Agroamérica trained its personnel in Civics in preparation for the General Elections held on September 11th of this year

Guatemala, September 2011. In order to foster a positive attitude and encourage a sense of civic duty in its employees to vote responsibly and conscientiously, Agroamérica together with the civic association, GuateÁmala, conducted a workshop whose theme was “Building a Culture of Citizenship”.

More than 1,300 employees from the farms and administrative offices participated in the workshop which initially trained the first group of participants who were then responsible for passing on their training to the next group and so on. The methodology utilized in the workshop included a series of reflections and dialogues about citizenship and community development designed to awaken the desire to become a part of the change needed in Guatemala.

The first part of the workshop focused on describing to the participants the Guatemala that we want to build. The second part was to teach them that, together, we form a part of the democratic government and are stewards of it. In the third part, the participants were encouraged to learn the responsibilities of each public office represented in the general elections and evaluate each candidate’s political platform in order to be able to vote intelligently. At the end of the workshop, the participants made a promise to pass this important knowledge on to the people within their spheres of influence.

Several of the participants of this workshop expressed that they now feel better informed and motivated to go and vote:
“The dynamics of the workshop changed our understanding of how to vote in the upcoming elections.”
“We women now feel very enthusiastic about voting; for some of us, it will be our first time. This workshop has motivated us to vote more conscientiously.”
“Many of us were not aware that during the voting process we would be given five different colored ballots. Now we clearly understand how to vote.”