Butter Box is officially returning to the Digital Mayan Languages Fair 2026 in Chiapas, Mexico, one of the most exciting digital inclusion events for indigenous communities in Latin America, organized by Global Voices. This year we are partnering with The Engine Room, made possible through the support of the OTF User Experience and Discovery Lab, which will allow us to run deeper research and hands-on deployments, making this our most impactful visit yet. Having participated twice before, we know firsthand how extraordinary the Mayan community is, resilient, resourceful, and fighting to build a digital future on their own terms.

This time, we are coming ready. We will be officially deploying the brand-new version of Butter Box, an offline ecosystem of tools and services running on a portable mini computer that works wherever people are, no internet required. We will reconnect with communities that already received a Butter Box to update their systems and hear how they've been using it, and we will deploy fresh kits among new participants as part of a usability study with The Engine Room to uncover new use cases and needs. We can't wait to get to Chiapas!

Overall key achievements included:

• User Interface & Localization: A new portal UI was implemented for easier customization, better privacy control, and documentation, and content packs were localized for the regional context.
• Network & Connectivity: Support for multiple boxes on shared networks with automatic DNS resolution was added, alongside successful integration of encrypted delay-tolerant messaging services (DeltaChat+MadMail).
• System Stability: A new Debian foundation improved stability for simultaneous users and an updated database option improved the message board scalability and performance.
• Maintenance & Security: New methods for offline updates and administrative management were established, and a comprehensive tamper resistance guide was developed to protect the ecosystem.
• Research & Collaboration: Testing confirmed the viability of long-range wireless networks, while local partners provided ongoing feedback and testing support.

In summary, this rapid four-month sprint supported a major step forward for the capabilities, security, and relevance of the ButterBox project for the Eastern European context and threat model.

Read the full report

Previously, the interface was a static site built with Jekyll, which offered no customisation options and was ill-suited for the portal’s dynamic requirements. It has now been replaced with a Python Flask application, a lightweight framework that allows developers to include only the necessary libraries, such as for localisation, minimising the application’s footprint.

Read the full post on the SR2 blog

Read the full post on the SR2 blog