Sheba Velasco honored with 2018 President’s Volunteer Service Award in Washington D.C.

September 21, 2018 – Washington, DC: America has a long and proud tradition of volunteer service.  The President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) program is a great way to honor this American tradition and thank those who, by demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

Sheba Velasco, International Ambassador for Mayan Culture and Tourism received the President’s Volunteer Service Award and Gold Medal for her 3 decades+ service promoting mayan culture around the world. Read more about the Mayan weaver, interpreter and tourism ambassador:

I learned to weave from my grandmother when I was about 7 years old. Weaving and Mayan culture was very important to my grandmother, but I never thought that what I was about to learn would take me thousands of miles from my village.

At the age of 9 I was a guide in the village, taking tourists around the village and selling our weaving.  Two years later I traveled for the first time to the big city of Antigua, Guatemala, about 10 hours from my village. This was a very special day for me. I had never seen so many tourists in my life, and I sold all of the weaving I brought with me.

Standing by the park in central Antigua, I noticed many tourists taking pictures of me, so I told them “$1 a picture!”.  They told me “no problem”, and some of these tourists made postcards of my pictures. At that time, in 1980, Mayan men made about a $1 a day, and I was making about $100 a day. I never went to school, so I had to tell the tourists how much I was charging by using my fingers. To my grandmother, school meant learning how to weave and about responsibility.

At the age of 14, I was invited to come to the United States. I thought to myself: “Wow, so many tourists in the United States, I should have more weaving with me to sell.” Everybody welcomed me, there so much of everything, and I was amazed and so happy. I learned how to write and read using children’s books and watching Sesame Street.

I started to travel around the United States visiting schools, universities and museums to give presentations and lectures about the Mayans. Some of the local news people came and asked me questions. They were amazed, and helped to publish my story, allowing me to travel more. I moved from Minnesota to New York, where I was invited by the Smithsonian Museum, an institution where I spent 13 years. I worked as a guide taking tourists around the galleries at the museum, presenting Mayan exhibitions, and as a weaver. From there, I was invited to visit museums around Europe, and I stayed for some time in Italy also learning ther language.

In 2016 I was invited to Washington, D.C. to receive an award for presenting Mayan culture and educating children across the country. For more than three decades I have been travelling around the world visiting other cultures as a Guatemalan ambassador of peace and tourism. It is very important to value, respect and learn about other cultures, as each country, big or small, is important. I learned from my grandmother how to share and welcome other people, and to give more than receive. It is my dream to gather all of the colorful cultures around the world.

For more information about the President’s Volunteer Service Award program, please contact our coordinators Akash Patel and Hilda Xavier at 405-474-3310 or info@happyworldfoundation.us