The Impact

Inspiring Statistics and Stories

  • Over 1,700 girls and boys have participated in our year long programs 

  • Over 30 local women and men have been trained as facilitators

  • 21 different local schools/organizations have implemented our programs

  • The number of reported cases of violence among participants dropped by 45%

  • 79% of participants reported experiencing less violence in their homes after the program

  • 70% of individuals report improved relationships between spouses after the program

Maria’s Story: A Mother Breaks a Cycle of Generational Violence

Maria is a Maya-Q'eqchi' woman who was living in rural Guatemala. She was the mother to four teen and adult children. She raised her children on her own as her husband abandoned her when she was pregnant with their fourth child. 

As a single mother to four teen and young adult children. As a single mother living in an area rampant with patriarchal views on gender, it was hard for Maria to find work and support her family. She did what she could working cleaning jobs in her community  to be able to support her family.

Maria lived in a deeply patriarchal and machisto community, where women’s bodily autonomy and rights are often violated, this is especially true for single mothers like Maria.  In fact, Maria  was impacted by violence on nearly a daily basis as she was being sexually harrassed regularly while at work, and had been sexually abused by co-workers in the past.

One of Maria’s greatest challenges was the grief and guilt she was dealing with in regards to a complex situation with her daughter. Maria used to have her daughters help her out with work at times. Sadly, the harassment Maria faced, was then also directed to her daughters. And, men in her workplace also began harassing the girls. Eventually, one of the older men coerced one of the daughters to run away with him, and she did.

Knowing her daughter was now living in a situation of violence, Maria feared for the well-being of her daughter every day, and felt deep guilt for, in her words, “allowing this to happen.” 

Shortly after this traumatic incident, Maria was invited by a family member to be part of Canadian Humanitarian and SERniña (REALgirl)’s ‘Whole Family Healing Program’. Maria joined the program in hopes it would help her children. She said that she often felt she was not able to properly parent her children, and felt guilty for not providing them more guidance in their lives. During the program, Maria was able to work with one of the therapists and attend weekly workshops. Together, they were able to work through the trauma she was carrying as a survivor of sexual violence, and they could begin to work through the grief and guilt Maria felt as a mother.

After receiving in-depth violence response support for one year, Maria reports feeling more at peace. She shares that she no longer feels the sadness she used to as a result of her traumatic experiences, and feels as though she is in a stable and healthy place so she can not only take better care of herself, but also her children. 

Through the women’s workshops and her therapy sessions, Maria learned that what she was experiencing was sexual violence, and even though it is “normal” does not mean it is ok. Maria learned that she, and her daughters, have the right to live a life free from violence, and that their body is their own, and no one can touch their body without their permission.  

With an increased sense of well-being and self-value, and equipped with her new knowledge on women’s rights and gender-based violence, Maria has made the brave choice to also seek justice for herself and her daughter. Through the support of SERniña (REALgirl), Maria is taking legal action against the man who took her daughter

Dulce’s Story: A Teen Girl Overcomes Abuse

Dulce Maria is a teen girl who lives in a rural Maya village in Guatemala. When you ask her what were the big moments of her life over the past year, she responds with two things:

  1. She enrolled in Canadian Humanitarian and SERniña (REALgirl)’s ‘Whole Family Healing Program’ and,

  2. She fell in love for the first time and had her first boyfriend


When Dulce first met her boyfriend, she was excited to have his attention and finally have a boyfriend like so many other girls in the community do. Though things started off joyful, it did not take too long for Dulce to notice that something did not quite feel right with her boyfriend, but did not know what it was. 

One day, during her SERniña (REALgirl) workshops, they began discussing gender-based violence. They talked about the different forms of violence that exist, and examples of what each form of violence may look like. Through these workshops, Dulce was able to realize that what she was experiencing with her boyfriend was verbal and psychological abuse. 

After this realization, she began working with a SERniña (REALgirl) therapist. After some time of support, she recognized that the best thing for her would be to leave the relationship and eventually she gained the confidence she needed to end the relationship. 

Through on-going support from her therapist and workshops she was able to significantly heal the trauma of the experience and reports feeling at peace with where she is and empowered by her personal strength to overcome this situation and advocate for herself. 

Juan Roberto’s Story: The Power of Restorative Justice & Working with Men

Juan Roberto is a Maya-Q'eqchi' man who suffered abuse as a child and then at the age of 19, was forcibly recruited, during the Civil War, by the Guatemalan army. For indigenous men who were forced to participate in the decades long Guatemalan Civil War, the trauma they experienced as a result of being forced to brutalize and kill their own people was significant. In fact, many experts today attribute the extremely high incidence of gender-based violence to the impact the war had on many Guatemalan men and the legacy of violence it left in its wake.

Eventually, Juan Roberto ended up in El Hato, a small town in the mountains just outside of Antigua. There, he married his now wife, and has a two year old son with her. His wife is also the mother of three other children from a past relationship in which she was a victim of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.

Juan Roberto has used alcohol to cope with his trauma and at the start of the program he was often drunk. Historically, it was not uncommon for Don to become violent with his wife and children when he was drunk.

Juan Roberto and his wife signed up for the program at baseline. He began attending the men's workshops and from there he requested 1:1 therapy support with our male support therapist. He also participated in additional workshops and programs we offered to men.

Amazingly, as the project started to have an impact on Juan Roberto, he became one of a handful of men who requested couples’ workshops. At first, his wife did not want to attend. So, he bravely attended couples workshops alone. Eventually, as the relationship between Don and his wife improved, they began attending together.

In therapy, Juan Roberto recognized that a core struggle for him was his lack of self-worth and overwhelming self-hate. He did not believe he was worthy of respect and appreciation for who he was or his contributions. To help him see himself as someone of skill and knowledge (more than an alcoholic) the SERniña (REALgirl) team encouraged him to plan activities in the community for youth. In November, he planned an artisanal 'kite making' workshop for community children. Kite making is a cultural tradition and was also a powerful activity to reconnect children to their culture.

Over the course of the project, Juan Roberto significantly reduced his consumption of alcohol. He began recognizing the value of his wife and started allowing her to be more involved in family and financial decisions. He is also helping out more equitably at home.

This is a restorative justice success story. Even though he was a perpetrator of violence in his home, he was directly involved in the healing process. He was treated with compassion and understanding of the why behind much of his violent behavior. This allowed him to begin healing his own trauma and take responsibility for his actions, thus improving the relationship with his family and bringing healing and safety to his wife.

As of today, Juan Roberto has also stepped up as a community leader, encouraging other men to get involved as advocates for the program. He also signed up to learn to become a 'healer' himself and learn more about medicinal plants.

Juan Jesus’ Story: Helping His Family Break Free of Poverty

Juan comes from a family of basket-weavers and has been an inspiring participant in our Boys’ Programs for many years.

When he has in primary school, Juan started in our SERniño program. He then continued to complete our second-year leadership program, SERlider, and is now enrolled in our 'Healthy Masculinities Lab' leadership and gender equity program.

Despite his commitment to SERniña programs, Juan has struggled to achieve the goals he and his family have held for him. Like so many youth his age, following the pandemic, financial challenges forced him to drop out of school to work. A dreamer with bold goals, Juan was heartbroken when this became his reality. Though he loved helping his parents with their business, he dreamed of being able to secure a more stable career and help his family break free from the cycle of poverty.

Even though he had to drop out of school, Juan remained diligent in his attendance at SERniño’s programs.  At SERniño, he was able to feel safe and supported. He could share his dreams and express his fears. And, he knew he would receive the unrelenting support of his facilitators and peers.

Juan shares openly about how SERniño has transformed his life, confidence, worldview for the better, and he is passionate about sharing his growth and learning with other boys. At his request, Juan began volunteering as a workshop assistant with some of the younger SERniño groups in his community.

Through the steadfast support of his SERniño Facilitator and workshop peers, eventually Juan was able to return to school, and is currently on track to complete his studies!

In addition to attending school, Juan continues to volunteer with younger SERniño groups, and is currently in training to be a sexual healthcare promoter, with our partner program, WINGS.

We could not be more proud of Juan’s bravery, resilience, and generosity!

Juan is where is he is today, in part, from the support of donors like you who make our programs possible. Without your donations, we could not run our programs and provide the life-changing opportunities boys like Juan need.