhood malnutrition is, and how you can support Mayan families through working with ALDEA.

We organize our work around one overarching objective: to reduce chronic childhood malnutrition in Mayan communities.

As partner organizations, ALDEA (Advancing Local Development through Empowerment and Action) and ABPD (Asociación BPD – Bienestar, Progreso, Desarrollo) are working together to address the principal needs of rural, predominantly Mayan communities in the Department of Chimaltenango in Guatemala. ALDEA is a 501(c)(3) organization based in the U.S. and focuses on advocacy, education, and fund development to support ABPD’s work in the field. On the ground in Guatemala, ABPD, a largely-indigenous organization, empowers rural villages to address the devastating effects of poverty and disadvantage.

Through a grassroots development approach, ALDEA and ABPD help communities understand and tackle the root causes of the multifaceted problem of chronic malnutrition in infants and young children. The process is designed to achieve both short-term and longer-term results. In the short term, our programs lead to measurable improvements in chronic childhood malnutrition by supporting families to improve water and sanitation, infant and young children feeding, family planning, and other key drivers of malnutrition. Equally important, the positive experience of mobilizing to reduce chronic malnutrition gives community members the improved organizational and problem-solving skills they will need to find locally-driven solutions to additional priorities going forward.

What do we believe?

ALDEA’s and ABPD’s Mission is to promote integrated development services that improve the well-being of families with limited resources, especially in rural Mayan areas.

Our Vision is that communities are empowered and capable of achieving sustainable, culturally pertinent, and equitable development that guarantees their right to health and wellbeing.

Partnership with Communities

Working in partnership with Mayan communities in the Guatemalan highlands toward their own goals is an important pillar of ALDEA–ABPD’s work.

Community Empowerment and Mobilization

The mobilization and empowerment of the entire community is an important aspect of all ALDEA–APBD’s programs and approaches.

Strategic Alliances

An essential part of the approach is for ALDEA–ABPD and the communities and their local development committees (known by their Spanish acronym COCODES) to form strategic alliances with a range of actors including municipalities, national governmental entities, and other NGOs working in the area that can complement our work.

Evidence‐Based Interventions

ALDEA–ABPD’s work is evidence-based, drawing on documented national and international research about what works best. This also means that we will periodically document and evaluate our work.

Sustainable Development

ALDEA–ABPD strives to ensure that development activities are sustainable and cost-effective.

Learning and Knowledge

ALDEA and ABPD are learning organizations. We will develop and test innovative approaches with our partner communities and continually engage in evaluation processes to determine what works. We will phase in new ideas, taking into consideration the conditions in each community, and basing our support on what is happening on the ground.