Hoops Sagrado is a Washington, D.C.-based youth leadership and development nonprofit. It creates connections between from the D.C. area and their Mayan indigenous peers in the highlands of Guatemala. Each summer, they travel to Guatemala to learn another language and culture, teach their peers basketball skills, develop their sense of self, and gain a new perspective on life. Using the game of basketball as the common thread, the D.C. youth volunteers and their Guatemalan counterparts share their love of the game. At the same time, the D.C. youth learn how to communicate with, understand, and appreciate another way of life, which while different, shares many of the same challenges they face at home—discrimination, poverty, broken homes, lack of opportunities & social marginalization