I visited two communities today, El Carmen and Chi Armira, that both work with APROSADSE's Agroecology Program. They were both groups that had received microcredit from APROSADSE for the first time.

The first group is based in the small community of El Carmen in the village Varituc. There are 30 families that live in this community. The community is about 20 minutes by car from APROSADSE's office in San Martín Jilotepéque, the nearest town, making it quite isolated. Varituc has a reputation for migration. A lot of its men have migrated to the United States in search of better opportunities for their families. This is a profound loss as not only does this break up families, but the remaining family usually has a debt to pay, which are the fees for the husband to leave.

We met a group of 13 women who were participating in APROSADSE's programs. Four of them received microcredit for a cow-raising project. Patrociña was the one who spoke the most and at one point said, "Please excuse my fellow women peers, who are too shy to talk today."

Patrociña has a very optimistic personality. You wouldn't think that she was missing her husband. He left ten months ago, leaving her behind with their five children to find more opportunities to sustain his family from the United States. Patrociña is one of the two women who go to APROSADSE to attend the health training workshops. They come back to share what they learn with the rest of the group. Patrociña says she has benefited from the cow-raising project since it has helped pay for her children's education and has provided milk for them to drink.

In the next community of Chi Armira, we visited a group income-generating project that is raising 600 egg-laying hens. Chi Armira is much closer to San Martín Jilotepéque and so people have access to the local market. This group of four members has been working with this project for a while, initially another organization was supporting them and there were 13 people in the group. But most women left after the first year because their husbands didn't allow them to work with the group because it required too much of their time. Who would cook them dinner?

The President of this group has been on her own with her two children for ten years since her husband left for the United States. She mentions how her husband wouldn't like to see her working with a group but she likes it, so she's doing it anyway. They have had challenges with this project because the cost of the chicken feed is very high right now. They're hoping to sell the hens in three or four months to earn income, which they will reinvest in the project.

As we walked towards the chicken coop I saw a mother hen with lots of chicks everywhere running around. I tried to pick one of them up to check how they were doing but they ran so fast. The mother hen was did a good job protecting them and it became quite a challenge. But when the coast was clear I caught one! They were very healthy. One of the group members said I could take two of them with me, but I told her it might be hard to take chicks with me on the plane.

Clearly the APROSADSE’s Agroecology Program offers communities an opportunity to enhance community’s nutrition, develop agroecology skills and improve income for their families.

Photo credit: Marlon Garcia

Labels: Agroecology, APROSADSE, Guatemala

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