Boats begin skimming the blue waters of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala’s highlands at daybreak. The lanchas, as the 20-seat speedboats are referred to here, act as taxis picking up and transporting local villagers on their way to work, women wearing traditional Maya dress heading out to sell their handmade crafts and tourists exploring the region. Surrounding the 1,049-feet-deep lake, which fills a volcanic crater, are three perfectly cone-shaped volcanoes and 11 Maya villages. Each village is known for something—textiles, ceramics, chocolate—and all of them compete for the attention of tourists who flock the area to soak in the lake’s natural beauty.
On the northeastern shores of the lake, the village of Santa Catarina Palopó was having a tough time attracting the tourist’s eye. The roughly 5,000 Indigenous Kaqchikel Maya living there traditionally relied on fishing and agriculture, but these sources of income were not enough to sustain the town’s increasing population. With few professional opportunities in the area, some men were forced to emigrate to nearby tourist towns, Guatemala City and the United States to find work.
To offset poverty and spur economic growth through tourism, a small but mighty group of laborers, artisans, domestic workers and stay-at-home moms created the Pintando Santa Catarina Palopó project in 2016. The project’s initial goal was simple: paint all 850 homes and businesses in vibrant colors, in an effort to transform the hillside town into a cultural destination.
“We wanted to paint the houses with the colors and figures that represent the community,” says the project’s executive director Stephany Blanco. “A range of designs were created so that families can choose designs for their house that are representative of the family.”
“We wanted to paint the houses with the colors and figures that represent the community,” says the project’s executive director Stephany Blanco (pictured here). Pintando Santa Catarina Palopó project
The project was the brainchild of Guatemalan journalist Harris Whitbeck. He witnessed firsthand the poverty-induced problems the residents of Santa Catarina Casa Palopó lived through, says Gabriela Camacho, hospitality manager for the nearby boutique hotel Casa Palopó. His plan was…
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