About SEPA

The Santa Elena Project of Accompaniment is a 501c3 non-profit organization maintained entirely by volunteers. All donations made to SEPA are fully tax-deductible. 91.7% of the money raised by SEPA goes to Guatemala supporting two villages, Santa Elena and CopalAA. SEPA funds:

Teacher salaries and teacher continuing education in CopalAA and in Santa Elena;
Scholarships for Santa Elena students;
Funding of projects requested directly by the villages. Examples include buying building materials so the community could build a new addition to the school (which includes a math lab, a library, and administrative offices), building a community kitchen, buying ten computers for the school math lab, paying for musical instruments for the music education program at the school, building a health clinic, repairing the main road into and out of Santa Elena, and supporting the Dance of the Deer Mayan dance opera.

Ways We Help

The Focus of Our Efforts

Accompaniment

SEPA accompaniers allow us to network and foster a trusting relationship with the Guatemalan communities. The accompaniers, visiting and interacting with community leaders, help to teach us (SEPA) the economical and political backgrounds of indigenous people, which aids in maximizing the help we can provide.

CURRENT ACCOMPANIER:

2024- Ethan Aronson

Here are some of our past 15 accompaniers:

Sarah Johnson 2015 - 2016

Erik Woodward 2012- 2013

Vivian Gentry 2011-2012

Erica Buck 1999

Alice Gates 1998

Donations for SEPA

Consider supporting us through one of our ongoing fundraising efforts:

Our annual Fundraising campaign,
Our annual Guatemalan dinner, dessert auction, and sale of school scholarships,
Providing a firewood service to members of the Oberlin community. All monies go to SEPA.

History

Guatemalan Civil War:

In 1981 - 82 at the height of the Guatemalan army's genocidal "scorched Earth campaign" families were forced to flee their lands and take refuge in Mexico

Return of Refugees:

After many years in exile, refugees began to return to Guatemala as a part of the peace accords process. In 1997, some of those returned refugees formed the communities of Santa Elena, 20 de Octubre and CopalAA la Esperanza. Approximately 250 Q'equchi' speaking Maya people founded Santa Elena and approximately 400 Q'equichi', Q'anjob'al, and Mam-speaking Mayan people founded CopalAA. Both villages are in the department of Alta Verapaz.

These communities requested support from the outside community at a time of fragile and uncertain peace.

Formation of SEPA:

SEPA was formed in 1997 to fund non-violent human rights observers who lived in returned refugee villages in order to forestall violent human rights violations. As the political situation has changed, SEPA has remained flexible and has continued to raise funds to be used as determined by the villages themselves.

SEPA is a 501c3 volunteer organization that raises money through an annual fund-raising campaign, and an annual Guatemalan Dinner event.

SEPA's current activities:

SEPA continues to provide scholarships for students from Santa Elena to continue their education through middle or high school in day or boarding schools in other communities. In the fiscal year 2023-2024 this amounted to $6800.00
Supplemental money for teachers and continuing education for teachers in Santa Elena. In the fiscal year 2023-2024 this amounted to $5,018.00
Providing school supplies for the Santa Lucia Lachua school in 2023-2024 $295.00
In 20223-2024, provided salaries for three teachers in CopalAA's middle school and 10 guitars and 2 marimbas to enhance its music curriculum. $15,500.
Support for one CopalAA student to enroll in a specialized Environmental Science and Agriculture secondary program $600.00
July 15, 2024 Support of Accompanier Ethan Aronson for a period of six months: $530.00 monthly