By Angel E. del Valle | Guatemala Country Representative
We hope all Abriendo friends are healthy and keeping safe!
Your support kept us going through this pandemic. Every donation we received in 2020 was put to the best use possible in the region of Chisec, Alta Verapaz. The last quarter of the year was challenging for Q’eqchi’ families in Guatemala. The effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were exacerbated by the impact of the hurricanes Eta and Iota. But resilience is the Abriendo DNA.
Abriendo mentors are gradually returning to organize and work with girls in their communities. With your support, a team of 12 q’eqchi’ mentors are getting trained to support 500 girls (ages 10 to 19) with plans to stay enrolled in school. The goal is to identify and work towards eliminating barriers that might be keeping girls from coming back to school. Mentors will mobilize support from community leaders, parents and teachers to deliver tutoring to girls. Mentors will implement hybrid modalities that include radio outreach, in-person recreational activities for girls, following the COVID-19 preventive measures, and household visits to girls and mothers.
The team of mentors are also working on Casa Productiva! Food sovereignty is a pillar of our work. Mindful of the importance that indigenous worldviews bring to nutrition, and the connections needed with local schools to improve food security through the meals provided to children every day, our free-range chickens are becoming part of the social transformation needed to break the cycle of malnutrition that disproportionately affect indigenous girls. Today, Casa Productiva is home to 1,700 chickens and is producing an average of 650 eggs every day!
Plans are underway to install solar energy, constructing additional barns and building innovative water systems to improve the quality of egg production. Our goal with Casa Productiva is to demonstrate that young indigenous women have the capacity to manage large-scale farms, aligned with their personal plans and worldviews.
Thank you for being part of this journey!
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