Report From The Field

Our Goal Is Self-Managed Development.
Every Day, Month & Year We Take Steps To Reach Our Goal.

Spotlight

Who: Maria Raymundo 
What: Maria is a mother, grandmother and head of the household.  Her husband went to the United States in January in order to earn money for the family.  Both Maria and her husband were part of the Ixil community that went into hiding during the civil war and lived in the mountains for 8 years in order  to survive. Maria still has a scar on her scalp caused by a grenade, thrown at her when she was 19. Currently, Maria manages all the household responsibilities including raising chickens, growing worms to feed the chickens and tending her family garden.  She's a role model for her children and granddaughter who have watched as Maria incorporates the knowledge she's acquired through participating in our food sovereignty project toward the financial and physical health of her family. 
Where: Chel, Guatemala 
When:  This past April, we watched as Maria's daughters pointed out that one of their chickens was ill. Together they administered organic effective microorganisms (EMs) to the chicken and by the next day the chicken was cured and eating again.
Why:  Maria is our featured participant because her household food sovereignty project has been so successful and she has accomplished the following:

• 25 baby chickens
• 29 medium and big chickens
• 5-6 eggs are layed every day
• The garden is flourishing with Chard, cabbage, kulish, small onion, chili, pumpkin, chaya, celery, tomatoe, cassava, squash (guisquil) in addition to 4 different medicinal herb plants. 
• 3 wooden boxes for worm composting
• 7 containers of fly larvae

Below are photographs of Maria's family and the work she has accomplished.

Accomplishments:

Our team and participants take concrete steps everyday to reach their goals.

Thank You

Without the financial help of all our supporters; women would not be able to feed eggs and fresh vegetables to their families, the Chajulense coffee farmers would not have been able to produce 22 containers of coffee and we would be nowhere near our self-managed development goal of having the women from Chel become the promoters that bring the food sovereignty project to neighboring communities. We plan for that next step to occur in 2018 and at that time, The Coffee Trust will move on to support another community in Guatemala. Our work isn't done in Chel and we need your help. Your tax deductible donation makes a difference, really.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION.

Share:

The great thing about the modern world and the internet is that it connects us to the lives of people like Maria Raymundo and her family. Please let your family and friends know that you are supporting the work that The Coffee Trust is doing. Feel free to share this report card as well.