The Human Development Center of AgroAmerica, in southwestern Guatemala, is implementing a Comprehensive Development Program for Adolescents, under the guidance of the University of Colorado. “The main objective of this program is to provide teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18 with the opportunity to have a comprehensive development, which allows them to excel in both personal and professional areas, while becoming drivers of change in their families and communities,” said Fernando Bolaños, CEO of AgroAmerica. The program has three main components: trainings, scholarships and medical care.

Training
Training is provided to young students at the middle and high school levels in local schools in the influence area. Topics covered include: sex education, with the aim of ensuring that adolescents are informed and can make free, informed and responsible decisions; human values, self-esteem; life projects that allow them to set personal goals; leadership, changes during adolescence and how to manage them; personal hygiene and preventive health. The goal of these trainings is to allow young people to develop in a comprehensive and successful way, both in their academics and in their personal lives. In 2019, 1,194 adolescents from 12 middle and high schools participated.

Scholarships
Scholarships for middle and high school are awarded to young people between 16 and 18 years old who participate in the program, to help them complete their studies. The adolescents who participate in the scholarship program are part of a leadership project offered at the Human Development Center, in which they must commit themselves to generate actions of change aimed at promoting community development, with the purpose of developing future leaders who will generate positive impacts in their influence areas.

Medical Care
A medical clinic was inaugurated at AgroAmerica’s Human Development Center for the exclusive use of the Comprehensive Development Program for Teenagers, which provides medical services to young people to help them with their health and wellness. During 2019, surveys and general medical evaluations were conducted for more than 1,100 adolescents to learn about their physical and psychological health status in order to know their
profile and be able to provide them with the necessary medical care.

In 2020, staff from AgroAmerica’s “Young Leaders and Great Decisions” Leadership program provided support to communities and clinic patients in COVID 19 Prevention Measures.