Empower Guatemalan Families With Food & Nutrition

A month ago, Seeds' Project Manager Armando Astorga drove down a rough mountain road with two of his team members to arrive at Piedrecitas, a village of 58 families -- so remote that it takes village women an hour (each way!) on foot and then in a dangerous local bus, to get to a small market.  

Victoria, a leader in the village, welcomed our team and the meeting began.  As the Seeds team showed the women what they could grow right next to their homes, and talked about how our local team members would be with them every step of the way to coach and assist, the women became more and more excited.  No more long trips to the market for a mere handful of limp greens they can barely afford!  Better nutrition for their children and families -- and themselves!  They were "IN!"

Initially 28 families signed up and now all 58 families in Piedrecitas are starting vegetable gardens.  And while the women may know instinctively how important their garden produce will be for their family, I can share some statistics with you: during a baseline assessment conducted in Piedrecitas for Seeds by the Institute for Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), about 60% of the women tested had a significant levels of anemia and malnutrition, and the same was true for about half of the children under one year of age-- even including acute stages.

Thanks to your support, Seeds for a Future is now training over 400 needy rural families to help themselves build a better future.  The vegetable growing skills participants learn from the Seeds team will last a lifetime, and can be shared with family and friends -- with no more need for charity handouts or government emergency food programs.

I hope you share our feeling of reward in knowing that many children in Piedrecitas and the Chocola region of Guatemala will grow up mentally and physically stronger because of better nutrition from family gardens.  And I hope you will literally SHARE this email with friends and colleagues you think might share your interest in helping rural families fight the twin evils of poverty and malnutrition.

Your gift will help us expand to more villages, and to bring nutrition and clean-kitchen training to all our garden program participants! 100% of your donation goes directly to Seeds' programs, and of course they are tax deductible.  Global Giving's donation system makes it easy to give on a monthly or quarterly basis, too!

Warmest regards and thanks for sharing,

Suzanne de Berge, President