Young Advocates, Big Impact: Our Visit to the IJM Guatemala Office
By Blythe Hill, Dressember Founder
I had the privilege of visiting the Guatemala City office of International Justice Mission, Dressember’s partner, in July 2022. The focus of IJM’s work in Guatemala is ending violence against women and girls.
Guatemala’s rich history, diverse people and impressive volcanoes attract adventure-seekers from around the globe. However, among the beauty of its landscape and people, a hidden plague threatens the safety of millions of women and girls.
Vice President of IJM’s Northern Triangle program Juan Miguel Rivera notes, “The study we conducted a couple years ago showed that nearly half of all women in Guatemala have suffered some form of physical or sexual violence. That's one in two. This is the reality we are trying to change.”
This field office visit was special as we brought along the top Dressember Advocates from the previous winter’s campaign, three of whom were girls under the age of 13. I’ve always believed in the power of young women to change the world, and seeing these three girls—who’d inspired their friends and communities to give over $30,000 collectively—made me more certain of this than ever.
While we have taken Dressember advocates to visit field offices, this was the first time our top advocates were under 18 (in fact, they’re usually in their 30s). These trips can be intense: coming face to face with the reality of exploitation and violence, hearing horrific stories of abuse—it can be a lot to process. Even for someone like me, who has been deeply involved in this work for over a decade, returning from these trips requires time for debriefing through therapy and journaling.
With this in mind, our trip leaders, including myself, Dressember staff, IJM staff, along with the parents of the girls, went into the visit with the intention of tailoring the content to be age-appropriate. We also made a conscious effort to continuously check in with each child to ensure they absorbed and processed the information thoughtfully.
Remarkably, the girls absorbed the information well and asked great questions along the way.
Reflecting on the experience, Katie, one of the younger Dressember Advocate trip attendees, shared, “Going to Guatemala was eye-opening. I saw how much it meant to the people we helped; it meant the world to them. It really comes down to: I can’t help everyone, but I can help change that one person's life for good.”
What happened next astounded me. We had the privilege of attending an awards ceremony for a group of survivors who were in IJM’s program—all of whom were girls around age 12. Dressember group members were paired with survivor clients and their mothers and invited to participate in rotating activity stations.
These stations included joyful activities like a balloon stomp game, painting blank canvases, a photo booth full of props, and other games. The girls laughed, played, and became fast friends. The day transformed from focusing on their past—or even their progress from the past—to being a day where they were allowed to be children. Anytime I enter a space with survivors, I’m reminded not to ask questions that bring up the past and not to initiate any physical touch. And yet, when it was time for us to leave, the survivors initiated heartfelt hugs with the girls in our group.
I was reminded then that while trauma happens in relationships, so does healing. People hurt us, but it is also people who heal us. When I remember that day, it was not the awards ceremony that stood out, although the girls beamed with pride. Instead, it’s the memory of seeing the girls painting, laughing, trying on feather boas and oversized glasses with glee that sticks with me. It is easy to overlook, but the power of play, laughter, and fun, especially with peers, can be the most transformative of all.