Economic empowerment of 51 families in Medellin

Our gardeners from Comuna 8 came into the project in April 2018 with the goals of increasing dignified economic opportunities and improved peaceful coexistence in the neighborhood. In an exciting collaboration, we were able to train 30 gardeners at El Cerro de Los Valores during a 6-month SENA Emprende Rural horticulture course, which wrapped up in November. During this training, the Medellin fine-dining restaurant, Carmen, partnered with the project and purchased organic produce from the gardeners and other established gardens such as the Corporación Jardin Ecológico (CJE) in Llanaditas. In August, Carmen restaurant held its “Parche Rolo” charity dinner and raised funds which were invested in purchasing resources for the gardeners of the CJE group and those from the SENA course.

While some of our original gardeners continue to work with CJE and Carmen, others have formed a new group called 8Huertas and participate in Mercados Colaborativos together. 8Huertas is a social learning group with redefined values, which focus on providing local access to fresh and affordable produce and promoting healthy diets, urban farming knowledge, and supporting their families through participation in small markets.

With this dynamic group of gardeners trained and the donated materials distributed, Fundación E2E officially brought its Huertas Urbanas project and related activities to an end in December. The gardeners expressed gratitude for the support and opportunities they have had with SENA and E2E and we would like to thank all of the project’s participants for their dedication and hard work. We wish 8Huertas and all of our gardeners the very best going forward and look forward to seeing what they achieve together!