Additional projects Guatemala

Organic Home Gardening

The women of Amigas del Sol have installed and maintain 105 organic home gardens throughout the 3 regions. With support from an Irish Foundation, Amigas del Sol has provided each home gardener with a small amount of starter seeds and plants. Most women are growing a variety of beans, radishes, squash, cucumbers, a number of wild edible greens and medicinal plants. In the garden workshops, our instructors emphasize the importance of using local seeds and plants that are adapted for the particular climate and are seed producing. Ultimately this eliminates the dependence on large seed companies that sell inferior genetically modified seeds that are reliant on chemicals for high yields.

As part of the organic home gardening project, the women meet monthly for workshops on a range of related topics. The women learn how to make organic fertilizers and pesticides using papaya, sugar cane, garlic, chile and other local plants which help produce healthier, chemical free fruits and vegetables. The women are also gaining experience with natural medicines and fabricating their own tinctures and salves. Now, instead of spending money at the pharmacy, women are seeing positive results with natural alternatives that they are growing in their gardens and sharing with their families and neighbors.

Water Catchment Tanks

In the region of Costa Sur, the land was formerly occupied by cotton plantations, which left the area's precious groundwater seriously contaminated with heavy chemicals. As a solution to limited water resources and contamination, Amigas del Sol is constructing a total of fifty-seven, 4,000-liter cement water catchment tanks, in three communities, for rainwater collection.

Each tank is positioned at the corner of the house where rainwater, falling from the roof is collected and channeled through gutters to the tank. These tanks provide potable water for each household, which helps families in times of drought. The water, which is significantly cleaner than water pumped from their wells, is being primarily used for drinking, washing clothes and dishes and watering the home gardens.

Leadership Program

In January of 2003, CASEP, as part of a regional initiative, implemented a women's leadership program. Through this program, CASEP offers scholarships to women within the solar oven program to further their education and participate in either formal or informal course work. The goal of the educational scholarships is to contribute to the formation of women as community leaders.

In addition, the Leadership Program gives women the opportunity to attend workshops in each of the participating communities. In March, a new program Siemprevivas (Always Alive), was incorporated into each of the Amigas del Sol groups. This program includes a workbook and tape series created specifically for rural women to focus on self-esteem, gender equality, reproductive health, participatory citizenship and other women's empowerment and development issues.