My Nonprofit Reviews

I was given the opportunity through my University position and the organization CECI to have a work volunteer experience with SERES – Guatemala. After training and virtual discussions with SERES, I ventured on my life changing experience in January 2020.

My task was to prepare a Crisis Management Plan- at the conclusion of my 3 weeks, SERES received 5 Risk Assessments entailing both a Communication and Action Plan, in addition to 17 recommendations.

The SERES staff also had me partake on a few site visits (Tecpan Youth Center, the Finca and La Dignidad, Escuintla) -- this experiential learning enriched my perspective of the country and this non-profit organization, as I learned environmental and cultural challenges yet witnessed successes due to the programs SERES supports in the community.

One key desire is to elevate women and youth in the various SERES activities, as this was evident throughout discussions, and particularly on the site visits. SERES is about empowering younger folks so they develop influential leadership skills to impact their communities. One young man who took the Youth Leadership program impacted/impressed me with his goals, and I have since applied for a grant with the hopes to fund training for his Conservation of Local Watershed project in La Dignidad.

Non-profits like SERES are forced to think outside the box and spark excitement in external visitors like myself with a passion to continue my connection while introducing new partnership opportunities. I hope you find that SERES will spark that same interest in you.

I couldn’t possibly express my respect for this organization in such a short review, so I am sharing a link to my blog which expands on this experience.
Leave for Change (L4C) - Guatemala: https://l4c-2020-ekilbourne-guatemala.blogspot.com/