Girl Pioneers Join PaperSeed’s Run to Raise

Norma running for paperseed’s first annual run to raise fundraiser. her participation helped raise funds for the maia impact school in solola, guatemala.

PaperSeed’s First Annual Run to Raise was a great success, and we were so pleased to have so many people from around the globe join us. Among our participants were seven students from the MAIA Impact School in Guatemala.

One of maia’s students in the computer lab

MAIA is a unique school in Sololá Guatemala that caters exclusively to girls who—quite often—are the first in their families to attend secondary school. PaperSeed partnered with MAIA in 2019 to support their Digital Pioneer program, which equips girls with the 21st century skills needed to be successful in our modern world.

Girl pioneers were excited to join the Run to Raise and help support their school. Like many of us around the globe, girls in Guatemala had not had much opportunity to leave their homes since March and were eager to take advantage of the chance to get out and try running.

When asked why she wanted to participate in the virtual event, Girl Pioneer Norma (17) said, “I want to participate in the virtual race so that we can be active in a pandemic. I will also be practicing this sport to learn about agility for this modality.”

MAIA believes that sports are inextricably linked to well-being and academic success and includes a wide range of movements into their curriculum. Each school year, Girl Pioneers’ movement classes range from Zumba, to soccer, and even yoga and kickboxing.

We are so proud to be working with MAIA to empower Sololá’s girls. Together, we’re breaking the cycle of poverty one student at a time.