FUNDIT history
Nancy Rittmaster de España was a founder of FUNDIT programs. She came to El Tejar as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1980s. She lived in Guatemala until her tragic death in 2000.
Nancy and a group of women began to provide school supplies and uniforms to school children. They also offered homework help in Nancy’s house three days a week.
Living in El Tejar, Nancy noticed the lack of a library. Older students had to travel to Chimaltenango to do library research. Nancy initiated the establishment of the municipal library, which currently bears her name.
When a child was killed crossing the street, Nancy proposed the creation of a safe place for children to stay when their parents were working. A committee of women started looking for funds. The regional government was asked to approve a fundraising raffle. The government officials suggested that the initiative should be registered as a legal entity. It was decided that the programs would work as part of a foundation; an attorney was employed to help create legal documents and define the mission, vision, rights and responsibilities of the board and members.
As the group was working to create a foundation, it also began fundraising and searching for a place to construct CEDIN. Initially a multi-use room of the German Chamber of Commerce was put to use. One day Nancy received a call from the Municipality that a person who owned land in La Castellana had offered to donate a portion of it.
In January 1996 FUNDIT was registered as Foundation for Integral Development of El Tejar FUNDIT (Fundación para Desarrollo Integral de El Tejar FUNDIT). The organization started its work with five programs in the area of education and social development: Nancy Rittmaster de España Municipal Library, scholarship program, Early Childhood Development Center CEDIN, an art program, and a women’s program.
CEDIN opened in 1997 with 9 children.
With a new building in place, FUNDIT, working with a variety of other programs (Municipal Office for Women, Health Center, ASECSA, Procurator of Human Rights, Feminist Association of Tierra Viva and others), organized activities for mothers of scholarship students. An art program was also implemented, including drawing, painting, sculpture and music. Classes ran in CEDIN from Monday to Friday, 2-4 p.m. A music teacher and additional person ran the program together with a volunteer from the US providing art expertise. After a few months Probigua offered a space to exhibit the best 20 paintings. Nancy selected 10 of the paintings to print on cards sent to U.S. companies for fundraising.
In 2007, with the support of John Van Keppel, FUNDIT started working with PEG and LEAF, two U.S. organizations that support art programs. With their donations, the first musical instruments were purchased.
In 2012, with the support of local families and several U.S. schools, several multi-use rooms were added to CEDIN. In 2017, with the support of Build Lightly and LEAF, another room was constructed for the music program.
