Our staff...
El Nahual´s vision of education for social development would be impossible without the generous contribution provided by a group of principally foreign volunteers who donate their time and effort to the various projects. We have a constant turnover of volunteers and can have as many as twenty people working together at any one time. Despite the difficult nature of seeing people who have contributed so greatly leave the project to pursue alternative personal paths, we are always amazed by the new volunteers that arrive to take their place! We do rely on a number of more permanent positions to ensure the overall administration of the centre. Details of the current full-time staff and previous volunteers who have devoted vast amounts of time to the project can be viewed below.
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Jaime Maldonado |
Jaime founded the El Nahual project in 2005. Formely a philosophy teacher, he had always wanted to do something to help the kids of Pacaja (one of the poorest area s of Quetzaltenango ). His idea was simple: to provide educational help to the kids attending the public schools of the area. In 2005, with the help of his wife Betty, Jaime decided to quit his full time job and start El Nahual. He continues to work full-time at the school and dedicates an exceptional amount of time and effort to the program.
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Coleen Yamamura-Clark |
Coleen was born and raised in the sunny beachside community of Santa Monica, California. After studying abroad in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Chile, Coleen spent her last year of University as a Peer Advisor for the UC Education Abroad Program. She graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara in June of 2006 with a B.A. in Political Science, International Relations. After graduation, Coleen chose to settle in Washington D.C. to pursue her aspirations in the field of civil rights advocacy. She worked for a year with the non-profit organization, the Citizens´ Commission on Civil Rights, focusing on education policy and issues of education equity for high poverty and minority students in the United States. Coleen brings to El Nahual her years of experience with international study abroad programs, as well as her passion for the advancement of social equality through education.
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Rachel Boothroyd |
Rachael is originally from Liverpool, England, and is due to start the final year of her undergraduate degree in Modern European Languages with modules in Latin American History and Politics. She first arrived at El Nahual in 2007 as a volunteer and became so involved in the school that she returned early in 2008 as Volunteer Coordinator to try and continue the schools incredible work in the community through it's 'development through education' ideology. Having found the school to be a unique way of affronting the massive polarization and inequality in wealth which is so common of Latin America today, Rachael would like to pursue a Masters degree in Latin American studies and use her languages to continue working with NGO's and grass roots projects in Latin America.
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Kate Buckholz |
Kate is 28 years old and is from the New York
City area where she most recently worked for 3 years in the Center
for Career Development at NYU as a Career Counselor and Assistant
Director. She has a BA in Psychology from Seattle University and
an MA in International Education from NYU. This is her third time
in Guatemala; she first came to the Western Highlands as part of
a Habitat for Humanity team and later returned to take Spanish
classes in Xela, which is when she decided to make a commitment
to serve the community here. Her passion for international public
service stems from years of volunteer work at home, and is evident
through her volunteer work and travel in Ghana, South Africa, Southeast
Asia and the Caribbean.
Kate has a strong interest in Latin American politics; particularly as they pertain to social justice and human rights. This move to Guatemala marks the beginning of what she hopes to be a life-long career in sustainable development and solidarity work.
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Alex Melton |
Like Charlie, Alex came to El Nahual as a volunteer/student and spent two months here before beginning his work as International Coordinator. He is originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania but has lived in Phoenix, Arizona for over 10 years. He is 26 years old and holds two bachelors degrees from Arizona State University: One in Economics and the second in Political Science. His experience studying Economics in the United States left him feeling somewhat disillusioned about the first world conception of International Economics. Alex has a strong interest in social justice and responsible economic development which has drawn him to Latin America to seek ways in which to contribute to those who have not received such good fortune. He sees his time at El Nahual as a beginning of a lifetime of work in the areas of social development and the battling of injustice and inequality throughout the world.
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Jill Sokness |
Jill came to work at the El Nahual Language Center in November 2006. She has a Master's degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and over 10 years of experience working with the Spanish-speaking immigrant population of the United States. She has volunteered extensively with immigrant rights organizations, youth programs, and voter participation campaigns. Jill also volunteered for a youth organization in Panama for eight months and has traveled in Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba and Puerto Rico. She has worked for various non-profit organizations , political campaigns, and local city government and learned the bulk of her fluent Spanish through total immersion language programs. Jill spent three months at El Nahual as the volunteer International Coordinator and continues to help our programs from the U.S.
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Graham Henderson |
Graham began the position of volunteer International Coordinator in the beginning of February 07. He is 25 years old and is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has a Master's in Aeronautical Engineering, an MSc in International Relations and speaks both Spanish and French fluently. In the past 4 years, he has spent extensive periods in Latin America, including 6 months teaching English in a high school in Colombia and other institutions throughout Colombia and Venezuela. His interest in the question of community development for 'los pueblos' of Latin America stems from this extended exposure to the social problems experienced by so many of the population.
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Sharon Ramos |
Sharon is 24 years old and was born in Guatemala City. She moved to the United States when she was seven years old and has recently returned to Guatemala to rediscover her country of origin. She is bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English fluently.
In 2004, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Behaviour from U.C. Irvine and has worked extensively with the hispanic population in Los Angeles. She has worked for two years for the non-profit organisation "Little Tokyo Service Centre" as a case manager and youth coordinator developing programs and coordinating fundraisers.
At El Nahual, she focuses on the sustainable development and efficacy of our educational programs to maximise the impact on the local community.
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Charlie Sutherland |
Charlie is originally from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England and is 23 years old. He graduated from University College London in 2006, with a BSc in Anthropology and during which he spent a year studying in at Panteion University, Athens, Greece. He spent 2 months at El Nahual on the Study Volunteer program prior to commencing the role of coordinator and to this extent knows El Nahual from many different perspectives. He also brings a wealth of external experience to the position having previously worked as a co-ordinator for an international summer school program held at Oxford University in England. |
