Routing for Communities Podcast: 2024 Bootcamp in Guatemala & Tz’ikin Radio Party
In a special episode of the Routing for Communities podcast, participants of the 2024 Bootcamp in Guatemala come together for the Tz’ikin Radio Party. This live broadcast marked the conclusion of the 2023-2024 Training Programme for the Management of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Networks in Indigenous and Rural Communities in Latin America.
This hybrid training program, co-organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and various community-based organizations, provides participants with a year of online learning, followed by a hands-on “boot camp” for deploying community networks. This year, 28 participants from 13 Latin American countries gathered in Guatemala City, culminating in the Tz’ikin Radio Party—a broadcast celebrating the power of shared stories and voices in Indigenous languages, produced by Bootcamp participants.
Key topics discussed during the broadcast included the role of women in community communications, the need for policy advocacy to ensure community connectivity, and reflections on the technical and social training provided during the boot camp. Notably, the podcast episode highlighted two milestones in Guatemala’s fight for access to communication: the first-ever Forum on Indigenous Remote Telecommunications and a landmark ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in favor of Guatemalan community radio stations.
The Routing for Communities podcast sheds light on inspiring community-led projects working to connect a third of humanity still living offline. Season 1 consists of 12 episodes, available in English, with select episodes in Spanish and Portuguese. The Guatemala episode is available exclusively in Spanish.
