July 2022 Featured Interview
The International Esperanza Project:
Providing Grassroots Support, Medical Care and Hope to Guatemala
Interview with
Michelle Hollaender
Founder of International Esperanza Project
About Michelle:
Michelle Hollaender has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years. Born in Guatemala City, Michelle moved to Dallas, Texas in 2002. She served as Chief Development Officer for an international nonprofit organization for many years before founding International Esperanza Project (IEP) in 2017. She is passionate about inspiring hope and improving lives in Guatemala.
Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas A&M University. She is the mother of two adult sons.
About International Esperanza Project (IEP):
Michelle Hollaender has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years. Born in Guatemala City, Michelle moved to Dallas, Texas in 2002. She served as Chief Development Officer for an international nonprofit organization for many years before founding International Esperanza Project (IEP) in 2017. She is passionate about inspiring hope and improving lives in Guatemala.
Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas A&M University. She is the mother of two adult sons.
About International Esperanza Project (IEP):
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Founder Michelle Hollaender first came to the United States from her homeland of Guatemala when her sons were still small. Disturbed by the poverty and lack of progress she’d seen growing up, Michelle pledged that one day she would return and make a difference – to use the privilege she found in her new country to help children like her own reach a better future.
In 2017, Michelle founded International Esperanza Project with the mission of inspiring hope in people in the developing world through healthcare, community development and education. Since then, IEP has helped 7,643 medical patients, prescribed 661 pairs of glasses, performed 442 surgeries, and installed more than 1,800 smokeless stoves and water filters in the most remote and poverty-stricken regions of Guatemala. In 2019 alone, IEP coordinated trips for over 200 volunteers from the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Portugal. By connecting donors in the United States with those most in need in Central America, IEP is realizing Michelle’s pledge and forging a path to greater change. |
Scenes from IEP's Trade Training School in Tecpán, Guatemala
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According to the United Nations World Food Program, “Guatemala is among the ten countries that are most vulnerable to natural disasters and the effects of climate change.”
Michelle Hollaender was inspired to help the people of her native country when she founded the International Esperanza Project in 2017. Michelle says the organization “addresses issues that matter with grassroots solutions." Her hope is that it will become the largest international organization helping that nation.
Michelle Hollaender was inspired to help the people of her native country when she founded the International Esperanza Project in 2017. Michelle says the organization “addresses issues that matter with grassroots solutions." Her hope is that it will become the largest international organization helping that nation.
Co-Associate Editor Carol Lippert Gray interviewed Michelle about IEP's inception and the importance of partnerships and working with the community.
Starting a nonprofit of this ambition and scope is a massive undertaking. How did you do it?
I was born and raised in Guatemala, and since I was a little girl, I was helping in the church. I had to flee for security reasons and came to the United States with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, with no money. Luckily, I met a man who offered me a job in the nonprofit world. Five years ago, I started my own nonprofit. I have the most amazing team and have contacts in Guatemala. My family still lives there.
We started with medical and surgical missions. [In the course of these,] we found that women’s lungs had been compromised because of cooking smoke in their homes, and this was a problem with anesthesia. So, we started to install smoke-free stoves in their homes. The stoves use 30 percent of the wood an open fire would, so deforestation is down, and the women get two extra days a week they’re not cleaning their houses [of smoke].
The government is supposed to supply breakfast and lunch to schoolchildren, but we found some children weren’t receiving the food and were hungry. In 2021, 60 mothers completed a nutrition program, and 257 children were measured and evaluated for malnutrition. We distributed 25,892 pounds of food relief. These "Bags of Hope" included 40,875 fresh eggs; 18,750 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables; 1,373 pounds of hygiene and cleaning supplies; and 82,500 chewable children’s vitamins.
It sounds as though your progress is incremental. One thing builds on another.
Once one thing improves, another does. It flows. Our training center came organically. As the children graduated from school, I wanted them to have more opportunity. I didn’t want the girls to go back to work in the market. I wanted them to have more.
My father is German and told me he doesn’t have an inheritance for me, but he paid for my education. I felt it was my responsibility to pay it forward. That’s how our trade training center started.
I believe once you start helping, the whole community wants to do more and more. We provide an opportunity for people who want to do good. We have doctors, nurses, surgical teams, and people installing the stoves.
Last year, we broke ground on the Esperanza Trade Training Center, a purpose-built facility that will be used to bring trade education to thousands of people in the department of Chimaltenango. In addition, 60 women completed a sewing course and learned marketable skills to improve their families’ standard of living.
Do you partner with local agencies? How are your efforts publicized to the people you serve?
We find them. We go out to the villages and see what the need is. Once we’re in the village, it’s an integrated approach. We see where there’s a need for a school. By educating the children, the families start to trust us. Then we can bring in the stoves.
How has COVID affected your outreach?
COVID was a silver lining for us. Obviously, we couldn’t take our mission trips, and we usually do 10 to 12 a year. We worked with the Guatemalans. We got together with the local universities. Kids finishing their medical training could work with us. Now we have great partnerships in Guatemala. We were able to expand our programs with local support.
Where do you find volunteers?
Once we book a date for a team, there’s a team leader. The surgical leader will want to bring people that work with them in the operating room or people they know. For medical teams, we go to hospitals, or we have hospital partners in Dallas and promote the work within them. The stovers (I call the stove installers stovers) come from churches and schools. As of the end of 2021, 103 smoke-free stoves complemented with clean water filters were installed in homes. We’re a non-sectarian organization and anybody can be a stover. A group of 10 friends can go to work.
Cojobal was declared our first smoke-free community after we completed the final stove installation in the small village. Frequent follow-up visits to these homes ensured that those who received stoves and water filters in 2019 are using and maintaining them correctly to reap the greatest long-lasting benefits.
My dream is to have 32 stove teams and 12 medical teams. We have a great infrastructure. Guatemalans meet the team at the airport and provide transportation for the week of mission work. Each person pays his own way. It’s $2,300 and that’s all-inclusive of airfare, food and transport.
What are your future plans for the organization?
The vision of the organization is to be able to continue with what we have in five different areas of the country. My dream and what we’re working on right now is to make it sustainable and replicable. We want to be the largest international organization helping in the country.
Where do you find sanctuary?
I have a lot of energy from three different sources. One, I believe God wants me to do this. Two, I work out every single day to get the energy I need. And three, I just got married, so I have a really good partner by my side.*
The amazing friends and donors who support us become like a family. It’s a domino effect. It’s all about the people who want to help.
*Editor’s note: Michelle met her husband, an eye surgeon, through the organization. He is an active participant in its work.
I was born and raised in Guatemala, and since I was a little girl, I was helping in the church. I had to flee for security reasons and came to the United States with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, with no money. Luckily, I met a man who offered me a job in the nonprofit world. Five years ago, I started my own nonprofit. I have the most amazing team and have contacts in Guatemala. My family still lives there.
We started with medical and surgical missions. [In the course of these,] we found that women’s lungs had been compromised because of cooking smoke in their homes, and this was a problem with anesthesia. So, we started to install smoke-free stoves in their homes. The stoves use 30 percent of the wood an open fire would, so deforestation is down, and the women get two extra days a week they’re not cleaning their houses [of smoke].
The government is supposed to supply breakfast and lunch to schoolchildren, but we found some children weren’t receiving the food and were hungry. In 2021, 60 mothers completed a nutrition program, and 257 children were measured and evaluated for malnutrition. We distributed 25,892 pounds of food relief. These "Bags of Hope" included 40,875 fresh eggs; 18,750 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables; 1,373 pounds of hygiene and cleaning supplies; and 82,500 chewable children’s vitamins.
It sounds as though your progress is incremental. One thing builds on another.
Once one thing improves, another does. It flows. Our training center came organically. As the children graduated from school, I wanted them to have more opportunity. I didn’t want the girls to go back to work in the market. I wanted them to have more.
My father is German and told me he doesn’t have an inheritance for me, but he paid for my education. I felt it was my responsibility to pay it forward. That’s how our trade training center started.
I believe once you start helping, the whole community wants to do more and more. We provide an opportunity for people who want to do good. We have doctors, nurses, surgical teams, and people installing the stoves.
Last year, we broke ground on the Esperanza Trade Training Center, a purpose-built facility that will be used to bring trade education to thousands of people in the department of Chimaltenango. In addition, 60 women completed a sewing course and learned marketable skills to improve their families’ standard of living.
Do you partner with local agencies? How are your efforts publicized to the people you serve?
We find them. We go out to the villages and see what the need is. Once we’re in the village, it’s an integrated approach. We see where there’s a need for a school. By educating the children, the families start to trust us. Then we can bring in the stoves.
How has COVID affected your outreach?
COVID was a silver lining for us. Obviously, we couldn’t take our mission trips, and we usually do 10 to 12 a year. We worked with the Guatemalans. We got together with the local universities. Kids finishing their medical training could work with us. Now we have great partnerships in Guatemala. We were able to expand our programs with local support.
Where do you find volunteers?
Once we book a date for a team, there’s a team leader. The surgical leader will want to bring people that work with them in the operating room or people they know. For medical teams, we go to hospitals, or we have hospital partners in Dallas and promote the work within them. The stovers (I call the stove installers stovers) come from churches and schools. As of the end of 2021, 103 smoke-free stoves complemented with clean water filters were installed in homes. We’re a non-sectarian organization and anybody can be a stover. A group of 10 friends can go to work.
Cojobal was declared our first smoke-free community after we completed the final stove installation in the small village. Frequent follow-up visits to these homes ensured that those who received stoves and water filters in 2019 are using and maintaining them correctly to reap the greatest long-lasting benefits.
My dream is to have 32 stove teams and 12 medical teams. We have a great infrastructure. Guatemalans meet the team at the airport and provide transportation for the week of mission work. Each person pays his own way. It’s $2,300 and that’s all-inclusive of airfare, food and transport.
What are your future plans for the organization?
The vision of the organization is to be able to continue with what we have in five different areas of the country. My dream and what we’re working on right now is to make it sustainable and replicable. We want to be the largest international organization helping in the country.
Where do you find sanctuary?
I have a lot of energy from three different sources. One, I believe God wants me to do this. Two, I work out every single day to get the energy I need. And three, I just got married, so I have a really good partner by my side.*
The amazing friends and donors who support us become like a family. It’s a domino effect. It’s all about the people who want to help.
*Editor’s note: Michelle met her husband, an eye surgeon, through the organization. He is an active participant in its work.
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UPCOMING EVENT:
Esperanza Gala October 15, 2022 Ritz-Carlton in Dallas Celebrating Five Years of Inspiring HOPE. Please join us for an evening to remember which will include a cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, inspirational speakers, dinner and dancing. |
