Global Press Journal Connections: The World in Photos

Panajachel, Sololá, Guatemala

Two evangelical pastors, both on left, baptize a young girl in Lake Atitlán in Panajachel, a city in southwestern Guatemala, in late December. A group of young boys stand nearby in the water, awaiting their turn. The group traveled from Patzún, a nearby municipality, to perform the baptisms. Lake Atitlán is renowned in the region for its size, beauty and surrounding volcanoes.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Sololá, Guatemala

Families gather on Nov. 2 at the cemetery in Aldea Chaquijyá hamlet in Sololá, a municipality in southwestern Guatemala, for Día de los Difuntos, which is part of the two-day Día de los Muertos celebration, known in English as Day of the Dead. For Día de los Muertos, a religious holiday in Latin America, families often visit the burial sites of loved ones to offer food and gifts, pray and perform rituals. Many also share a meal by the tombstones. Día de los Difuntos is reserved for praying for the recently deceased who may still find themselves in purgatory.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Sololá, Guatemala

Students in Sololá, a municipality in southwestern Guatemala, play roulette in a celebration of Día del Niño, known in English as Universal Children’s Day. The students, from Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta, Caserío Cooperativa, each had one turn at the wheel in a chance to win candy, piggy banks, books and other prizes. The player shown here didn’t win a prize, but instead landed on a spot that stated, “You didn’t shower today.” Universal Children’s Day was instituted by the United Nations in 1954, and the countries that celebrate it choose their own dates. In Guatemala, it’s celebrated every Oct. 1.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Sololá, Guatemala

Students from the Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta, Caserío Cooperativa, school walk through the streets in Aldea Chaquijyá, a hamlet in Guatemala’s southwestern Sololá department, to celebrate Guatemala’s independence day on Sept. 15. Guatemala became a colony of Spain in the 16th century and gained its independence in 1821, making this the nation’s 195th birthday.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Sololá, Guatemala

Kimberly Casia, 7, completes her mathematics exam, for which she later won first place among her district’s first-graders in the Olimpíada Nacional de Ciencias, the National Olympics of Sciences. The bi-annual competition gathers elementary school children across the country to test their aptitude in mathematics and social sciences. Casia competed in the San Juan Argueta district in Guatemala’s Sololá department.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Sololá, Guatemala

Silvia María Samines, 36, sells camotes (sweet potatoes) and dulces de durazno (candied peaches) in front of a church in Sololá, a municipality in southwestern Guatemala. Samines prepares the food at home each day beginning at 5 a.m. A bag of candied peaches sells for 1 Guatemalan quetzal (13 cents) and each piece of sweet potato is 50 Guatemalan cents (7 cents). She earns 1,500 quetzales ($199) a month, which helps pay her children’s school fees.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Panajachel, Guatemala

Humberto Xoquic (second from the right), prepares meat in the churrasco style in an open pit barbecue. The cooked meat is served on a stick or carved, then offered alongside beans, tortillas and tomato salsa. Xoquic, his wife Martina Pérez (far left) and their family live off this business, serving food to passersby in Panajachel, a municipality in southwestern Guatemala, from 10 a.m to 9 p.m. each day. Each family member has a particular role, including a daughter (second from the left) and son (far right). “Teamwork favors the family,” Pérez says.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

Aldea Chaquijyá, Sololá, Guatemala

Cristobalina Saloj (left) and Antonia Guarcax (center) participate in an egg-beating competition for Mother’s Day, which was celebrated in Guatemala on May 10. The competition was hosted by Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta, Caserío Cooperativa, a school in the Aldea Chaquijyá in Sololá, a municipality in southwestern Guatemala. The event included raffles, games and other activities.

Photo by Brenda Leticia Saloj Chiyal

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Panajachel, Sololá, Guatemala

Sololá, Guatemala

Sololá, Guatemala

Sololá, Guatemala

Sololá, Guatemala

Sololá, Guatemala

Panajachel, Guatemala

Aldea Chaquijyá, Sololá, Guatemala