Over the months, HSP has been working hard to compile a pollinator garden lesson plan to encourage teachers to showcase the wonders of the outdoors to students within and outside the classroom. Our environment plays a huge role in our lives, and these lessons teach us its importance with the opportunity to get hands-on with it.

Guatemala has been going through political unrest since August following presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo’s win. He ran a campaign promoting anti-corruption through his political party, Movimiento Semilla, and won the popular vote. Elite politicians that go against Arevalo label him a communist and accuse him of wanting to deprive the rich of their land (Gonzalez Diaz). Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who claims she is “investigating the election,” has been accused by the indigenous community of trying to undo the election by seizing ballot boxes.

Rosa Fuentes is a retired widow with seven grandchildren who was recently diagnosed with prediabetes. When she received information about the risks of diabetes, she did not fully understand how certain foods and recommendations were to fit into her routine given her circumstances and responsibilities to her family.

Professor Audelino Sac Coyoy is a Maya-K’iche Professor, Mayan Day counter, and political scientist from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. He focuses on the Mayan time, worldview, culture, and identity. His role in K’iche culture is similar to a counselor and farmer almanac. He has given several lectures at different universities, including a 2018 lecture at Virginia Commonwealth University about the causes of Mayans immigration to the United States, and removing the stereotypes of the migrant caravans.

While most know it’s important to spend time outdoors, sometimes it's hard to resist the comfort of the indoors or even the world beyond our bed. No one can deny the warm embrace our bedsheets provide, but let’s be honest; We’re never getting up if we keep staying here! The list of benefits just being outside has on our mental health is quite long, and they’re especially important for kids.

The Association of Women of the Highlands (Asociación de Mujeres del Altiplano or AMA), located in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, was founded in 1993 following Guatemala's brutal civil war to help the victims and widows forced to live with constant discrimination, isolation, and harassment. Its goal is to help empower and make Highland women resilient by providing them with a network of support that promotes self-esteem, cultural identity, entrepreneurship, and self-determination.

HSP’s sister organization, AMA, has taken a significant step this past year in empowering Indigenous women through its Virtual Merchant program. Launched in partnership with DMM (Municipal Directions for Women), this initiative focused on bolstering business skills among Indigenous women, especially in economically disadvantaged areas.

Business platforms have emerged as a catalyst for fostering entrepreneurship in economically disadvantaged nations. The resources, services, and opportunities that they provide prove to be an invaluable asset in allowing entrepreneurs to surmount obstacles and grow their businesses. Online business platforms like Slack, and ASANA, as well as agile and scrum management types, have successfully provided platforms allowing entrepreneurs and artisans to flourish.

HSP sits down with Shalitha Peaches “Shy” of White Mountain Apache to discuss ethnobotany and the impacts and importance of the continuation of cultural knowledge.

Today, three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and 35% of the world's crops depend on pollinators to reproduce. Pollinators are fundamental for maintaining the balance and health of our ecosystem, as they support biodiversity and provide a multitude of environmental benefits. However, many pollinators, such as moths, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats, are in trouble due to habitat loss, parasites, climate change, and environmental contaminants. It is crucial that we implement changes and take care of our environment.

Empowerment Theory informs all of our programming at HSP, but what is it exactly and how do we use it? Empowerment Theory is often used in social work and its goal is to empower people and communities to gain personal, interpersonal, and political power to better their lives and aims to challenge the existing institutions and systems that act in opposition to these groups.

Volunteering abroad is a great way to make an impact in the lives of people and communities around the globe, but it can be easy to fall into the trap of “voluntourism.” Without proper safeguards and intentional planning, many voluntourism trips may do more harm than good – resulting in exploitative practices and tokenizing local communities. 

The legacy of Native American boarding schools is rooted in a long history of oppression and injustice. Native American boarding schools – which were often run by Christian missionaries – were designed to assimilate indigenous children into the dominant white culture, stripping them of their language, traditions, and culture. The impact of this system of assimilation has been devastating for generations of Native Americans who were subjected to this oppressive form of education. It is essential that we recognize the systemic racism that enabled the establishment and continuous operation of these boarding schools – and work together to address the flaws of the system. 

Global warming directly impacts the environment, and a decrease in carbon emissions is essential. The temperature is predicted to increase by 1.5 degrees celsius by 2050. It’s very clear that we need to find efficient ways to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually, the question is how. 

In the hills and rolling valleys of the Appalachian region, a musical tradition was born, drawing on the diverse influences of Scottish, Irish, and English immigrants, as well as the soulful rhythms of African-American blues and gospel music. Known as bluegrass, this stirring expression of the shared struggles and joys of those who call these hills home arose in the early 20th century, a symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of poverty, limited opportunities, and environmental destruction wrought by extractive industries.

Since the program's initiation in September, we have provided nine different workshops in four locations. The importance of positioning women in the formal market continues to be a primary necessity for local entrepreneurs. As the general market transitions to digital advertising and payment processing, local business owners face the risk of being left out of the shift. HSP and AMA have implemented the Online Merchants program to avoid the loss of women in the marketplace but to also streamline a new reality of empowerment in finances for indigenous business women. 

By creating pollinator gardens, we can help to enhance the health of our environment and promote a sustainable future for all.

Charles Eisenstein is an environmentalist and published author and his book Climate - A New Story covers his outlook on climate change and the issues of how it’s approached.

The primary goal of The Deep Ecology Education Program (DEEP) is to serve as a bridge between scholarship on cultural adaptations required for our species to survive climate change.  Developing sustainable political and commercial responses requires sufficient popular support in turn making it a priority for policymakers.