Project Genesis was established by Ricardo Armas in 2012. Ricardo was born and raised just outside of Antigua, Guatemala. We take our namesake from Ricardo's daughter, Génesis (pronounced: HEN-esis), whom he named to reflect the fact that her birth completely changed his life, giving him a new beginning.

          In July of 2012, Armas visited the town of San Andres Itzapa, a rural community about an hour outside of Antigua, with his wife who had inherited property there. Arriving without any intention of anything more than a short visit, Ricardo left with a strong desire to help this community. He saw children without the opportunity to receive an education, and he recognized the long term effects on these families living in the cycle of poverty. He began visiting the community on weekends, taking his daughter with him so that he could teach her from the very beginning the importance of helping others. He gathered the children of the community together in an open field to teach them basic education, play games and give something positive to do as a community. When Ricardo's employer heard about what he was doing on the weekends, she told him he had to stop because the poor would bring bad luck to the company. Rather than quit what he was doing with the children, Ricardo quit his job and began coming to work with the kids every day. He has been running Project Genesis full-time since 2013, with no salary or stipend. We need your help to ensure that the project can continue and Ricardo doesn't have to sacrifice his livelihood to continue to uplift the community of San Andrés Itzapa.