Annual Report 2023

Message from the Founders

As we reflect on this past year, we are filled with immense gratitude and pride in what we have accomplished together at REALgirl (SERniña). 2023 was a year of significant growth and deepened impact. Thanks to the transformative support of our donors and partners, we have expanded our reach while enhancing the quality of our programs, transforming not just the lives of the individual girls we serve, but also entire families and communities.

This year marked the full launch of our whole-family programs across all of our community partners. For the first time, we provided gender equity and empowerment workshops for girls, boys, mothers, and fathers alike. This holistic approach has allowed us to strengthen the foundation of gender equity from every angle, ensuring that the entire family plays a role in fostering empowerment and equity, and comes together to advocate for and ensure the safety and empowerment of girls.

We also made tremendous strides in training educators and community leaders, helping to build stronger local advocacy for girls' rights and gender equity Through these efforts, we are cultivating a new generation of leaders dedicated to creating lasting change in their communities

A special highlight of the year was the expansion of our sexual and reproductive health support With increased funding, we were able to provide vital resources and education to our participants, ensuring that they have the knowledge and tools they need to make informed decisions about their health and future.

In total, over 500 people participated in our workshops this year, a testament to the growing impact of our work. And beyond the numbers, we have deepened the quality of our support, offering even more robust, holistic programming which ensures we are able to make a lasting impact in the lives of those we serve.

None of these achievements would have been possible without your generosity and belief in our mission. Your support allows us not only to grow each year but also to deepen our work, ensuring that the changes we make are lasting and transformative. Together, we are building a future where every girl can thrive, every family can heal, and every community can rise.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for standing with us on this journey. With your continued partnership, the future holds endless possibilities for REALgirl (SERniña) and the girls and communities we serve

With gratitude and hope,

Anea Bogue & Danielle Skogen

REALgirl Founder REALgirl Executive Director SERniña Co-Founder SERniña Co-Founder

Organization Overview

MISSION

VISION

To advance gender equality in Guatemala by supporting the empowerment of girls, women and youth to reach their highest potential and become innovative leaders dedicated to the creation of safe, equitable, and just communities.

A Gender Equal Guatemala where everyone can reach their highest potential and safe, equitable, and just communities are the norm.

What We Do

REALgirl (SERniña) provides transformative workshops dedicated to empowerment and gender equity for youth around the world Through our workshops and programs, youth develop the knowledge, skills, and courage they need to make informed life-choices and reach their highest potential. We run all of our programs in partnership with local schools and organizations in some of the world’s most marginalized and at-risk communities. Our in-depth curriculum runs weekly over the course of three years and fosters the development of self-esteem, personal agency, social-emotional development, human rights advocacy, violence prevention, leadership, and activism

REALgirl (SERniña) was created to be a support program to schools, public programs, and other nongovernmental organizations to take on a holistic approach to girls’ empowerment and address the challenging and dangerous issues facing girls, such as low self-esteem rates leading to risky behaviours, girls entering into unhealthy and violent relationships with older men, high pregnancy rates, high dropout rates, high rates of domestic and sexual abuse, and extremely strong societal pressure to have girls/women staying at the home and not pursuing their own futures

Recognizing the critical role boys and men play in the creation of safe and equal communities, REALgirl (SERniña) also developed and runs the SERniño (REALboy) Program which is focused on involving boys in the movement towards women ’ s empowerment and gender equality and support them in overcoming the obstacles they face so they can also reach their highest potential

Recognizing that the youth in our program do not live in a bubble, we also work in partnership with parents, educators, and community leaders to help whole communities heal from the trauma of patriarchal dominance, violence, and racial injustices, to reconnect society to its ancestral roots and create communities that are interdependent, interconnected, and equitable.

REALgirl builds all of its programs on the firm belief that we are all members of one “human team” and together we are stronger

In all that we do we take on a feminist, holistic, and community-centered approach to gender equity and empowerment.

Areas of Focus

Advancing Gender Equity and the Empowerment of Girls & Women

The main and central focus of our work, always has been, and always will, be supporting the empowerment of girls and women, and advancing gender equity.

increased knowledge of critical themes including human rights, using your voice, identity, goal-setting, and more

increased school retention rates among girls

increased personal agency and personal advocacy among girls and women

increased access to and engagement in leadership initiatives

increased access to income for women

Empowerment workshops for girls and women

Equity and empowerment workshops for boys and men

Leadership programs for youth

Literacy and numeracy programs for girls and women

Skill-building workshops for women

Responding to and Preventing Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence remains a marked issue in Guatemala, therefore, to support the holistic empowerment of all those we serve, we continue to deepen our violence prevention and response work

increased knowledge of critical themes such healthy relationships, understanding, avoiding, and overcoming violence, routes of support, and more increased reporting and requesting of support from violence response programs among participants increase feelings of safety reduction in rates of harassment reduction in rates of domestic violence

Offering free violence response services

(psychological, legal, or financial support)

Healing and restorative justice programming

Workshops focused on on healthy relationships, finding support, and violence prevention and response

Advancing the sexual and reproductive health care access and empowerment

Unwanted pregnancies remain a pressing obstacle for girls and women in Guatemala, and none of our work can thrive without each individual being able to make informed and empowered choices regarding their body and reproductive health

increased knowledge of critical themes such as consent, bodily autonomy, sexual healthcare options and safe sexual practices

increased access to and use of contraceptives among sexually active program participants increased access to sexual healthcare facilities reduction in rates of unwanted pregnancies

On-going workshops based on consent, bodily autonomy, and comprehensive sexual health education

Creating partnerships and referral systems with sexual healthcare centres and organizations

Covering costs for participants to access sexual healthcare centres and organizations and receive care

Programs

Programs For Children Programs For Youth Programs for Parents Programs

Communities

Programs for Children

Programs For Girls

SERniña SERlideresa

We continue to run our flagship programs, SERniña and SERlideresa. Both programs include weekly workshops led by a highly trained woman facilitator.

Areas of exploration include: identity, goal-setting, human rights, Mayan cosmovision and culture, puberty & menstrual health, using your voice, consent & bodily autonomy, comprehensive sexual health education, creating healthy relationships, violence prevention, and more!

Programs For Boys SERniño SERlider

To support our work with women and girls, we continue to run our boys programs, SERniño and SERlider. Both programs include weekly workshops led by a highly trained man facilitator.

The goal of our work with boys it to not only support them in reaching their highest potential, but also support them in becoming more empathetic, respectful, and equity-focused boys and men. They explore all the same themes as the girls, with guided discussions developed through an equity-focused feminist lens

Programs for Youth

SERelCambio “Be the Change”

SERelCambio supports the leadership and development of the graduates of our flagship programs (SERniña/SERlideresa and SERniño/SERlider) to become the change-makers in their communities. In this leadership program, participants explore how to identify local needs, develop creative solutions to local problems, and how to lead community action projects, putting their learning into practice and making a tangible impact in their communities.

Young Feminism Lab

Our Feminism Lab is an advanced leadership program for older graduates of SERniña/SERlideresa, aimed to support girls in developing a deeper understanding of Feminist theory and practices, and how a Feminist approach can help them heal past trauma, advance the girls' personal leadership and ability take action in their lives, and help them step up as empowered Feminist change-makers in their schools, communities and beyond. (Note: In 2023 the YFL was in development, it launched in 2024.)

Young Masculinities Lab

Our Young Masculinities Lab is an advanced leadership program with an overt focus on helping boys question existin limiting structures of masculinity, and imagine and step into their own 'healthy masculinity' which is more equitable, empathetic, and empowering. This program promotes knowledge-sharing, reflection, and the construction of perso identity, beyond limiting gender norms.

The Young Masculinity Program program is fully funded by t Global Fund for Children.

Programs for Adults

Programs for Mothers Healing Together

We offer a full year workshop program to mothers and women in all of our community partners The curriculum is based on our SERniña/SERlideresa curriculum with customizations made to meet the daily realities of Guatemalan women and mothers, and ensure itcaters to the unique obstacles and challenges they face in their daily lives. Our program for mothers helps them not only make changes in their own lives, but also better understand and support their children's empowerment journey and build emotionally-connected and socially-conscious families.

Program

for Fathers Growing Tenderness

We run monthly, or men, particularly fathers of SERniña participants. These workshops are designed to facilitate a transformation in men ’ s approach to gender roles and family relationships They learn practical strategies for fostering open communication, emotional connection, and mutual respect within their families With a focus on accountability and ongoing self-reflection, these workshops seek to guide fathers to actively model equitable, non-violent behaviors at home, which strengthens their relationship with their children and partners

Community Programs

El Hato Community Center

SERniña runs its own small community center in one of our longest running partner communities, El Hato. El Hato is a small rural indigenous village facing extreme challenges including poverty, rampant gender inequality, and on-going genderbased violence. Our Community Center acts as a ‘hub’ for community members to participate in our workshops, receive counselling and individual support, attend classes and advancement opportunities, and receive medical care and sexual health care in collaboration with local partners.

Trainings for Educators

Every year we provide multiple training sessions for the educators and community leaders in each of our partner communities. These trainings are designed to them develop the knowledge, skills, and committment needed to advocate for gender equity and address gender issues within their schools and communities. Training topics are identified in collaboration with local partners and through direct need assessment activities. Some topics include: responding to gender-based violence, addressing and preventing sexual harassment, bodily autonomy and consent, among others.

Adult Literacy & Entrepreneurship Opportunities

To ensure holistic empowerment and lasting change in the lives of the families we serve, we also organize literacy, entrepreneurship and skill-bulding workhops and programs for women family-members. These opportunities are identified and dseigned by the community members we serve, and are customized to meet the unique needs and goals within the families of our unique partner communities. Some programs include CONALFA Literacy, adult education programs, and hair stylist school.