Play United Rural Youth in Guatemala
Sports, Stories, and the Seeds of Peace
In the highlands of San Raymundo, Guatemala, the Kojb'iyin Junam Play for Peace Club brought the International Day of Peace to life through an inspiring two-part celebration. Over the course of two weekends, more than 30 young people aged 13–30 came together from La Ciénaga, El Carrizal, and San Martineros, rural communities once fragmented by conflict and distance. Through soccer, storytelling, and cooperative games using the Play for Peace methodology, they reconnected not just with one another, but with what peace truly means.
Youth gathered on the soccer field, not just to compete, but to collaborate. The sports meet was framed with a shared agreement on peaceful values: respect, harmony, cooperation, communication, teamwork, listening, and refraining from violence or profanity.
The match wasn't only a game, it was a living classroom. Participants reflected on Guatemala’s armed conflict, its lingering impact on young people today, and how sports can be a catalyst for healing and nonviolence.
At the end of the match, each participant received a medal, not for winning, but for modeling peace through play.
Exploring Peace Through Play for Peace Games
The celebration continued on the next week, when participants reconvened for a full-day workshop led by mentor Estuardo Coc and facilitators Gerson Junior Boch, Isaias Cubulé, Luis Cotzojay, and Edvin Chumil. Through cooperative play and creative reflection, young people explored what peace looks, feels, smells, and tastes like.
Highlights included:
🌀 Interactive Greetings – Encouraged creativity and trust-building with playful introductions like elbow-to-elbow and toe-to-toe.
🎈 Frantic Name Balloons – Taught teamwork and mutual support as participants kept each other's balloons aloft.
🖐️ Creative Ball Passing – Fostered adaptability, collaboration, and thinking outside the box.
🎙️ The Peace Interview – A deep, sensory reflection where youth described peace as friendship, nature, chocolate, and fresh flowers. When asked where peace lives, they named forests, rivers, schools, and church, but also acknowledged the absence of peace in some homes and communities.
Youth Leadership & Community Rebuilding in Action
While participation in the club had declined due to external challenges, this event became a turning point for revitalization. The combination of sports and Play for Peace activities reawakened interest, reconnected communities, and inspired young leaders to act.
Youth participants proposed practical solutions for building peace:
Creating more thematic sports events
Organizing youth-led expression and dialogue spaces
Supporting creative and artistic projects
Forming working committees to ensure club sustainability
This momentum has led to follow-up actions, including organizing gender-specific programs to ensure that girls and young women are equally included in peacebuilding initiatives.
A New Chapter for Peacebuilding in Guatemala
The Kojb'iyin Junam Club’s celebration wasn't just an event—it was a spark. Through youth peace leadership, cooperative sports, and intentional reflection, a new generation in Guatemala is stepping forward to say: Peace is possible, and it begins with us.
Support the Movement This Spring
This story is one of many. Across the world, Play for Peace is nurturing spaces where young people can reclaim joy, resolve conflict, and become peacebuilders in their communities.
You can help us reach even more youth like those in San Raymundo.
💛 Donate to our Spring Campaign and help us spread peace that starts with play:
👉 playforpeace.org/donate
Together, we can build a more compassionate, connected, and peaceful world, one community at a time.
