STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES
THROUGH EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
Natik partners with grassroots organizations in marginalized communities in Guatemala and Mexico.
We provide flexible funding and organizational support.
Natik contributes to the elimination of extreme poverty through these mission-based strategies:
Education for Empowerment
Unlocking Potential, Igniting Futures. Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Through initiatives like the Ruk’ux, Pueblo a Pueblo, ANADESA, and the Yo’onik Learning Center, our partners have programs that support quality education and foster a love for learning.
Community Sustainability
Empowering locals and tackling poverty at Its Roots. Natik believes in community-based sustainability that goes beyond poverty relief. We empower visionary leaders to address the root causes of poverty in their communities.
Health and Family Well-Being
Natik collaborates with community-based grassroots organizations that share information about nutrition, sanitation, and other fundamental health needs to underserved populations, contributing to healthier, happier communities.
Providing Grants and Accompaniment for Long-Term Impact
Natik believes in a world where even the most marginalized people have the tools to transform their communities from within. Every relationship is different because every organization is different
Cultural Connection and Empowerment
Celebrating Diversity. Fostering Leadership.
Natik is small but mighty!
We value cultural connections and empower local leaders.
We support initiatives that bridge the education, health, and livelihood gap, emphasizing the importance of cultural relevance.
We’re contributing to long-term change by empowering local communities to lead and sustain their initiatives.
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
May 23, 2025
Access to quality education in Mexico and Guatemala continues to be challenging, especially in rural and indigenous areas.
The causes are many.
There are systemic barriers, economic inequalities, and geographic isolation. Many schools lack basic infrastructure, such as books, electricity, and clean water. Girls in poor indigenous areas face cultural barriers, including societal norms that prioritize boys' education.
Additionally, indigenous students often struggle due to language barriers.
According to UNESCO, intercultural bilingual education (IBE) programs that incorporate Mayan languages are improving inclusion and learning outcomes. However, in our personal experience, it’s common for the public school system bilingual teachers to be assigned to communities that speak a different Mayan language than the one they speak.
Viewed from the outside, it’s difficult to know if that is caused by systemic design or ineptitude. It's probably a bit of both, but it really doesn’t matter, because the result is the same. Despite thousands of bilingual teachers, the primary language in the classrooms of most indigenous areas is almost always Spanish.
Poor, marginalized communities have little influence on the government educational policies (such as where bilingual teachers are assigned), but they can provide educational support to children outside of the classroom. As a cultural phenomenon, it's interesting how often rural indigenous communities create infrastructures that provide bilingual educational support for young students. (The Natik partner examples of that are ANADESA, Pueblo a Pueblo, Puerta Abierta, Ruk'ux, Yo'onik.)
Children who learn Spanish during their first few years of school are more likely to at least finish sixth grade. While it’s true that completing sixth grade is more likely than it was for previous generations, in poor rural areas there are many factors still working against it.
According to the World Bank, approximately 59% of the population in Guatemala lives below the poverty line, which forces families to prioritize daily survival over education. So even if young students learn Spanish well enough to continue passing from one grade to the next, often they must leave school at a young age to help support their families financially.
Therefore, graduating from sixth grade is still a very big deal in many places.
Scholarships ameliorate many of the expenses associated with higher levels of education. However, most of the students in Natik’s partner scholarship programs also work so they can contribute to the family wellbeing.
Natik could tell many stories about the impact of education, but the most powerful is that all the leaders of Natik's partnership organizations completed secondary, high school, and university levels thanks to scholarships. Their families wouldn't have been able to afford the tuition, uniforms, study materials, and transportation in addition to the loss of the full time salary of that child.
Over time, we'll share some of the details of individual success stories. For now, the important thing is for you to know that the leaders of Natik's partners understand what the children, adolescents, and young adults in their programs are experiencing--- because they lived the same challenges when they were in school.
That is a priceless gift for the students, their families, and their communities.