NINOS DEL LAGO

OUR GOALS
In order to achieve our Mission and Vision, we offer specially designed Programs that complement and work alongside formal education. We believe we are the only NGO in Guatemala working in this field offering children an educational, motivational, and empowering experience.

Through our programs, we hope to encourage children to realize that they can achieve their goals and dreams and be the best person they can be, through fun, creative, and culturally sensitive activities using NdL’s amazing camp facilities and natural environment to their full potential.

Our staff of skilled Teachers, Mentors, and Co-Mentors will accompany the children during their visit to Niños del Lago.

OUR VALUES
We are aware of our commitment and responsibility to accomplish our vision, mission, and goals; therefore, we stand for values that provide guidance for our team, the public who support our work, and the children we benefit.

Honesty
Respect
Integrity
Commitment
Solidarity
Responsibility
Transparency
Empathy

“There is no cause that deserves a higher priority than the protection and development of the child, on whom depend on the survival, hability, and progress of all nations and, in fact, of human civilization.”
World Declaration and Plan of Action from the World Summit for Children, UNICEF

WHO ARE WE?
Niños del Lago (NdL) is a Guatemalan non-profit organization that works with vulnerable and disadvantaged children. We provide an educational forest camp experience to children giving them the opportunity to participate in educational, cultural, creative, and motivational experiences aimed to help them fulfil their potential, dare to dream, and become empathetic future leaders and positive role-models to others.

Niños del Lago is a registered Asociación Civil no-lucrativa in Guatemala, a US-registered 501©(3) NGO (non-governmental organization), and a registered ANBI (Algemeen nut beogendeinstelling / Public benefit organization) in the Netherlands. Niños del Lago’s educational and recreational forest camp is situated in a beautiful cloud forest just outside the village of San Andres Semetabaj and about a 15-min drive from the popular tourist town of Panajachel on the shores of Guatemala’s famous Lake Atitlan. It is here in Pana (Panajachel) that the NdL office is located.

WHY NIÑOS DEL LAGO?
NdL strongly believes in the Rights of all Children. We are inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and their Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was created back in 1990, but is still the leading document regarding protecting children rights today. NdL will mainly focus on the following articles from this document – Nos. 24, 28-31, but also strongly believes in all 54 articles. (A child is any person under the age of 18 – Article 1.)

Article 24: “Children have the right to the best health care, clean water to drink, healthy food, and to live in a safe and hygienic environment. All adults and children should have information about how to stay safe and healthy.”

Article 28: “Every child has the right to an education [and] should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level possible.”

Article 29: “Children’s education should help them fully develop their personalities, talents, and abilities. It should enable them to understand their own rights, and to respect other people’s rights, cultures, and differences. It should help them to live peacefully and protect the environment.”

Article 30: “Children have the right to use their own language, culture, and religion.”

Article 31: “Every child has the right to rest, relax, play, and take part in cultural and creative activities.”

In 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals evolved from the United Nations’ Millennium Goals “to end poverty, reduce inequality, and build more peaceful, prosperous societies by 2030”. We advocate:

Goal #4: Quality Education to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities