Imagine walking into a class on the first day of school and the teacher not showing up.

More than six months into 2017, many countries use the halfway mark to compare statistics to last year, including those relating to human rights.

In light of the findings made by the Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), the opportunity is ripe to reform the procedures of Guatemala’s justice system.

The United Nations has established August 9 as the day of Indigenous awareness.

El Salvador is one of the countries with the most crowded prisons in the world, and neither the state nor society wants to invest in rehabilitation for gang members.

A festival that is held every year in Medellín called the Fair of Flowers has a parade of silleteros, local flower growers who create floral displays that explode in color.

—Researched and written by Sarah Hewitt— “With the gradual loss of power of… the Catholic church and the military, social changes have accelerated and legislation has adapted to the reality in which we live, not one we imagine…”

–Researched and written by Amy Brown— A teacher strike that lasted over 37 days has ended all over Colombia. While teachers and eight million students have since returned to school for the remainder of the year, there has been an ongoing debate on how far to push the academic calendar to make up the lost

—Researched and written by Mario Rullo— From its origins as a colony of perhaps the world’s most catholic nation to its decade of dictatorship headed by the far right Pinochet, Chile has been guided by a highly traditional set of values. While the nation’s current head of state, Michelle Bachelet, is a woman, her election

—Researched and written by Elizabeth Wentross— In December of 1997, three trucks were set on fire by a group of unknown suspects in the La Araucanía region of central Chile. This incident is recognized as the beginning of the latest chapter of the Mapuche conflict.