Guatemala is a tough place to be a kid. The fastest growing country and primary recipient of U.S. remittances in Central America is also one of the hemisphere’s poorest nations, where nearly half of the children under five years old suffer from chronic malnutrition. Gangs and homicides make day-to-day life perilous both in and out of school. More than a third of the Central American unaccompanied minors detained at the U.S. border started their journey in Guatemala.

Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes, who describes himself as a self-taught educator and social activist, decided to help as many children as he could. The young teacher was born during the civil war that ended in 1996 and grew up with political instability, gang and drug crimes as the norm, in Jocotenango, in south-central Guatemala, about 35 miles from the capital.

About 10 years ago, when he was 23, he obtained his family’s permission to use part of their home to create a safe space for young children to learn about art, music and culture, preparing them for academic success and life.

Read the full article about Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes' work with Los Patojos in Guatemala at hiponline.org.