Hope is a Rainbow

Ten months ago, Mateo, just 16 at the time, came to Covenant House Guatemala. Like all our youth, their admission had been ordered by a judge to protect them against an apparent situation of sexual violence at home, a situation that compromised their well-being and the full exercise of their rights. 

Mateo (a pseudonym) was recognized by all who knew them as female. However, they had known for years that their real identity was male. Mateo’s fear of being rejected, judged, or misunderstood added to the family conflicts and violence that marked their adolescence. This led Mateo to silence an essential part of their identity and to develop a deep distrust of the adults around them.

That’s why, during their first months at Covenant House Guatemala, Mateo never raised this issue in conversations with our staff. First, they needed to feel safe.

Through mental healthcare, social work with their family, and access to education, legal protection, and the daily care provided by our residence team, Mateo began to experience something that had rarely been present in their life: They felt they were being heard without being judged.

It was then that they decided to share this important part of their identity with our team: They told us that they felt like a man and wanted to be recognized that way.

Far from being questioned or stigmatized, Mateo found professionals willing to listen and to guide and accompany their process from the perspective of human rights, respect, and protection.

For the team at Covenant House Guatemala, that moment held deep meaning. Not because Mateo talked about their gender identity. But because Mateo, an adolescent who had lived through complex and violent situations, felt safe enough to say out loud something they had kept silent for years. That confidence became the foundation of Mateo's growth process.

While the legal team guaranteed compliance with protection measures and navigated the procedures required by the justice system, our social workers helped Mateo strengthen their family ties and support networks. At the same time, the psychological care team helped Mateo develop tools for emotional management, self-esteem, and building healthy relationships. With this, the results began to become visible.

Today, Mateo is pursuing their studies with excellent academic results. They’re actively involved in youth leadership spaces and they‘ve developed a clear vision about their future.

Their life project is linked to art. Mateo has a great talent for painting. Experimenting with colors and creating portraits, murals, and paintings with their own hands is something they enjoy doing. They dream of using the visual arts as a tool for the emotional support of other children and adolescents who are going through difficult situations and want to help them express emotions, develop creative skills, and strengthen their self-esteem.

Mateo's story shows that comprehensive protection goes far beyond providing shelter. It’s about guaranteeing rights, access to justice, and supporting a young person’s emotional recovery process.

And it’s about creating spaces where every child and adolescent can feel respected, listened to, and valued. 

All people deserve that opportunity because when a child or adolescent finds protection, respect, and specialized support, they can begin to build something that violence should never have taken away from them: the right to decide who they want to be and where they want their life to go.

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This story was written by Maribel Sandoval of Covenant House Guatemala and translated from the original Spanish.

Covenant House has programs in 34 cities across five countries: the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Our children and youth in Latin America are the youngest across our federation.

Your donation is the most immediate and impactful way to support Covenant House’s work in Latin America.