Guatemala, unlike its neighbour Mexico, is small for Chevening with a total alumni community of less than 50 people. However, size does not determine passion or action.
Since 2016, the British Embassy in Guatemala City have been working with alumni to establish a formal Chevening Alumni Association. With an enthusiastic Chevening Officer encouraging participation and a few dynamic alumni, the new venture took off earlier this month. In the first week of September, the embassy organised a breakfast meeting for alumni from a wide range of sectors. Guatemalan alumni are now exceptional lawyers, business people in the energy and environment sector, well-known journalists, and more.
The meeting was an opportunity for the alumni to learn more about each other and what they are currently doing, as well as share memories of their time in the UK. The gathering inspired commitment to the new association, which is now going to meet monthly to explore areas that they can collaborate on and engage in as part of their roles as Chevening Alumni. They will also explore how to legally establish the association in the future.
Barbara Diaz, Prosperity and Chevening Officer said: ‘I got to talk to one of our active alumni who studied in the London School of Economics. I was really happy to see that his eagerness and enthusiasm is as strong as our new Chevening Scholars. I could sense that the Chevening experience is a never ending journey.’
The embassy now has plans to develop a group in Honduras, a country with an alumni community of less than 20.
Brazilian alumni in Sao Paolo launched the Chevening Legal and Human Rights Network on 2 May 2016. The network is the vision of alumnus Eduardo Paranhos, Senior Legal Director of HP, who studied Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) through a Chevening Scholarship 15 years ago. It aims to bring together […]
The Chevening Alumni Association of Ghana was officially launched on 10 February 2016. Sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth through the Chevening Alumni Programme Fund (CAPF) and hosted by the British High Commissioner to Ghana, HE Jon Benjamin, the association launch sought to bring together alumni of the Chevening programme since its inception in 1983, and to […]
Georgian Chevening Alumni met at a castle retreat in October 2015 outside Tbilisi to celebrate 20 years of the Chevening scheme in Georgia. Hosted by Alexandra Hall Hall, the UK ambassador, the gathering also marked 20 years of the UK Embassy being in Georgia. Two former UK ambassadors joined the group, including Stephen Nash who […]