Project Leaders
Teach English in Guatemala

Dom Williams - Latin America Projects Director

After gaining a degree from the University of Northumbria, United Kingdom, Dom spent 4 years investigating, researching and travelling South America, finally settling for Guatemala where he has lived since 2000. Dom says “Central America, and Guatemala in particular is one of the last really unexplored, exploreable regions on earth”. Dom and Doreen set up their first Indigenous project in San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala in 2003 and due to the success and advances made, they have set up further Indigenous projects in Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador and Honduras with the help of local community leaders.

Doreen Cabrera - Project Director

Doreen is born and bred Guatemaltecan, hailing from Guatemala City, where she earned a degree in Marketing and International Business from Rafael Landivar University. After a couple of years working in the capital, she decided to set up projects with Global Vision International “to help my country, people and its visitors. Guatemala has everything, and we want to share it with the world.” She has worked with the Indigenous populations since 2001 and has an in-depth knowledge of the cross-culture issues facing Guatemala today.

Santiago Colin - Santa María de Jesús Indigneous Project

Santiago is a father of three, and where Elena is the backbone of Itzapa, Santiago is the Heart of the Santa María de Jésus Indigenous project. “I just want to help my people, we have so little, so being part of this project, I am doing my best for them”. Santiago is also our volcano guide and doughnut connection!

Elena Siquinajay de Suy - San Andrés Itzapa community leader

Elena is the back-bone and soul and of the Itzapa project. Mother of six children, although she claims to be “mother” of the community, Elena has welcomed the programme with all her efforts, striving for the best for her companions and the children. Besides being a member of various social groups, she is also President of the Mujeres para Amor a la Vida. “When a volunteer leaves, part of my heart goes with them, though when the new ones come, it helps restore what has gone!” she says of her relationship with the volunteers.

Alton Germain - Project Manager

Alton earned degrees at Niagara University. He worked for the NYS Department of Labor for a year before earning his MSEd and taught high school Spanish and History in Upstate New York for 7 years. After traveling through Latin America, Alton returned as a volunteer to Guatemala in 2003. Since then he has assisted in the development of the projects in Perú, Ecuador, Honduras and was the Country Director of GVI’s Corporate Alliance Program in Guatemala.

Brigitte Pfluger - Project Intern

Brigitte was provided with the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica on a week volunteer project with her college, East Carolina University in 2007. After this she began to investigate other volunteer opportunities and discovering GVI fueled a heartfelt passion and desire. Three months later she committed to a two month stay at the GVI teaching project in Peru. Upon returning to the US she immediately contacted GVI to pursue the possibility of an internship. Happily, the following summer of 2008, Brigitte was assigned as an intern to the Ecuador project. She spent the following spring term in Seville, Spain, and during her time abroad, Brigitte continued to feel the pull of her desire to return to the GVI projects. Now, the May 2010 college graduate will continue to be a part of the GVI team and continue this adventure by dedicating her time, love and passion to the projects.

Priti Chotai - Project Intern

Priti graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Computer Studies. Since, she has worked in some of the world’s largest finance houses in The City of London, gaining in excess of 10 years project management experience, often running multi-million dollar projects. Priti first volunteered with GVI in 2002 on a conservation project in the Amazonian cloud forests of Ecuador. That 10-week project was one of the most rewarding of her life and she knew she would do something similar again. Priti returned to The City for a further 5 years, gaining invaluable experience managing larger projects, teams and budgets, before finally deciding to address her need to contribute to the wider world. In October 2008, she left London to volunteer on two very different projects: a conservation- based project working with the endangered desert elephants of Namibia (2 months); a community-based teaching project with GVI working in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua (6 months). She subsequently accepted a 4-month internship with GVI, in July 2009, at their school in Itzapa, Guatemala. Priti’s experiences on these teaching projects far exceeded her expectations and she returns to Guatemala in May 2010 to work as project coordinator at GVI’s school in Itzapa.

Sarah Riggott - Project Manager

Sarah graduated from Bristol with a degree in International Business Studies and French in 2005. Part of her course was Charity Management which ignited her passion for charities and the voluntary sector. With this passion and the urge to explore central America she immediately signed up to GVI's teaching programmes in Guatemala and Honduras. After having the experience of a lifetime she went back to the UK planning her return. Sarah then spent three years working in the UK first as project requirements manager building community hospitals in deprived areas of Manchester and then as a fundraising manager for a UK charity. In September 2009 Sarah returned to Guatemala where she now lives indefinitely working as a manager for GVI. Sarah completed the GVI Phoenix Volcano Challenge in 2009 to raise money for the GVI Charitable Trust.