About San Mateo Ixtatán

Tree weeks after arriving in Guatemala I found myself bumping on a chicken bus on the unpaved road of San Mateo Ixtatan next to a woman named Beth Neville Evans, whom I accidentally met and immediately became friends with on my second day in Antigua. Things happen fast and easy when one is travelling on her own and is a psychologist and happy to work with people who have similar visions, ideas and fascinations as she does. Beth started a foundation www.ixtatan.org to support the development of San Mateo Ixtatan, a town 2540 meters above sea level in the Cuchumatanes mountain range, where the Chuj Maya people have lived since ancient times. I’ve been learning and supporting the work of Beth and the foundation ever since she has told me about their projects. In November I spent ten days in San Mateo and finally felt like I have done some good work up there. … so here is what happened:

Beth with friends at the cemetery on the Day of the dead.