Letter from Founder/N. McGirr Summer 2026

The temperature is not quite white hot, but the sun is intense, just like in so much of the world now. But we are mile high in the mountains of Guatemala, “the land of perpetual spring” and this is more redolent of the coast. This is the rainy season. It is dry, no rain. We are waiting. I’m not complaining, just curious if this is the way it will be in future. I get so much pleasure though from looking at the hillsides around my house. On the terrace I can turn in a circle, and I see mountains carpeted in green, the spread of trees only broken by two volcanos. And of course, as I wrote this a few days ago, now the rain is coming down in sheets with flooding in some parts of Guatemala.

I barely know where to start there has been so much good news since theSpring Newsletter. First off, our fundraiser was very successful, so thank you to all of you! We are planning on using some of the funding to put a second story classroom on the stone schoolhouse in Santiago Atitlán. That will not only expand our teaching space, but we will be able to use the large room to host kids from Guatemala City so that they will be able to attend workshops out at the Lake. For the city kids, just getting away from the daily tension and fear of their gang saturated barrios, is an enriching experience.

Fotokids swept the “student under 18” category of the Picacia 2026
Photography Competition with Jeidy winning 1st, Andrea 2nd,
and Ramona 3rd prize.

Picacia (the Sony distributor and photography learning workshop for professionals in Guatemala City), had entries from all over Central America. Our staff was involved in many aspects of this prestigious festival and Evelyn and Rocio presented Fotokids in a forum full of mostly young photographers. They were joined by Abdias, who told of growing up in Fotokids and how it led to his career as Guatemala’s Presidential Photographer and director of the administration’s photo team. Abdias’ mother and sister, as well as Rocio’s mother, were there to hear the speeches and they were so proud. They seldom get to actually see their kids in action.

©Jeidy/Fotokids 2023 – Reflection in my Mother

©Andrea/Fotokids 2025 – Hammock Angel

©Ramona/Fotokids 2023 – Brother in Red

Workshops

The students have had the opportunity to participate in several workshops this quarter with both Guatemalan and international photographers and designers. Manuel Morillo was back in Santiago Atilán mounting a temporary darkroom in the schoolhouse. The younger kids made their own pinhole camera, and the older students improved their pinhole cameras, by developing a shutter button, for a more sophisticated way to control the light and the exposure.

For those of you who have taken a photography class, do you remember seeing that first photo come up in the soup? The kids were excited watching their images emerge and loved being involved in the whole process.

When I began the program 35 years ago most of our professional contacts were international. I was working as a Reuters photographer in a war zone in Central America. I started my project in the dump, and my news colleagues wrote articles or shot video featuring Fotokids (then called Out of the Dump). It was such a novel and feel good story at the time that we were picked up literally all over the world, from Europe to the Middle East to Asia. We have had gallery shows in 14 countries, and we continue to exhibit the children’s photographs worldwide.

Time marches on and I’m pleased that Evelyn and the staff are now creating opportunities for the students to interact with Guatemalan professionals, including some of our own graduates who have gone on to successful media careers.

Two workshops were offered this summer by Fotokids graduates. One was with Ericka Argueta, who was in our first Save Girls program. After obtaining her degree in graphic design, she went on to land a job at a prestigious advertising agency, which she eventually left to begin her own business.

Another workshop was with Valeria Avilés, also in that first girl’s class. Valeria is an internationally recognized artist whose paintings have appeared in exhibitions in London, Rome, Sevilla, Madrid, Oregón, El Salvador and New York. Valeria who has created and illustrated graphic novels in indigenous languages, offered an inspiring class to our advance Fotokids students on how she developed her career. (Read on for more examples of talented Guatemalans who are involved with Fotokids).

As I’m writing this, to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, I re-read Executive Director Evelyn Mansilla’s report she recently wrote for one of our generous long-term donors. I found the update so well written, that instead of yielding to the urge to plagiarize (uh hmm, rephrasing), I found it easier to just copy it to take Fotokids forward.

A screenshot from Valeria’s presentation

Solo trip, Berlin and Evie do New York!
Fotokids had an exhibition at the “Lab”, a Gallery with the State University of New York in Old Westbury, Long Island. Thanks to Gallery Director, Hyewon Yi,\ the Bronx Documentary Center who generously helped us out on short notice with framing, and Tom DelGuidice who then transported the artwork. The exhibition of 22 prints was well attended and by all sources deemed a successful event. Evelyn noted the following:

Fotokids, and the exhibition was very well attended. It was an incredible experience filled with new adventures, meaningful conversations, and opportunities to make valuable connections.

Berlin and I stayed with Chris and Lucinda, longtime friends of Fotokids, and the view from their apartment was absolutely spectacular. We also managed to survive the public transportation system—which wasn’t always easy—but we did it! It was quite an adventure and definitely one we won’t forget.”

View from Chris and Lucinda’s apartment

Suny art department director Patty Harris, Berlin, Evelyn and LAB Gallery Director
Hyewon Yi.

Back in Guatemala, Evelyn recounts, “We welcomed Daniel Núñez, a Guatemalan nature photographer whose work has received numerous awards, appeared in National Geographic, and was recently featured in an exhibition in London as Wild Life Photographer of the Year. His workshop focused on bird photography and nature observation. Students in Santiago participated in walks around the community to identify and photograph local bird species, making it a wonderful hands-on learning experience.”

“Of course, we celebrated Mother’s Day with a special event for our students and their mothers. Each student was invited to attend with their mom, and together they participated in a cake decorating workshop. By the end of the activity, each mother and child had decorated their own two-tier mini cake to take home and share with the rest of the family.

It was a joyful and memorable day filled with games, raffles, and opportunities for mothers and their children to spend quality time together. We also prepared a small gift for each mother as a token of our appreciation. To make the day even more printed portrait to take home as a keepsake.”

we shared how the program transforms the lives of the children and youth we serve. We spoke not only about the impact on our students, but also on their families, communities, and the broader impact this work has throughout Guatemala. It was a great opportunity to share the stories and experiences of our students and to highlight the power of art and education as tools for change.”

After finishing her presentation, Rocío looks on as Abdías speaks about how
Fotokids prepared him for his career.

The advanced students at Picacia

In June we had a week-long Design 4Kids workshop where Washington D.C. area architectural design photographer Stu Estler joined us for another week- long Design 4Kids workshop. It was Stu’s 17th experience teaching one of our professional workshops. Rocío, Chonita, Emelyn, Berlin and I took on 3 teams of advanced students competing in design and photography.

Besides shooting both catalogue and onsite photos for the client, a creative ceramicist, Berlin instructed them on the necessary new technical and artistic skills in creating a basic website.

On their visit to the workshop, the ceramic art, hand thrown on the potter’s wheel, was something new and fascinating for the students and made quite an hotels and artistic restaurants, was the focus of the students’ photography.

They had designed business cards and pamphlets for clients, but this was a decidedly more complex experience.

Berlin explains website templates

Photo examples

Exhibits!
The 35th Anniversary! Opening night October 8th will be again at the beautiful, renovated 18th century convent, the Cooperación Española in Antigua, Guatemala. You are all invited! the years, both in Guatemala and Honduras. There are 40 of you! Email me for details, we’d love to see you again and have things planned and I know you would enjoy seeing your former students and their families!

August 7th Fotokids exhibition at Bainbridge Arts & Crafts Gallery will be held on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Evelyn and Berlin will be attending and speaking at the photography exhibit’s reception and at an evening reception. Can any of you make it or know someone who can?

Friday, August 7 – Exhibit opening at BAC during the First Friday Art Walk.
Saturday, August 8 – Mid-day exhibition talk at BAC.
Sunday, August 9 – Evening reception and presentation at BAC

Former graduates’ updates
On another note, those of you that remember Werner, who was with us in Fotokids from when he was 9 years old until he graduated from university? He is completing two life-milestones this month. He is getting married to Krista whom he met years ago at the university, and he has received his commercial pilot’s license and now has a new job flying for DHL.

German Gomez, raised in a narrow lot where his resourceful single mother installed a tin roof to bridge the gap between two neighboring homes, Is currently employed by a national newspaper after earning a university degree in journalism. German recently shared the news that he had completed a course offered by the Guatemalan military on how to be a war correspondent. When I read it, I thought, what war? The following day, the Guatemalan government announced the arrival of U.S. troops to assist in the fight against the narco-cartels. Video Al Jazeera featuring German 12 years ago!

Is that enough news for you? It is for me!