Empower Guatemalan Families With Food & Nutrition

300 families currently participate in Seeds for a Future’s program to fight malnutrition. Our team provides information and coaching, the families put in their time and hard work; this combination has resulted in wonderfully successful home gardens. All the families are harvesting nutritious greens for daily use, and many are now adding protein to their diet from home-raised rabbits or poultry.

The first quarter of 2015 has been busy with field days and group cooking sessions to share knowledge about easy ways to use the nutritious greens in daily recipes: 

• Refresco de Chaya is a home-made refreshing drink that uses highly nutritious chaya leaves, making it a great substitute for store-bought soft drinks. 
• Green Tortillas -- the same corn tortillas the women are already skilled at making, with the addition of chopped greens that significantly increase vitamin and mineral content.
• Local favorite soups are enhanced with greens rich in nutrition.
• With chicken or rabbit meat, chopped greens from the garden, sautéed with tomato and onion -- Yum!
• Leaves of the miraculous Moringa make a tea with both nutrition and healing properties
• …and many more.

Field days and cooking sessions will continue in the coming months, but the coming months will also bring the rainy season, and we want to be prepared.  

Last year many gardens were severely damaged by the dramatic tropical rains of the region. If families can protect their gardens from rain damage, the number of months for harvesting richly nutritious greens and vegetables will DOUBLE from SIX to TWELVE!!  Of course the solution needs to be sturdy, attuned to the special climate and plant needs, and above all, affordable.  An innovative idea from an engineer/donor is an arched canopy based on an ancient Chinese design, adapted for building with locally available bamboo. 

Protecting the gardens from heavy rain means there will be extra-nutritious foods on the family table -- year-round. Money will be saved at the market -- year-round.  And the health and development of children and families will be improved -- year-round!

A gift of $100 will cover materials and installation of a garden protector for the neediest families which cannot supply the bamboo or the manual labor needed.  Other families will need support at various levels depending on whether they have bamboo growing on their land, whether there are men who can provide the labor, and so forth.

YOU CAN HAVE A REAL IMPACT ON A FAMILY'S ABILITY TO HAVE NUTRITIOUS GREENS AND VEGETABLES ALL YEAR ROUND!  

JOIN US TO HELP GIVE KIDS A CHANCE AT A STRONG HEALTHY LIFE.   PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY NOW!!