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5 Actions By and For Indigenous Women

Ensuring Access to Our Rights and Transforming Our Future

Every March 8, International Women’s Day invites us to reflect on our rights—but it is also a powerful call to action. For us at MAIA, talking about rights means talking about real opportunities, informed choices, and building a community rooted in equity.

Indigenous women not only face historical gaps; we also hold knowledge, leadership, and resilience that drive transformation. However, guaranteeing our rights requires creating the conditions that allow us to fully exercise them.

Through our work at MAIA, these are five concrete actions by and for Indigenous women that strengthen our present and project a more equitable future:

1. Quality Education

For us, education is much more than being in a classroom. It is about developing critical thinking, strengthening identity, and expanding possibilities.

When education connects with the realities of the Girl Pioneers and our communities, it becomes a powerful tool for deep transformation. This is especially urgent in Guatemala, where only 2 out of every 10 Indigenous women graduate from highschool. Structural barriers continue to limit dreams and opportunities.

Investing in quality education means ensuring that each Girl Pioneer can break through historical barriers that have imposed limiting roles, strengthen her identity, and gain the tools needed to build the future she envisions for herself—from creating a family on her own terms to achieving financial independence.

2. Strengthening Local Leadership

Local leadership is not small; it is the foundation of sustainable transformation. When an Indigenous woman leads in her community, she inspires others, creating a multiplying effect of change.

Our team—87% of whom are women—share educational practices, experiences, and cultural identity in national and international spaces, exchanging knowledge with other organizations and contributing to broader conversations on education and equity.

3. Empowering Our Voices

Historically, others have spoken for us. Today, we affirm something different: our voices matter and they carry power.

Empowering our voices means creating safe spaces to express ourselves, question, propose, and participate in decisions that affect our lives. It means strengthening self-confidence, honoring our history, and valuing our languages, cultures, and knowledge.

4. Caring for Our Physical and Socioemotional Health

We cannot talk about rights without talking about well-being. At MAIA, we provide an onsite nurse and clinic and organize preventative health fairs—including dentistry, ophthalmology, and vaccinations, among others—for the Girl Pioneers and their families. We also facilitate spaces for mentorship and socioemotional support.

Proper nutrition is also an essential part of this process. Every Girl Pioneer receives a daily nutritious snack and lunch, providing the energy needed to fully engage in her academic journey.

These concrete actions make holistic development possible.

5. Transforming Our Environment

Transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. Close mentorship and guidance for each Girl Pioneer and her family strengthens support networks and builds safer, more equitable environments.

At MAIA, we also invest in the academic preparation and ongoing professional growth of our team. We believe that when women are in continuous learning and professional development, the impact of our work expands. As our team grows stronger, so does the inspiration it brings to the Girl Pioneers and to more women across our communities.

This March 8, we remember that rights become real when opportunities, community, and leadership exist. On March 6, our staff and Girl Pioneers came together for cultural activities and a march through downtown Sololá to raise awareness and create meaningful impact in our community. These moments remind us that actions by and for Indigenous women are not symbolic gestures; they are sustained commitments that open pathways for new generations. We invite you to explore the photo gallery below and witness these moments of collective action.

MAIA staff and Girl Pioneers during our International Women’s Day march through the main streets of Sololá.
MAIA Girl Pioneers created signs highlighting quotes and facts about women they admire.
Our march was filled with energy as we used our voices to inspire more women in our community.
MAIA staff and Girl Pioneers gathered in dialogue spaces to reflect on the role of women in society and how we can transform our communities.
In these spaces, we shared ideas, listened carefully to every voice, and sparked a ripple effect that multiplies change.
We also had cultural activities where creativity and art became powerful tools to express our ideas.
In the play "Kajulew: Tierra y Territorio" by the group Mujeres Ajchowen, two women share stories of inequality and injustice, confronting them with courage, resilience and unity.
Girl Pioneers took the stage to showcase their talents in singing, poetry, and dance—sharing messages of empowerment and motivation.

Join Alianza: Together, We Create Change

The actions we share today are part of an ongoing commitment to the rights and future of Indigenous women. For this work to remain sustainable, we need allies.

Alianza is our recurring giving program, it provides consistent and predictable funding that allows us to plan long-term initiatives and expand our impact. Joining means choosing to be part of a collective effort that believes in real opportunities and lasting change for Girl Pioneers and their communities.

I want to join the Recurring Giving Program

Transformation is something we build together every day. Thank you for being part of it.

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