German Armando Raxcacó is a native of Guatemala, originally from Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. As a child, he attended the Jun Toj Mayan school, and by the time he was a teenager he was studying by night and helping his family with subsistence agriculture by day. His academic pursuit of agronomy began in high school, and while studying to become a university-accredited agro-forestry engineer he worked in several governmental and non-governmental institutions operating in Guatemala, including the National Rural Development Program (PRORURAL), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA), and the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO), where he oversaw agricultural extension at the community level. After completing his academic studies, Armando returned to Rabinal and took on the role of Voces y Manos’ Program Director while teaching courses at the Fundación Nueva Esperanza for students pursuing degrees in Community Development.
Armando is passionate about sustainable development within Rabinal, and knows firsthand that the effects of climate change threaten to upheave countless lives in the region. To fortify his community, Armando and the Voces y Manos team are executing climate resiliency projects in Rabinal with the intention of improving livelihoods according to the Latin American indigenous concept of buen vivir (“living well”). An expert in sustainable agricultural practices, Armando intends to carry out climate resiliency projects in partnership with the young leaders of the Voces y Manos scholarship program.
