“We do not wish to change anyone, but instead to celebrate people as they are”
We believe that people with disabilities have much to offer to society, and to get to know them is to fall in love and appreciate them. Also, we know that people with disabilities suffer from isolation and a lack of authentic friendships.
Viamistad exists to fill that void in the lives of people with disabilities in Guatemala.
We are a large group of friends who celebrate human diversity through projects and activities with a marginalized and isolated population. Our focus is to create a community of impoverished people with disabilities in Guatemala. We achieve this goal with three recreational summer camps in which we meet at the beautiful Lake Atitlan and live together for eight days.
At camp, we erase divisions and categories. We are simply friends enjoying an annual vacation in which we create original art, dance, and participate in amazing activities.
After more than ten years hosting summer camps, we expanded the type of programming that we offer to our community.
We now help our families when they face an emergency or when our friends with disabilities need something specific and out of reach to improve their lives, such as being able to start up their own business or make a living with a special talent. We started an educational program that did not previously exist in the country, which keeps growing.
Friendships are created and maintained for life
Mission
“To create opportunities to enrich the lives of people with disabilities”
Vision
“To create a world in which human diversity is celebrated”
Our team
Joseph Argilagos is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Viamericas Corporation, a consumer focused money transfer company with operations in forty-five U.S. states and throughout Latin America. Viamericas has a rapidly expanding presence in Canada, Southeast Asia, and Africa with call centers in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines.
Prior to that, Joseph was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch in New York. Over his 16 year career at Merrill, he was one of the persons responsible for establishing the fixed and equity linked derivative business as Global Head of the Investor Strategies Group. He was appointed Chairman of Merrill Lynch International Bank and was Co-Head of the firm’s Global Foreign Exchange division.
Joseph has served on the Advisory Board of the MIT Financial Engineering Tract. He is currently a Board Member of Home Boy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.
