Caras Alegres, Spanish for 'happy faces' is a Dutch organization based in Guatemala (Central America) in the city Quetzaltenango, helping families and children living in poverty. MISSION The foundation Caras Alegres supports mostly (indigenous) women and children, because these groups are most vulnerable with the least opportunities. DESCRIPTION The main objective of Caras Alegres is: To promote and improve the general welfare and the social position of women, children and families at or below the poverty line and therefore who are or were in difficult living situations. Education is the key in this process. The road to independence is long and leads along many roads. These roads will be different for each participant, because every person is unique. Caras Alegres looks, listens and communicates with its members, and based on their needs we build for the future. We want to reach our goal by: - Maintaining small-scale projects with educational aspects; - Having the active (Guatemalan) team in place, in balance with (paid) experts from all over the world; - Making use of local products and resources; - Using norms and values of the Guatemalan culture and traditional aspects; - Maintaining partnerships with educational and social organizations in Guatemala and abroad.