Application Materials
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Guidance Notes for Applicants

By completing and returning the application form you will be applying to participate in the Guatemala Accompaniment Project (G.A.P.), a project of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA).

We will use the information you provide us, along with conversations with your references, a Spanish assessment and potentially a telephone interview with you, to assess whether you fit our criteria for accompaniment (see Program Overview for details about criteria) and to support you in-country if you are accepted into the program. The information will be seen by NISGUA, and by your Sponsoring Community if you are accepted to the program.

If we think you possess the qualities and experience for undertaking human rights accompaniment work, we will invite you to our training course. Training is part of the selection process. It is an opportunity for you to explore in more depth whether you wish to participate in G.A.P. and for us to make an informed judgment about your eligibility for accompaniment work. Training in the U.S. consists of one week of information sessions, discussions, role plays and interactive learning situations designed to prepare applicants for accompaniment in Guatemalan communities and to report on human rights. Accompanier positions are offered after completion of training. There is a training fee of approximately $320 to cover accommodation, food, trainers and materials. A subsequent 4-day-long training (no fee) upon arrival in Guatemala provides further detail about the genocide cases.

• Please type your application or complete in black ink as it will be photocopied
  
• Answer the questions thoroughly. Completed applications typically are between 8 and 12 pages long.
  
• Be sure to have three references fill out the reference form and return it to the G.A.P. office by the application deadline.

Please use the following notes to assist you in filling in the G.A.P. application form.

2. HEALTH INFORMATION

The work of an accompanier will require you to live and work in simple and sometimes physically demanding conditions. It is possible that your living quarters will not have electricity, running water or a solid floor. Medical attention is available in all of the communities we work with through experienced community health promoters, but access to formal clinics or hospitals is limited, especially where communities are isolated.

Traveling in Guatemala can be arduous, long and uncomfortable, involving transportation by river boat, truck and chicken bus. Some of the communities are not on a road and can take up to eight hours to reach on foot. None of them have paved roads within the village. A number are in hot, humid climates. Hiking for some distances in rough terrain may sometimes be required.

It is common for accompaniers to suffer from stomach/intestinal distress and itchy bug bites.

Please take into account these living/working/traveling conditions when considering your physical and mental health and let us know about anything that might cause you a problem.

All accompaniers will have health insurance paid for by the sponsoring community.

5. SPANISH PROFICIENCY

We will conduct an initial Spanish test with you over the telephone before inviting you to training. Accompaniers must be highly functional in Spanish when they start work in their communities, but applicants who are not at this stage of language proficiency can study in an immersion program in Guatemala before going to their community. We do not normally consider applicants who need more than six weeks intensive study. Final acceptance is dependent on a language assessment, which can be carried out in Guatemala. The cost of Spanish study is paid for by the accompanier, but many accompaniers fundraise to cover this cost.

7. COMMUNITY AND CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENCE  

7.1 A community or group situation is one in which the people who live in it share important aspects of their lives, such as living quarters, goals, values, spiritual beliefs or social circumstances. Examples of community or group settings are: a homeless shelter, a summer camp, a college dorm.

10. PERSONAL CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENT

10.1 If you have a partner and/or children who would not be accompanying you, please let us know. We would also like to know what they would think about you going to Guatemala, how you think you would cope with being separated from them and how you think your experience in Guatemala would impact on your relationship with your partner and/or children.

11. SPONSORING COMMUNITY

If you do not already have a relationship with a Sponsoring Community, the Guatemala Accompaniment Project will be able to link you up with one which is looking for an accompanier. The match would be made taking into account considerations such as where you live in the U.S., priorities for accompaniment and how long you will stay in Guatemala.

Please contact the NISGUA/G.A.P. office if you have any questions about the application form or about the Guatemala Accompaniment Project