Improve Diet of 20 Guatemalan Families

The women in Chumanzana are always looking for new ideas!    Through this project, they built organic raised gardens in their homes. When asked what they wanted to do next, their answer was to learn more about organic gardening.  With donations from you, our Global Giving donors and a grant from the Atkinson Foundation, Candelaria, the project manager, arranged a series of four three-day workshops at IMAP (Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute) for Maria and Josefa, two of the women in the group.

In February, the two young women and Candelaria attended their first workshop.  They learned how to manage their gardens in small spaces, different forms of planting, how to compost, and prepare the soil. 

Josefa was very impressed by the compost lessons.  She said that all the materials (green and dry leaves and manure) were available in their community and all needed was to add the willingness to work. She was excited to share what she had learned with the other women.  She knew they had a good attitude and were willing to work to improve their lives.  Their gardens would make it possible to have fresh and nutritious food to eat.

Maria was interested in the lesson on preparing the soil.  She had not realized how important it was.  They had always just used whatever soil was available.  Now she could share with the other women how to use things they had in their homes to enrich the soil before they planted.

Maria and Josefa are single women in their twenties with very limited education.  These workshops are teaching them new things.   This knowledge gives them new confidence.  When they go back to Chumanzana, they will share this new knowledge.  It will give them a leadership role in the group!