On June 3, Volcan de Fuego erupted in Guatemala, spewing volcanic ash and hot gas over the surrounding area, and creating violent and fast-moving mudflows.

About 18 kilometres away where he can see the volcano from his office window, Jean (international sales) said it was getting warmer and dustier.

The next day, Jean said the volcano was still expelling some lava, but luckily, the flow went to the opposite side, and not near his office. He said it was very dusty, and people had to wear white masks and sunglasses.

Sporadically for several days Fuego spread volcanic ash over a radius of approximately 20 km. Flows of mud and deep, hot ash buried roads and crops, and destroyed entire communities. At least 100 people were killed in one of the deadliest eruptions since 1929.

Guatemala — a Central American country south of Mexico and located in the Tropics — has more than 30 volcanoes. Active volcanoes include Fuego (which means Fire), Pacaya and Santiaguito. Along with volcanoes, Guatemala is home to the Quetzal bird, ancient Mayan sites, and an office that sells Velsoft products, where Jean, Pablo (account manager) and Alex (account manager) work.

So on this International Day of the Tropics, we thought we’d tell everyone about how Velsoft got established in Guatemala and a bit about the country.

The idea originated after Jean sold his previous business. “My wife Leceta, daughter Kahleah and son Alex were spending a lot of time in Antigua at the time with their ‘OUR Guatemala: Travel with Purpose’ project. I wanted to spend more time with my family and mentioned to Jim (CEO) that there had to be people wanting the same content in other languages.”

Jean says at the same time, Jim was looking to expand the Velsoft market. Jean began selling Velsoft products from the colonial city of Antigua (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in 2015, including some courseware, eLearning and LMS content in Spanish. The Guatemala office services customers in English, Spanish and French.

Jean says his family has strong connections to Guatemala, with two of his three children born there. He also notes that humanitarian work is important to them, and being located in the Central American country allows them the opportunity to work side-by-side with Guatemalans making a difference in their country, through business and volunteer projects.

ABOUT THE TROPICS

Although located in the Tropics — the area between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn — Jean says the climate in Guatemala is not universally tropical. “The country’s mountains alter the weather. While parts of Guatemala have a climate typical of a tropical country, other areas actually see temperatures below freezing.”

According to the United Nations, which declared June 29 as the International Day of the Tropics in 2016: “The Tropics account for 40 per cent of the world’s total surface area and are host to approximately 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity. The tropical region faces a number of challenges such as climate change, deforestation, logging, urbanization and demographic changes.”

The international Day of the Tropics celebrates the diversity of the Tropics and raises awareness of the specific challenges faced by tropical areas, how this affects the rest of the world, and the importance of tropical countries in achieving worldwide sustainable development goals.

What’s in the Pipeline:

  • Ben is finishing up some external projects and starting some new ones.
  • Carol is editing new courses and writing blogs.
  • Jan is working on CA releases and QAing eLearning.
  • Sydney is working on custom projects and eLearning courses.

Tech Topics:

  • Tutorial videos for the Learning Path, the Resource Centre and the User Directory are now available.
  • A new design for my.velsoft.com went live this week.
  • Gameo interactions are being worked on.

Course Count:

Courses released this month:

Here is the official count of courses for both courseware and eLearning, broken down by Computer and SoftSkills.

Computer SoftSkills Total Courses
Courseware 281 170 451
eLearning 910 167 1077

 

Guatemala facts

  • Guatemala is bordered by Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize.
  • With an estimated population of around 17.25 million, it is the most populous country in Central America.
  • Guatemala’s official language is Spanish, spoken by 93 per cent of the population. Twenty-one Mayan languages are also spoken.
  • The capital of Guatemala has moved several times — once due to volcanic mudflows in 1541 and once because of earthquakes in 1773.
  • A popular custom is to eat paches (a kind of tamale made from potatoes) on Thursdays.
  • Erick Barrondo won the only Olympic medal for Guatemala to date — a silver in race walking at the 2012 Summer Games.
  • The name Guatemala originates from a word meaning ‘place of many trees.’
  • The first chocolate bar was invented by the Mayans in Guatemala.
  • Guatemala is the birthplace of blue denim.
  • The currency of Guatemala — Guatemalan Quetzal — is named after the Quetzal bird. In ancient Mayan times, the feathers of this bird were used as currency.
  • The country is the world’s leading producer of Jade.
  • In terms of area, Guatemala is only slightly larger than the state of Tennessee in the USA.