Empower Guatemalan Families With Food & Nutrition

Greetings and welcome to our first report for 2016.

The fight against malnutrition via family gardens is going well and participating families are all able to harvest nutritious greens and other nutritious vegetables for their meals.

A very important factor in the success of a home garden is the quality of the soil.  Our team has worked diligently with each family to ensure that their soil beds are well-prepared, so the the nutritious food plants will be “happy” -- growing and producing well.  Good soil for growing is full of nutrients, with a loose texture that fosters root development, and compost is the key!

Each participating family is encouraged to create a composting spot, and one of the simplest ways to do this is by using old tires.  A family can have as many as they have space for, and since the amount of compost in each tire is modest, it’s easy for any family member to mix and rotate the contents to ensure thorough decomposition.

What could be better?!  Putting discarded tires to use means fewer in the environment.  In addition, most rural areas in Guatemala have limited means of dealing with household wastes, and garbage is often burned.  Composting kitchen and garden scraps reduces this type of contamination.  Old tires + kitchen scraps and other organic waste = a quick route to rich compost that means better garden results, and a healthier environment!  And better garden results not only mean more and more nutritious food, the satisfaction and pride families feel from a successful and productive garden make them more likely to continue growing their own healthy food.

We appreciate your support for this important effort to combat the tragedy of malnutrition.  A contribution of any amount will help us reach needy families with the training and support they need to plant and maintain family home gardens that feature high-nutrition greens and vegetables.  The skills learned through our training will last a lifetime and will be shared throughout the community, as our families help others learn how to do the same. The family gardens program continues to produce wonderful results in fighting malnutrition and we thank you deeply for your caring and for your support.