Food Security Costa Rica Project #56450

Feed Hungry Families in San Ramon, Costa Rica

by The Community Action Alliance

Project Report | Apr 17, 2023
Food and Women's Empowerment Journey

By MaryLou Hofmann | CAA Board of Directors

The journey out of poverty to self-reliance is not an easy one for anyone, but it is particularly challenging for single and/or displaced women and their families. Community Action Alliance (CAA) and Arbol de Esperanza (Tree of Hope) are excited to be working together to help the journey to a better quality of life become easier for at-risk women and their families .

Árbol de Esperanza is a non-profit organization in San Ramón that offers a structured empowerment program to help local women move from poverty to autonomy and self-sufficiency. During the six-month program, participants receive mental health support; general health, hygiene and wellness education; take educational classes in life skills, human rights, and entrepreneurship; and receive job training and internship placement. The goal of the program is to provide the tools and education the women need to change the trajectory of their lives.

Food insecurity is a common problem for many families in the local area. And for those women working hard to move toward independence and self-sufficiency, it can be just one more challenge to overcome. When a woman and/or her family does not have enough food to eat or to stay healthy, it is difficult to make progress in any of the other areas of challenge as well. As a result of the generosity of CAA members and friends, CAA is now able to provide a significant monthly financial contribution to Arbol to help address food insecurity issues for participants in need. Arbol uses the funding at a local grocery store to obtain needed food items to be used in a variety of situations: to provide crisis food support for women who have suddenly become single heads of household or have had to escape domestic violence situations, to support the nutritional needs of women or their children who have health issues or need to be on a restrictive diet, or for those families who just do not have enough to eat on a regular basis. CAA’s funding for food support is making a significant difference in the lives and the empowerment journey of these committed and forward-focused women.

Both Arbol de Esperanza and their food support recipients have expressed their gratitude for our assistance.

Amanda Ready, LMHC, LPC, founder and president of Arbol de Esperanza:

"CAA's support has truly been life changing for women in our programs who are in crisis. Without CAA's support, we would not be able to meet the demands of all the women that we serve. Having this food support helps provide women with an additional layer of support to them and their families while women are participating in our empowering programs. Having food support allows women the ability to focus on empowering themselves to reach their personal goals of becoming educated, empowered and self-sufficient."

Food support recipient T:

“I want to thank Árbol de Esperanza and CAA, because when I had economic difficulties, they supported me with food and personal hygiene items to improve my nutritional condition and I am very grateful for that. Thanks for your support.”

Food support recipient B:

“I want to thank you for the help provided in times of difficulty, because thanks to the donation of food at a critical time, we were able to cover one of the basic needs we had. Thank you very much!”

And we at CAA express our gratitude and thanks to you, our members and friends, whose generosity of spirit and commitment are helping us make a difference for these women and their families.

Permalink

Dec 19, 2022
Tamale Christmas

By Mary Lou Hofmann | CAA Board Member

In Costa Rica and other Latin American countries, one of the most time-honored and much-loved holiday traditions is Christmas tamales. For generations, Costa Rican (Tico) and Nicaraguan (Nica) families have marked the holiday season by preparing tamales, a dish of seasoned meat rolled in cornmeal dough and wrapped in banana leaves, to share as gifts for family and friends. For families, struggling with the realities of poverty or food insecurity, however, being able to participate in this special holiday ritual that signifies family, celebration, and community is difficult, to say the least.

This year, as in past years, Community Action Alliance (CAA) stepped in to help. Partnering with Faithful Servant Mission, a local organization that focuses on the needs of families that reside in a particularly impoverished section of the city, CAA helped to bring “Tamale Christmas” to those who were not able to do it for themselves.

On Monday, December 5, CAA volunteers visited several stores and markets to purchase the various ingredients needed for the tamales. Though many families have their own family recipe often handed down from generations, the basic ingredients for the tamales are seasoned masa — a cooked cornmeal similar to polenta — sweet pepper, carrot, rice, onion, potato, green beans, and a meat, typically chicken or pork. All of these ingredients are tied up with string in little banana leaf packets and given in pairs. Since the recipient families for these special gifts were both Tico and Nica, and each culture’s tamale is a little bit different, CAA purchased ingredients to be able to make both types of tamales.

On Tuesday, December 6, volunteers from CAA and the Mission met at the Mission’s activity hall for a day of tamale making. Banana leaves were washed and cut, masa was made, vegetables and meat were chopped, cooked and prepared and finally, the tamales were produced in an efficient assembly-line fashion. The result of the day’s activity was close to 800 tamales to be shared with designated families in the local neighborhoods, the local orphanage, and a local organization that supports the needs of those with cancer.

While the CAA and Mission volunteers provided the labor for this special holiday activity, it is the generosity of CAA donor members and friends that provided the funding for this wonderful holiday experience. Not only is it a meaningful experience of the season for those who receive the tamales, but also for us who have had the privilege and honor to make these special gifts happen for our neighbors in our adopted country. We thank you for your generous spirit and commitment.

Our warmest wishes for a peaceful and joyful holiday season to you and yours!

Cooking the masa

Cutting yards and yards of string!

Multi-generational assembly line!

Many hands make light work!

Ready to be wrapped!

Delicious success - almost 800 tamales!!

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.