Why does CoEd work only in Guatemala?
We work where the problems of poverty and illiteracy are most severe. At present, rural Guatemala has the most extreme combination of poverty and illiteracy in the hemisphere. We want to help in other countries too; our plan is to document our innovative approaches to poverty reduction in Guatemala (e.g., our “revolving fund” models) and make them available to non-profits working in other parts of the world. However, we do not believe in expansion for the sake of expansion. While many organizations follow a “pins of the map” strategy of expansion in order to appear global in scope (doing one project in Guatemala, one in Columbia, one in Vietnam, one in Kenya, one in the Philippines, etc.), the reality is that true economic development requires in-depth, long-term systemic change within individual countries. To achieve that systemic change, you must invest time into one region, work over many years with local partners and governments, and slowly change the system and people’s habits and
