By Monika Goforth | Guatemala Programs Director
Thank you for supporting Mayan Power and Light in 2015-2016, as 11 women plus 2 young boys start their first microbusiness providing affordable clean energy in rural communities.
From November 14, 2015 to November 20, 2015, we held a weeklong solar and business training class for 24 women and girls from Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Cobán, Quiché, Sololá, and Suchitepequez.
Mayan Power and Light 2015 training program was held as a weeklong camp at the CCDA´s agricultural training center at their coffee cooperative center. Women and girls aged 13 to 43 stayed in dorms, shared 3 meals a day and trained in solar and business skills together. By the end of the week, meaningful friendships were formed.
The women and girls, identified by CCDA Agricultural Technics, come from isolated farming communities in remote regions of Guatemala. In these communities, few have been lucky enough to graduate primary school, with even fewer passing high school. Their communities rely on small-scale agriculture and day-labor on nearby fincas. With little access to education, financial services and legal assistance, women and girls are the poorest of the poor in these marginalized rural communities.
For most participants, MPL is the first time they will earn their own income.
To start off the virtuous cycle of a sustainable economy, we educated women and girls from these communities to provide the social service of affordable and accessible clean energy while empowering women and girls with their first try at a microbusiness. In communities where income earning opportunities are few and the demand for lighting is high, Mayan Power and Light creates a system where beneficiaries are serving beneficiaries in a self-sustaining program.
Mayan Power and Light provides un-electrified communities with access to affordable solar lighting, while supporting the local economy and women´s economic participation.
Read our Special Year-End Report for the whole story on our amazing Mayan Women's Solar Business Camp and the impacts we've made as rural girls and women earn their own income while serving community need for solar energy.
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