The catch phrase on the tip of everyone's tongue is quite simply, "It's for the kids."
Quetzaltrekkers was founded in 1995 as a means of self-substainable, grassroots fund-raising for the functioning of Escuela de la Calle—a school for street children in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

Quetzaltrekkers was started in 1995 by a South London social worker, Gavin Barrer, as part of a multilateral fundraising effort ranging from a restaurant to a newspaper delivery service. The aim of these efforts was to fund a rehabilitative home which provided 24 hour care for children living on the street with histories of drug abuse and child prostitution. The rehab program started the same year with a base of 10 boys, aged 9-16, who were constantly at risk living on the streets. The project succeeded for 18 months but due to overwhelming financial burden and community problems fostered by a lack of acceptance of drug addiction rehabilitation programs, the home was forced to close. Meanwhile, Guadalupe Pos and Miguel Quiroa, two progressive Guatemalan teachers, had been successfully struggling to open a school in Las Rosas, the poorest neighborhood in the city. When the home was forced to close, Gavin brought together Quetzaltrekkers and EDELAC to provide much needed funding to make the school a success. In 1997 the school was up and running with just a few students. With the constant financial support provided by Quetzaltrekkers, the program has been able to expand to include almost 195 children in grades 1 through 6 who are being provided with a low-fee comprehensive education including reading, writing, mathematics, computer classes and art classes. The rehabilitative aspect of the EDELAC program is based in a centrally-located dormitory, El Hogar Abierto. This dorm offers a safe, abuse-free environment for children that either lack families capable of providing the same quality of care or have families living outside of a district in which basic education is available.

With continuing and expanding interest in Quetzaltrekkers, the future looks bright! We are also now supporting the clinic Primeros Pasos, a medical clinic located in the outskirts of Xela which provides vital health care and educational programs to the local community as well as schools and organizations in Xela. With your help we will succeed in providing these children with some of the opportunities that most of us have taken for granted.

For more info on EDELAC, visit the web site: www.escueladelacalle.org

For more info on the medical clinic, visit the web site: www.primerospasos.org