Profile of A Graduate: Daniel Diaz embodies dreams of a better Guatemala 

When Daniel Diaz was 13, he began showing up after school at a new community space his older brother had discovered two blocks from their home in Jocotenango, Guatemala. There, he stepped off the street into a bright and colorful sanctuary where he found help with his schoolwork, exposure to a variety of arts and sports, and a safe place to learn and laugh with other children.

At the time, Los Patojos, just two years old, was held in the garage of Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes’s family home. Now known as El Patojismo, the community center has since grown from an enrichment center into an accredited school and vocational training center that also offers meals, enrichment activities, sports and health care. It continues to provide children an escape from the gangs, drugs and violence all too common in that area, as it did for Daniel when he started attending in 2008. 

“It was a better place than the public school,” Daniel said through a translator. “I had more support from the teachers in Los Patojos than the public school. In Los Patojos the teachers were like friends that made us feel more comfortable and confident.”

In 2015, UNICEF Ambassador and actor Michael Sheen called Guatemala “one of the worst places for children” after decades of civil war that had normalized violence. The murder rate of children was second only to El Salvador. But in Jocotenango, one small spot of the country’s highlands, all of that was starting to change thanks to community leader Juan Pablo.

“Juan Pablo invited me to go to Los Patojos all week to improve my studies, and he invited me to learn more things, like culture, linguistics,” Daniel said. 

Juan Pablo recalled “Danny” and his friends arriving after school for lunch. “They stayed all the afternoon and almost the nights, from Monday to the weekend,” Juan Pablo said. “These kids loved the place, and they created the juggling program.”

Although Danny was shy as a child, Juan Pablo remembers him being very smart and eager to take advantage of the opportunities at Los Patojos. Through them, he began to develop faith in himself, in others, and in his possibilities.

“He was one of the best kids we had in terms of discipline, respect, love,” Juan Pablo said. “During these years that he was part of our program, his social skills developed. He learned to have more confidence in himself through the arts. Back home he was having problems; he was not able to talk, but he found how to express himself through juggling, art, theater, photography. He was able to express and channel the energy and pain and sadness he was having as a young kid back home.”

Daniel became a master juggler, performing in festivals, schools and shows around the city. His transformation made him a role model and inspiration for other children. 

“He was very successful at art and juggling skills, which require discipline, training and time,” Juan Pablo said. “So this was a kid who came from pretty much silence to a lot of public attention. He became very self confident, and I believe that because of these years, Danny evolved from a very shy person to a very self-confident teenager and now a young man, and obviously we can see the results.”

As Daniel grew up, he worked to support other children and share what he’d learned in his studies, his art, and the moral values Los Patojos had taught him. 

Follow your dream

Juan Pablo inspired Daniel and the other children to follow their dreams, even as his own ambitious vision to heal the country he loved was taking shape around them.

Only 81.5% of Guatemala’s population is literate, with even lower rates in the Guatemalan Highlands, which includes Jocotenango. Although education is technically free, the government devotes less than 3 percent of its annual GDP to it, and financial and transportation barriers keep many children from attending school. Juan Pablo said that most people do not complete their education beyond sixth grade, which he set out to change, starting with the creation of a safe, welcoming place for the town’s youngest children. 

“[Danny was part of] the first group of teenagers that started helping kids in a project-based learning experience that we have now as an official strategy,” Juan Pablo said, “meaning the kids were leading other kids in the streets, through the arts, sports, nonviolent activities, seeking peace and equality.”

The streets were especially dangerous during Daniel’s teenage years, Juan Pablo recalls. “When a dangerous situation happened, the next day we went there with art, to make people have a little bit of hope and to decrease the negative environment that was created the day before,” he said. “Danny and his friends were part of that social transformation, so it’s a very important thing he did for our town. He’s not just a kid who grew up, he’s part of the positive history of the entire community.”

Applying skills 

Through Los Patojos, Daniel met and found support in people like Olympic show jumper Juan Andres Rodriguez, a JustWorld Ambassador who would later play an important role in his life.

After graduating in 2016, Daniel met JustWorld Ambassador Herman Herbruger, a Guatemalan entrepreneur who was starting a new business involving personal care products, including shampoo and cosmetics. 

“[Herman] wanted to help us to get a new job, and the purpose was to have more responsibilities, where we could apply all the things we learned in Los Patojos,” Daniel said. 

After working for Herbruger for six years, Daniel reconnected with Juan Andres in 2021, and accepted a job offer at his Equus tack store. Daniel has lived in Guatemala City, where the store is located, ever since.

“Now [in this job], I apply all the things I learned at Los Patojos, like working hard, teamwork and how to express myself,” Daniel said. 

He is thankful for the opportunity, which he said provides well for his family, including his mother, brothers, wife and 7-year-old son. He’s also excited to continue learning.

“I didn’t know anything about the horse world, and now thanks to Juan Andres, I have learned a lot of things about horses,” he said. “I am very happy because now I can help and support my family.”

Daniel, who also travels with the tack store booth to competitions, hopes to remain in the horse world. “It’s a very interesting place,” he said.

He credits Los Patojos with giving him the confidence and skills he needed, and now, he hopes to pay it forward.

“I like to support my friends, help them to find more or new jobs, help people to find new opportunities,” he said. 

The cycle of giving back is part of Juan Pablo’s vision to rebuild the social fabric of a nation once torn apart by war one student at a time. El Patojismo provides not just education but also the confidence and support students need to sustain independent lives, continuing their educations, finding jobs, or starting businesses that build a better Guatemala.

“They always instructed me to follow my dreams and to put into practice all the things that I learned,” Daniel said. “For all of us, Los Patojos was like a second home. We can say we found our second family in Los Patojos.”

Daniel is thrilled with the development and expansion of the medical center and school, which has now graduated more than 1,000 students.

“The people now who go there have more support to reach their goals,” he said. “Now they also have vocational training and support with food for breakfast. They have more tools to learn more things, more access to technology and new methods of learning.”

Daniel said the school has a positive impact on the community, making it easier on families with children. “The parents of children don’t have to pay a lot for a good education. It's a very important thing for that community, because that place is more accessible for people who have less resources,” he said.

He believes there are many communities in need of these opportunities—and that those solutions may someday come from El Patojismo graduates. “They have an opportunity to be leaders so they can open more places like El Patojismo,” he said. “Because according to my experience, there are a lot of communities in Guatemala that need more support.”

Daniel hopes to return to the school to give back, but Juan Pablo said he’s already realizing the dream that inspired the school, of teaching young Guatemalans to discover their powers as changemakers, creating a new narrative of hope and dignity. 

“Because of the project he has a decent job, is a good citizen, and that’s the type of role model and example we are giving back to society,” Juan Pablo said. “He’s a kid who is looking for a job, constantly trying to fix problems, not involved in drugs or violence but a Jocoteco who is making his life through skills he has developed. I’m happy to know after all these years he remains strong.

“He’s part of the group of kids who have made it in life,” Juan Pablo  added. “Now they come back and give back to the community what they have learned. It’s a cycle of love, and it’s never done.”

Alumni Profile: Mia Marzotto
An active Ambassador as a young rider, she now works professionally in the human rights sector

Those who’ve been on the European circuit for a decade or two might remember a small, dark-haired girl walking around the showgrounds with a Shetland pony, offering rides in exchange for donations to JustWorld. As she grew older, Mia Marzotto ran horseless horse shows, sold merchandise at shows, hosted dinners and drinks for donations, and set up partnerships to benefit JustWorld.

A love of horses runs in the Marzotto family–and so does a desire to give back. “My grandmother used to breed horses and was an extraordinary horsewoman herself, and my mother was a rider,” Marzotto, now 33, said. “Some of my first memories are on horses or related to horses.”

When her mother started a show jumping facility in Italy, largely inspired by the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center she’d visited in Wellington, Florida, she wanted her business to have a humanitarian component to it, something that went beyond the horses. 

“My family has a foundation that supports social projects in Italy,” Marzotto said. “This charitable side of things has always been part and parcel of my family.”

Marzotto met Jessica Newman, Founder of JustWorld International, when she was 11 at her mother’s jumping facility in Italy. She enjoyed brainstorming ideas for fundraising and set out to raise the profile of the organization in Europe.

But Marzotto put riding on pause as she earned her degree at the American University of Paris. “In my first year at university, I realized I had a free summer, which had never happened with horses,” she said. 

She took the opportunity to volunteer at People Improvement Organization (PIO), JustWorld’s partner project in Cambodia, returned the following year, and then went to JustWorld’s project in Guatemala the year after. Her first year, she helped PIO with English classes, daily scheduling of activities and small events. “When I returned I was more involved in fundraising, looking for other donors beyond JustWorld, writing grant applications, and identifying potential partners,” she said. In Guatemala, she also helped with fundraising and communications. 

“My involvement moved from me being a traditional rider Ambassador to being a volunteer at the projects,” Marzotto said. 

After graduating with her first degree, she helped organize JustWorld activities at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France. She then went on to work for other nonprofit organizations like Oxfam and Translators Without Borders in countries affected by war and natural disasters and earned a master’s degree in international affairs from The New School in New York.

In 2021-22, she came back to JustWorld, working for a few months as a consultant on European operations. She then returned to school to achieve a master of laws degree at the University of Essex in international human rights law.

“My involvement [with JustWorld] has taken different shapes, but I think part of it has to do with my own personal progress with being involved in the humanitarian and human rights sectors, first as an observer, then a volunteer and now a full-fledged professional,” she said.

Listening skills, language skills

Today, Marzotto works as the Whistleblower Protection Program Manager at The Signals Network, a 501c (3) nonprofit organization that supports whistleblowers who have shared public interest information to the press. 

“We provide all-encompassing support to whistleblowers, people who are concerned about wrongdoing at their workplace by a current or former employer,” Marzotto said. “We help them navigate what can be a very difficult journey, the decision to speak up on issues around public safety, corruption, products that might cause problems, forced labor, and other human rights violations, across the world. Different countries have different protections, so often whistleblowers face great risks in speaking up. We’re there to try to help manage those risks and ensure those responsible for wrongdoing are held accountable.”

Starting with JustWorld, Marzotto said she learned that one of the key components to human rights work is active listening. “Listening to whoever it is that one is trying to help, working in a way that puts the concerns or ideas and capacities of the person or population or group one is trying to help [at the forefront], so that listening first is very important, to not act based on biases or preconceived notions of what you think might be right thing to do but instead to consult those you are trying to help,” she said.

In nonprofit or human rights work, Marzotto said, there’s no one career path. She said some professionals focus on thematic issues: children’s rights or the environment, for instance, while other professionals focus on skills, such as communications and advocacy, which can be applied in many different contexts or issues.

She encouraged anyone considering a similar career to pursue language skills. “Depending on where one wants to work: English, French and Spanish,” she said. “But I would encourage people to go beyond that, in order to listen and ask the right questions. It comes from being able to communicate with people in their own language in a way that’s culturally sensitive.”

And now Marzotto has returned to the show ring after a 12-year hiatus from horses. “It has been such a great way to decompress from my work and other responsibilities, so I’m trying to find the time for it as much as possible,” she said. “Of course, I am simply competing in the small, amateur classes but still enjoying myself and all the benefits that having a moment of pure concentration and unison with a horse can bring. I am very grateful for my trainer and team at the stables who help me keep my two horses in shape when I’m too busy, and for my mom with whom I share the love for horses and who is as supportive of me riding now as she was when I was a teenager.”

Working with JustWorld, especially for young riders, she said, offers an opportunity to gain exposure to humanitarian and human rights work, although she said volunteer and professional experience are quite different. “It’s great volunteer experience, which can also serve as a foundation in other sectors, other job scenarios, as well,” she said.

A common thread in her career has been developing meaningful relationships with the people sharing in the work, starting at JustWorld. “One of the things I cherish the most is the people I’ve met along the way, and that started with JustWorld and the many other Ambassadors I was working and volunteering with when I was 12, all the way to when I was at the projects, and continue to meet,” she said. “You really do have great people in this sector, working for nonprofits whether they are big or small, and that’s one of the things that keeps me going.”

Heidi Lalor Fosters Horsemanship at Caymanas Pony Club in Jamaica

Caymanas Pony Club Director Heidi Lalor couldn’t be more proud of her students, who finished taking their Pony Club exams at the end of March. They’ve proven their horsemanship both in and out of the saddle, a testament to the program Heidi has spent 14 years developing in Kingston, Jamaica.

“When you have that Pony Club badge, it means a great deal to the equestrian community, and for Jamaica as a linked center, it's an international stamp of approval,” said Heidi, president of the Equestrian Federation of Jamaica and a JustWorld supporter. “It’s a sign of education, not just, ‘I ride at a standard.’ It’s also, ‘I understand horse care at a standard.’ It’s a very prestigious logo, and it’s up to me to continue promoting it.” 

Caymanas Pony Club is one of over 600 Pony Clubs affiliated with the British Pony Club, with members in at least 27 countries. Founded in 1929, the British Pony Club teaches the art of horsemanship and riding across nine disciplines to riders ages 5 to 25. 

“We’re very structured in the syllabus; it matches global Pony Club programs,” Heidi said. “We don’t have the fancy facility; we don’t have the fancy horses, but we do have the instruction and the care, which is so important.”

Riding in paradise

Though Caymanas Pony Club may share the same syllabus as other Clubs, its access to Jamaica’s rich culture and scenery makes the program unique. From riding on the beach to arenas backdropped by hills and mountains, the students in Jamaica have done it all.

“When we completed our beach riding badge at Half Moon Equestrian Center (Montego Bay), the photos were quite spectacular,” Heidi said. “The UK Pony Club shared our photos online, and we certainly got a lot of attention and comments like, ‘Wow, look at that. It’s Pony Club in paradise.’ ”

Caymanas Pony Club can also tweak the achievement badges to incorporate Jamaican culture. An example is the farming badge the students earned at Trade Winds Citrus Ltd., Jamaica’s largest citrus farm. 

“We incorporated outriding on a citrus farm as an educational farming badge for the kids so that their experience was special and fun,” Heidi said. “We were creative and customized our Pony Club activities to include badges, which has been very successful.”

Reviving English Sport

Heidi was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, where she grew up in a cricketing family. Her grandfather, Jeffrey Stollmeyer, was a former captain of “The Windies” West Indies men’s cricket team. He was also a passionate horse racing fan, the owner of several racehorses, and the inspiration for Heidi’s love of horses. 

“In Trinidad, we had the racetrack right in the center of town,” Heidi said. “My first exposure would’ve been around the savannah, where the horse racing was. The savannah is a public space, so if you’re driving around on the weekend, you’d see the horses racing. It’s always easy to tailgate at the race track and fly kites, kick a football, or play cricket.”

Heidi gained exposure to show jumping, dressage, and cross country through her aunt Patrice Stollmeyer, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Equestrian Association. As a competitor on the Caribbean Equestrian Association (CEA) regional circuit, Heidi was 13 when she attended one of her first competitions at Danny & Yvonne Melville’s Chukka Cove Polo and Equestrian Center in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, in the early 90s. 

“I fell in love with Jamaica, and I enjoyed their equestrian scene,” Heidi said. “They had a large number of horses and riders, and it was very vibrant and exciting. They had polo, and Trinidad didn’t have polo. And, of course, you had the British royalty visiting Jamaica to play polo. [In Jamaica], there was dressage, cross country, jumping, and polo, and you could swim with the horses in the ocean all in the same day! I was 13 years old and very impressed!”

Jamaica’s English equestrian scene is experiencing a revival thanks partly to the FEI Solidarity’s FEI Eventing World Challenge Series, held at the Kingston Polo Club in November 2023. The Challenge, launched at the 2022 FEI General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, is an extension of FEI Solidarity, which develops and promotes equestrian culture and sport globally. 

“I’m really proud of last year because we worked hard, were goal-oriented, target-trained, and we ended up with positive results. This is what the FEI said,” Heidi said. “We executed their vision, and Denise Cole-Avril [won] the derby locally and placed third overall in the world ranking, which was excellent.” 

Run as a Category C Derby, the event saw 18 participants and is part of the FEI’s effort to revive eventing in Jamaica. The discipline died down in the 90s when equine piroplasmosis, a blood-borne disease, prevented the Jamaican eventing team from bringing horses to the 1991 Pan American Games in Atlanta, Georgia. 

“It’s nice to be one of the few countries to be the first test pilot for an eventing challenge for the developing countries,” Heidi said. “[The FEI is] aiming at introducing eventing to younger kids, or a more amateur level, so they created a lower height derby which could be ridden on a polo field. I thought, ‘Well, we could do this. We have polo fields, polo ponies, ex-racehorses, and pony club ponies who could compete.”

Pony Club Benefits

After attending the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, Heidi returned to Trinidad in 2012. She founded a riding school for children at Goodwin Heights Stables before moving to Jamaica in 2005, where she coached at Kingston Polo Club until 2009.  

Upon visiting Trinidad and Tobago in 2010, Heidi learned that her old riding school had become affiliated with the British Pony Club. She sought to do the same in Jamaica with the help of Guy Moore, a British Horse Society-accredited Pony Club coach. 

“There was a history of the Pony Club in Jamaica before me,” Heidi said. “At the time, there was a British lady named Tina Williams who was running a Pony Club program and migrating. Tina kindly passed on various badges and certificates, which assisted our transition to becoming a linked center.”

Today, Caymanas Pony Club has trained over 70 Pony Club members. They currently have 17 riders and numerous horses and ponies, which contrasts the one-horse program Heidi started with. 

“The first polo pony we started with was an imported quarter horse,” Heidi said. “He was sturdy, steady, and very calm-minded, so that’s been the type we look for. Many assessments take place because, of course, in Pony Club, safety is the priority.”

In an age where equestrian sport has garnered more scrutiny from mainstream media, Heidi knows the unquestionable value of Pony Club. 

“In this sport, horse welfare is paramount,” Heidi said. “The Pony Club’s ethos of instilling ethical and fair treatment of horses is a perfect route for young riders to begin their introduction to the sport and grow into well-rounded equestrians. Based on where the sport is now, the Pony Club remains extremely relevant to the future of the sport. I feel that we are also being judged on our horsemanship, and it’s very important not to skip the horsemanship and put the time in. I believe that the Pony Club badge says significantly more than people recognize.”

To stay updated on developments within the sport, Heidi traveled to the November 2023 FEI General Assembly in Mexico City. There, she met JustWorld Founder Jessica Newman and signed up for the newsletter. In support of the JustWorld cause, Heidi made a donation from the Caymanas Pony Club this February. 

“Sometimes I get asked, ‘Do you really have Pony Club in Jamaica? Is it really Pony Club?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, it’s British Pony Club,’ ” Heidi said. “I've heard programs are often full in England. Or, you may need to own a horse, or you’re waitlisted for a few months until you have a pony. In general, people I've spoken with are impressed that Pony Club is accessible in Kingston, Jamaica. More importantly, [that it’s] an accredited system which certifies members in riding and horsemanship while promoting welfare to future generations.” 

Check out JustWorld’s new video!

Thank you so much to Carley Sparks and Horse Network for producing this.

ICYMI: A Wrap-Up of JustWorld’s Busy Winter Season 

JustWorld International “A Night In Paris” Gala Raises Record-Breaking Funds For Children

WELLINGTON, FL - Equestrians from around the world gathered on Friday, January 26, at the beautiful Belle Herbe Farm in Wellington, Florida, for JustWorld International’s most successful fundraiser in its history. The community came together to share their passion for educating children, raise funds for further work, and celebrate their achievements toward building a better humanity. In its 21st year, the JustWorld Gala, the premier social event of the Wellington Equestrian Festival (WEF) season, raised record-breaking proceeds to serve children at JustWorld Global Projects in Cambodia, Guatemala, Honduras, and United States, thanks to the generosity of sponsors like Caryl Philips and Frank Zeiss, the Rein family, Belle Herbe Farm, Voltaire, and hundreds of other equestrians.  

The “Night In Paris” theme paid tribute to this year’s upcoming Olympic Games, where JustWorld Ambassadors from dozens of countries will be vying to compete. Guests enjoyed dazzling Parisian dancers, exquisite French culinary delights catered by Palm Beach’s Laura Ashley, and live music transporting them to an enchanting evening among the sparkling avenues of the “City of Light.”
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2024 JustWorld Leadership Development Program presented at Wellington International in partnership with the Great Charity Challenge

JustWorld’s Leadership Development Program made its onsite debut at Wellington International showgrounds, thanks to a partnership with the Great Charity Challenge. Participants aged 15-23 learned from industry experts like Guilherme Jorge, Sissy Wickes and Ashley Holzer, with moderation by Catie Staszak. They also heard from professional educators about leadership styles and assessed their own leadership approaches.

El Patojismo Founder and CNN Hero Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes of Guatemala spoke passionately about the challenges facing his country, his inspiration for addressing them, and how he’s overcome challenges to offer a brighter vision for children in Jocotenango and beyond. And in the final session, Storybook Treasures Founder Denise Corbo guided volunteers in assembling literacy kits for the March 4 Project Visit to Pioneer Park Elementary School in Belle Glade, Florida.

During the final Leadership Development Program session, on Feb. 29 at the Wellington Club, JustWorld Ambassadors packed a Storybook Treasures Literacy Kit, including “We Are In A Book” by Mo Willems and small prizes designed to make reading fun. 

Five youth Ambassadors took a break from the packing to participate in JustWorld’s signature Adopt A Project activation. Zara Boyd, Aiko Paridean, Corinne Sweeney, Dawson Amick, and Lucy Rappoport reviewed a menu of impactful education, healthcare, and nutrition projects in Cambodia, Guatemala, Honduras, and the United States, ultimately electing to distribute $500 each to Cambodia (1 ton of rice), Guatemala (vital medical supplies and medications for the health clinic), and Honduras (new bilingual books for the mobile library).

JustWorld Brings The Joy Of Horses To Pioneer Park Elementary

The students at Pioneer Park Elementary School will never forget the day they saw Matrix. Not The Matrix, as in the 1999 sci-fi movie, but Maria Newman’s gorgeous gray gelding who paid them a visit on March 4 thanks to a collaboration by JustWorld International, Rodriguez Equestrian, StoryBook Treasures, and Belle Herbe Farm. 

It’s not every day that the kids get to interact with a horse on the field of their Belle Glade, Florida, campus. For many, the interaction marked their first time seeing a horse in person, and Matrix brought their imaginations to life.

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Anna Klose Hamburg and JustWorld International Give Back and Grow with Europe x US Charitable Partnership

A new partnership between German-based Anna Klose Hamburg and JustWorld International makes it easier than ever for equestrians to shop good, do good, feel (and look) good. 

Known throughout the world for elegance, sophistication and timeless design, Anna Klose Hamburg products represent the highest quality. But the fashion and apparel purveyors, who also offer a collection of horse and dog items, want to make an impact that goes beyond their statement pieces.  

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