Menu

In the News

New AGALI Film Spotlights Success of Guatemalan Girls Trained by the Program

PHI's Adolescent Girls' Advocacy and Leadership Initiative (AGALI) has produced a new film that is an "inspiring" look at how powerful girl-led advocacy can be and why we need to invest in it, the English-language Guatemala magazine Revue reports in its article "Lights, Camera … Advocacy."

PHI’s Adolescent Girls’ Advocacy and Leadership Initiative (AGALI) has produced a new film that is an “inspiring” look at how powerful girl-led advocacy can be and why we need to invest in it, the English-language Guatemalan magazine Revue reports in its article “Lights, Camera …  Advocacy.”

The film, Poder!, and the Revue article tell the story of two adolescent Gautemalan girls who received advocacy training from AGALI and successfully campaigned for “girl-friendly heatlh and education programs” in the town where they live, Concepcion Chiquirichapa. With additional financial support from AGALI, the girls taught the advocacy training to other 9- to 15-year -old girls to spread knowledge of these skills and strategies further in their community – and then, together, they pushed for improvements in education and health care for girls.

The results were impressive:  Concepcion’s mayor  approved policies that the girls developed and allocated money for a new Municipal Office of Childhood and Adolescence. Two girls AGALI supported were appointed to the Municipal Commission of Children and Youth, “becoming the first girls in Guatemala to sit on a town board of directors,” the article says.

As opposed to traditional documentary approaches that depict girls as victims who are powerfless to the substantial obstacles they face, Poder! shows the girls as leaders and change agents. “This film is not about victims; it is a film about victory,” AGALI director Denise Dunning says in the article.

Poder! will preview in Guatemala and the United States in October.

Read the full article.

—–

About the photo: Guatemalan girl leaders in Concepcion Chiquirichapa. Photo by Lorena Gomez-Barris of AGALI.

 


More Updates

Work With Us

You change the world. We do the rest. Explore fiscal sponsorship at PHI.

Bring Your Work to PHI

Support Us

Together, we can accelerate our response to public health’s most critical issues.

Donate

Find Employment

Begin your career at the Public Health Institute.

See Jobs

Aerial view of wildfire smoke

Close

Wildfires & Extreme Heat: Resources to Protect Yourself & Your Community

Communities across the U.S. and around the world are grappling with dangerous wildfires and extreme heat. These threats disrupt and uproot communities and pose serious risks to environmental and community health—from rising temperatures, unhealthy air pollutants, water contamination and more. Find PHI tools, resources and examples to help communities take action and promote climate safety, equity and resiliency.

Get started

Continue to PHI.org