Tag Archives: Honduras

VA Tech Students Transformed by Trip to Honduras

Posted on by
0

Following a recent Heifer Study Tour to Honduras, Virginia Tech students were given two assignments. First, sum up the experience in just one word:

Honduras in One Word

Second, choose one photograph from the trip and explain why you chose it and which of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development it embodies. Over the course of this week, we’ll share these images and words to give you a look at how much of an impact seeing Heifer’s work in the field can have. Here is the first installment:

Food Security

S. Abbott, Human Nutrition, Foods & Exercise; VA Tech: Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to the country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds. –Thomas Jefferson

This photograph was taken on the last day we worked in the Copantle community in Honduras. I like the way it captures Angelina and Michelle working alongside each other in Angelina’s garden. This image speaks to the Heifer Cornerstone, Sustainability & Self-Reliance. In the classes I have taken for the Civic Agriculture and Food Systems minor at Virginia Tech, we have had a lot of discussions about how “sustainable” agriculture should be defined, about the threefold social, ecological and economic components. Sustainable agriculture enables citizens to meet present-day needs without degrading the resources left for future generations. The agroecological principles we saw being put to use in Angelina’s garden and fields are sustainability and ecological stewardship in action. After our first day of work in Copantle, Angelina gave us a tour of her land and it was incredible to see the principles of ecological agriculture I have learned about being used in this Honduran community. The steep slopes that overlook Angelina’s community are planted with pineapple, banana, plantain, coffee bushes. The biodiversity here is intentional and incredible to see. Every plant chosen is there for a reason, which Angelina shared with us: the pineapple, for instance, provides natural terracing on the slope. This photo also embodies Food Security/Food Sovereignty, a core value of the Civic Agriculture and Food Systems minor. Food security essentially means knowing where your next meal is coming from. Food sovereignty refers to having access to food that is healthy and culturally appropriate, and that is produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways. A community with food sovereignty also has the ability to define their own food system. From what I saw in Copantle and heard from Angelina about her vision for continuing to build upon the resources that they have, I would say that this community is definitely on the right track for achieving food sovereignty. Heifer International’s mission is “to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth.” Seeing the civic agriculture in the Copantle community, thanks in no small part to Angelina’s tireless efforts, has allowed me to understand why “caring for the Earth” is a vital part of Heifer’s mission statement. Hunger and poverty cannot be eliminated if we do not take care of the Earth. Healthy communities are built upon healthy soils.

 

A Just Life for Honduran Coffee Farmers

Posted on by
0

Heifer International Senior Grant Writer Catherine Scott recently spent time in Honduras visiting some of our projects. Below, Catherine shares with us a little about her visit.


“I wanted to come back to work with people in my own community” – Jonan Daniel, agricultural advisor.
Jonan Daniel.
Jonan Daniel is a young, enthusiastic, and highly trained agricultural advisor whose role is to visit 60 RAOS Coffee Cooperative member families per month. As part of the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters partnership aimed at “Improving the Sustainable Production and Food Systems of Small-Scale Organic Coffee Farming Families in Honduras,” Daniel visits these families to ensure they are meeting not only their own family food security needs, but also to ensure they are receiving the necessary training in organic coffee production to meet the RAOS coffee co-op standards.

Since 2002, Heifer has had a valued corporate partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). Most recently, GMCR has partnered with Heifer International to provide income diversification for small holder family farmers in the coffee production supply chain in Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Nicaragua. After the coffee harvest, farmers have a hard time making ends meet. This period, from April to September, is called the “thin months” – when it becomes necessary to find another source of income. This is where Heifer comes in. We are working with families who supply coffee to GMCR to help the farmers through the thin months. By providing livestock, seeds, training and equipment, the farmers are able to better sustain their families and produce an income throughout the year.

Harvested coffee beans.
GMCR works with the RAOS co-op in Honduras. RAOS’ vision is to produce healthy, ecologically sustainable food – but also to gain a “just life” for its members. They want to be able to share the fruits of their labor amongst member families and the wider community. Their work is conducted in harmony with nature, while working towards economic, social, physical, and spiritual health.

The co-op started with just 16 men and 4 women. Over the past few years, the co-op has grown to include 123 families (200 individuals); they receive 10-20 applications for membership per week! Accountability was also readily apparent, with an elected co-op board that includes a specific Gender Committee to ensure the inclusion of women.

Preparing the coffee for shipment.
Why does RAOS exist? Because its producers know that there can be strength in numbers. Without the co-op working to secure fair trade pricing, the coffee producers and ‘’cutters’’ (those who harvest the beans) are at the mercy of the buyers. An average 100 lb bag of beans fetches a price of $6/bag. A fair trade bag? That garners the producer $20/bag. In a country where many people exist on less than $2/day, getting fair trade prices makes a huge difference in a family’s income.

During the project site visit, several Heifer staff members tried their hand at harvesting the beans. Within a 30 minute period, we harvested a paltry sum. Many jokes ensued over how many Americans it takes to harvest a single coffee plant! Our host, and one of the original members of RAOS, teased us that he had a quota and if we didn’t meet it, we couldn’t leave the farm! In contrast to our untrained hands, a skilled cutter can harvest 250 lbs of coffee per day. It is back-breaking work.

RAOS co-op president with eggs from
his Heifer chickens.
When we asked Daniel why he had returned when so many young adults leave the rural areas, he replied simply that he grew up in this area harvesting coffee. Now, by working with Green Mountain Coffee Roaster and Heifer International he has the opportunity and the training to Pass on the Gift to members of his own community. Through this partnership, families in the RAOS co-op (and others in Honduras) have a better chance at moving beyond subsistence and creating strong economic futures for their children.

The Joy of a Passing on the Gift Recipient

Posted on by
7

A few weeks ago, I shared a story of a Passing on the Gift® celebration held by the group Nueva Amanecer (New Dawn) in Tontolo, Honduras, and included some video of the second of two POG ceremonies.

I want to share one more video of the celebration in Tontolo, this time of the first POG ceremony. The woman on the left is receiving 20 chickens and a rooster from the woman in the middle. What really impacted me about this moment is that you can see the impact of Passing on the Gift on the recipient’s face. She can hardly believe that this moment has finally arrived, and she is overcome with emotion.

As mentioned in the previous post, the Nueva Amanecer group is part of “Sustainable Food Systems in Copan and Lempira,” a Heifer umbrella project that involves 2,058 families in 43 communities in western Honduras. The project is one of the three projects that you can help fund through the Honduras umbrella project match. Any gift you give will be doubled by an anonymous donor and will help thousands of families improve their nutrition and income!

Nueva Luz: Working Together in Honduras

Posted on by
6



Women from the microenterprise Nueva Luz y Vida prepare plantain chips in Berlin, Honduras.

After my experience on the Study Tour, I spent a few more days visiting projects in Honduras with Jose Alfredo Coto, the national project coordinator for Heifer Honduras. On my last day in the country, Jose Alfredo drove us up a dirt road that twisted up and around a mountain in the Department of Copan. After more than an hour of driving, we arrived in the community of Berlin, which rests on the top of the mountain.

The two of us joined six of the 12 women who make up the Nueva Luz y Vida (New Light and Life) microenterprise in a small building divided into two rooms. The group makes tajadas de platano, or plantain chips, and sells them in the communities on the mountainside as a part of the Heifer project “Strengthening Rural Microenterprises in Honduras.”

As soon as we sat down to have a conversation the women became animated, making it clear that the group is closely knit as the small room quickly filled with laughter.

“It’s better to work in a group,” said new member Maria Ester Robles with her daughter, Daniela, clinging to her side. “It’s more fun and worth (the effort).” The rest of the Nueva Luz members agreed that working as a group not only made sense economically but was personally rewarding as well.

Nueva Luz y Vida formed about five years ago to find a way to supplement their families’ incomes and improve their livelihoods. The group originally though about focusing their microenterprise on pastries and bread, they quickly realized that those kinds of businesses are expensive to begin.

The members eventually decided to make plantain chips because the start-up costs are cheaper and nine of the members had plantain trees. Zoila Alvarado, now the group’s president, taught the rest of the group members how to make the chips. Years later, they have perfected and streamlined the process.

“We try to figure out everyone’s skills (and use them),” said Zoila. “Who is good at cooking? Who is good at business?”

The cooking takes place in the back room of the small building where we sat down to chat. With each member (wo)manning her own station, the plantains are sliced and cooked in oil, then seasonings (chile limon or BBQ) and salt are added before the chips are placed in a plastic bag. (Note: They are delicious.)

As you can see in the video, space quickly becomes an issue when the women are cooking. To remedy that, a new, more spacious home for the small business has been newly constructed using Heifer funds, and the group will be moving in soon.

Heifer Honduras is also providing technical support to the microenterprise. Even though some of the women have plantain trees, the group sometimes goes through as many as 100 plantains a day, so finding enough raw material for the chips can be difficult. This is the first challenge Nueva Luz and Heifer Honduras are trying to meet, and the first step has been finding a small plot of land (one manzana, or about 1.7 acres) that the women share for growing plantains.

The second challenge is connecting to a larger market. Heifer Honduras and Nueva Luz are working together to assess the local market, and Nueva Luz members are receiving training on branding, barcodes, sanitation standards, legal registration, and organization and administration to prepare the group for reaching more communities. The microenterprise members are also hoping to eventually have access to a car or motorcycles so they will be able to market their product more efficiently.

Both challenges are significant, but so are the success and determination of the Nueva Luz members. You can help support Nueva Luz and other hard-working microenterprises in Honduras through the Honduras umbrella project match. Any gift you give will be doubled by an anonymous donor and will help thousands of families improve their nutrition and income!

Some of the members of Nueva Luz y Vida pose in their future kitchen for cooking plantain chips.


Reflections on Heifer’s Educator Tour to Honduras

Posted on by
0
From June 24-July 1, 16 professional educators from around the United States traveled to Honduras with Heifer International to visit various projects. Check the blog over the next few weeks for more posts from Study Tour participants to hear their perspective on seeing Heifer’s work in the field. Learn more about Heifer’s programs and resources for educators.
Honduras, Heifer and Hope By Karyn Watanabe
In June 2011, I had the opportunity to attend Heifer’s Educators’ Tour to Honduras, which was one of most fantastic trips I have ever taken! We spent six nights in Honduras. The first two days, we learned about poverty. We learned about what defines poverty and the psychology of it; which of course is not plain and simple. Heifer does not dwell on the politics and the causes. We focused on identifying needs and setting the cornerstones into place so that people can be empowered and work their way out of poverty.
On the third morning, we packed up the white van and would spend the next three days visiting villages that were in various stages of sustainability. Enthusiastic and grateful village leaders (and oftentimes much of the village) who were eager to share their successes greeted us at each village. Much of the time, they weren’t really sure who we were but knew that we were somehow a part of helping them gain the tools and knowledge for their success. Many would have tears in their eyes. “Thank you for helping us when even our government won’t,” one man said.
We ran overtime at one village because our leader had a long list of all the exciting things he wanted to show off!  When he got to the cow with her calf, he talked about
how wonderful it is that they have milk.

Visiting these people’s plots was more like a Boy Scout Merit Badge hike. The villages that we visited were on the worst plots of discarded land you could imagine. If it were our back yard, we would put in a retaining wall and plant ground cover. These people have terraced the land and built zero grazing pens, tilapia farms and shelters in which they live—on slopes. There are no roads; they have no cars. The nearest paved road might be hours away and the nearest town might be more than a day’s journey in some cases.

One particularly endearing moment occurred when we were visiting a group of entrepreneurial women who had started a plantain chip business. We were all gathered around the entrance to their new building listening to a woman tell her story in Spanish, and then to Pat who translated it to us in English.
These women were resilient. They knew they needed to come up with a business plan so that they could make some money. They got chickens, they all died. They saved and saved for another project, they were robbed. Finally, they came up with the Plantain Chip idea and it was a success. They are probably in the process of moving in to their new and improved factory this month. It’s a low-tech but very effective operation. They cut the plantains with a mandolin contraption, deep fry and salt them, place them in plastic then heat-seal them.


They have no stickers or logos to affix to the packages as of yet, but are hoping to eventually do that and sell them in town. I wish them luck. They were the best chips I ate in Honduras.

People don’t want to be poor. They can’t always simply get a job. There are people all over the world who are marginalized and/or abandoned by governments who pretend they don’t exist. People want to be educated and to provide their families with the basic necessities that all who are reading this take for granted.
As a teacher, I’ve seen that spark and enthusiasm in my classroom. It was even more profound to see how education, some seeds, a cow and people who care can literally save lives and give a community hope for a brighter future.

More on the $1.5 Million Honduras Matching Opportunity

Posted on by
0

While I was in Honduras, I talked to Jose Alfredo Coto, the national project coordinator for Heifer Honduras, about the significance of the Honduras matching opportunity. Here’s what he said (and for those of you who don’t speak Spanish, the translation is below):

“For Heifer Honduras, this campaign, which promotes ‘Strengthening Rural Microenterprises,’ ‘Planting the Seeds of Hope’ and ‘Sustainable Food Systems in Copan and Lempira,’ reflects a lot of importance. It would allow us to continue serving families–the men, women and children who are the poorest people in the western and southern parts of the country. It would allow our project partners to continue developing activities that support (community) development with an ecologic focus. It would also allow Heifer to continue its institutional operations and to continue to carry out a holistic process of development with a focus on biodiversity and full-family participation.”

Nueva Amanecer Passes on the Gift of Chickens in Honduras

Posted on by
0

A few weeks ago, as a member of a Honduras Study Tour, I had the privilege of visiting the community of Tontolo, La Campa, in the Department of Lempira. Our group was invited to celebrate the Passing on the Gift® of chickens in the community by Nueva Amanecer Tontolo (New Dawn Tontolo), a group of 36 women farmers that formed four years ago and connected to Heifer through project partner Comision de Accion Social Menonita (CASM, Mennonite Social Action Commission).

Our drive took us up into the mountains and through a village with a distinct colonial influence– remnants of its history as a stopping point for the Spanish on their way to Guatemala. Eventually, even our fearless bus driver decided that the bus couldn’t navigate the path ahead, and we walked 15 or 20 minutes to join the POG party. Later we learned that our walk paled in comparison to that of many of the members of Nueva Amanecer, who walked an hour or longer to arrive at the POG ceremony that day, as they do for their meetings every month in the same location.

When we began to near the celebration, we were greeted by the joyous sound of a guitar accompanied by boisterous singing and clapping. After a couple of songs, Nueva Amanecer members and their families introduced themselves and the organization. In addition to training, group members had received cows, rabbits and native chickens, they explained, and their husbands help with the animals.

Some group members received biodigesters and ecostoves to boil milk. When necessary, Nueva Amanecer also functions as a small, rural bank that promotes saving and offers loans, with interest payed back monthly.

“I give thanks to God for the work that Heifer is doing and (for) supporting us as women farmers,” one Nueva Amanecer member said. We are poor, she said, but we have been working together to move our community and our families forward in a very organized way.

Next was the main event: not one, but two Passing on the Gift ceremonies, which marked the first POG for Nueva Amanecer. Each POG recipient would be receiving 20 chickens and one rooster each, and seemingly everyone in the community crowded around the chicken coops to witness the special moment. During the second ceremony, community members (and a Heifer employee or two) gathered together to catch some elusive chickens for the POG:

After the chickens were finally rounded up, the woman giving the chickens (right), beaming with pride and confidence, and the POG recipient (left), with a joyous smile on her face, talked about what the ceremony meant to each of them:

The event was as moving as it was inspiring, and I was honored to be able to share the moment with such an empowered group of women who are finding ways to work their families and community out of poverty.

Nueva Amanecer fits into the larger project picture as a part of “Sustainable Food Systems in Copan and Lempira,” a Heifer umbrella project that involves 2,058 families in 43 communities in western Honduras. In addition to generating livestock products and diversifying family agricultural production, the project promotes the use of agroecological and soil conservation practices as well as the use of animal waste as a source of alternative energy via biodigesters.

Also, “Sustainable Food Systems” is one of the three projects that you can help fund through the Honduras umbrella project match. Any gift you give will be doubled by an anonymous donor and will help thousands of families improve their nutrition and income!

Nueva Amanecer’s president (right) helps prepare one of the organization’s members to pass on 20 chickens and a rooster in the community of Tontolo in Honduras. 

Reflections on Heifer’s Educator Tour to Honduras

Posted on by
0
From June 24-July 1, 16 professional educators from around the United States traveled to Honduras with Heifer International to visit various projects. Check the blog over the next few weeks for more posts from Study Tour participants to hear their perspective on seeing Heifer’s work in the field. Learn more about Heifer’s programs and resources for educators.

A Change in Vision
Todd Montgomery, Manager of Adult Education for Heifer International  


It is the rainy season in Honduras. No matter how hot and sunny the mornings, the afternoons usher in low moving, dark blue clouds. It isn’t a question of whether it will rain, but when. 



Today’s clouds find us in the small mountainside community of Copantli in the department/state of Copan in western Honduras. By now our group of 16 teachers and four Heifer staff have grown sensitive to the difference in the road conditions of rural Honduras and the United States. But we are here, and the rain clock is ticking. The dirt roads become treacherous in the rain, so we are prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. However, there is one person with whom I really wanted to chat.


Angelina stands out in a crowd. She radiates a quiet confidence. I met Angelina on a previous trip to this village. I was amazed at the story that she told us of this community’s founding and growth, and of her group’s work with Heifer. I was thrilled at the chance to ask Angelina the questions that came out of our last meeting. Now, here we are, and the rains are coming.  


Following a presentation by students at the small, one-room schoolhouse, we were invited to Angelina’s home. Rain drops begin to thump the tin roof of the school as we leave. This will have to be quick. 

Angelina (back left in the white shirt) and her family.

We are herded to Angelina’s home. With a sweeping motion of her arm, Angelina draws attention to her home and farm. In the foreground, I see a beautiful and bountiful small tract of land replete with fruit trees, a vegetable garden, a buck goat and a pond stocked with tilapia fish. In the background, I can see the sheets of rain creeping across the mountain.  There are two homes on Angelina’s property. Where she and her family live and where they used to live. As Angelina ushers us inside her new home, she tells her story. 

Angelina is one of the founders of Copantli. She, along with other landless agrarian workers from a nearby city, moved to this hillside in 1982 while many rural people where moving into the city looking for work. Facing an uncertain future was more desirable for Angelina than living in the city and having no control of her own destiny. All were looking for a better life.


Angelina and her neighbors built homes from “dust,” and scratched out a living farming on the hillside. There were no schools in the new community, so a first priority was to build one and lobby the government to pay a teacher. Water had to be collected far away. The community still had very little, but they were not short on pride and determination. 

Angelina, who was only able to attend school through the 3rd grade, became a community leader, even teaching 1st and 2nd grade. A Heifer project partner organization came into contact with the community and provided training in gender equity, then community leadership, and finally advocacy.  The group now had a voice to go along with their pride and determination.


Armed with all of that, a delegation from Copantli led by Angelina made the long trip to the capital city of Tegucigalpa to meet with government and development agencies about building homes, schools, water wells, better roads and other infrastructure. They visited the Heifer Honduras office last. That meeting in 2006 marked a milestone in the growth of Copantli. The community had pride, determination, a voice, and now they had new resources and training.

Community members received dairy cattle. Eventually, the chickens, goats, tilapia and seedlings would follow. The community also received training in how to build and utilize biogas digesters that would harvest methane gas from composting animal manure, providing a healthier cooking source that burning firewood.


The group also received training on how to make concrete bricks and how to build homes from them.Angelina proudly points out that many of the group’s trained bricklayers are, in fact, women.  These same women now train other communities in the region who are following in their example.  Angelina herself pressed the bricks and then stacked them to form the walls of her new home.  It is a marked improvement over the mud walls, dirt floor, and scrap metal roof that was her old home. 

But I realize we have tempted fate long enough; the roads will become mud soon. We have to go. I ask Angelina what has changed about the community over the years that they have lived here. 


“Our vision has changed. We used to look for leaders who would tell us what to do. Now we are the leaders. We know that we must lead by working with our communities. A good leader works for her people, for the good of the whole community. A good leader can’t make decisions based on race, politics, or religion.  Everyone in the community should have the ability to be a leader,” she said.


As I look at Angelina and her family as we prepared to leave, I see several generations that have made the move from the city back to the country in search of a better life. I see members of a community that—through determination and hope and a little help—built a community from the ground up, a community with a school and with healthy families.

I hop in the back of our truck for the trip down the mountain, realizing how much we all could learn from a hillside in western Honduras.

Reflections on Heifer’s Educator Tour in Honduras

Posted on by
1
From June 24-July 1, 16 professional educators from around the United States traveled Honduras with Heifer International to visit various projects. Check the blog over the next few weeks for more posts from Study Tour participants to hear their perspective on seeing Heifer’s work in the field. Learn more about Heifer’s programs and resources for educators.

I, Too, Have Received a Gift

By Jesse Freedman, The Potomac School

Let me begin with an admission: when I boarded my flight earlier in the summer for Honduras, I would have been hard pressed to fully communicate the meaning of one of Heifer’s core beliefs – the idea of Passing on the Gift.

It is a testament to the power of Heifer’s Study Tours for Educators, however, that by the end of my time in Honduras, I could speak passionately on behalf of the organization’s unique, values-based approach to the alleviation of hunger and poverty.

As a history teacher at large independent school outside of Washington, D.C., my primary motivation for traveling to Honduras was to construct – both for myself and my students – a more nuanced conception of what development ‘looks like.’

Turns out, of course, that development is a complicated thing, and that its implementation differs from one community to the next. But if I were to distill my experience in Honduras to one moment, to one lasting vision of Passing on the Gift, it would focus on our visit to Mejocote, a rural Honduran village west of Tegucigalpa.


It was here that we witnessed the transfer – from one family to the next – of roosters and chickens. The transfer, though, was about so much more than animals.

As the gift changed hands, we, a group of educators drawn from across the United States, observed development at its most local level: these chickens represented for the families involved the promise of improved economic prospects. And yet, in another way, the transfer embodied a number of the important goals to which Heifer, its partners, and its beneficiaries aspire: gender equality, local accountability, and environmental sustainability.

The memory of those families – engaged as they were in such a small, but such a vital, act of self-improvement – has assumed an indelible quality in my mind. To my students in Washington, D.C., I will return in the fall with a renewed sensitivity to the importance of development initiatives built on local needs – and challenges. I will also return with a far better sense for the complexities of Honduran history and identity.

It’s thanks to Heifer and its exhaustive efforts on our behalf that I, too, am the recipient of a gift. This gift comes as a call to action: to develop new curricula; to orient my students, friends, and family to development initiatives in Central American nations like Honduras; and to support the efforts of those committed to a values-based approach to social and economic empowerment.


In Honduras, where three out of four people in rural areas live below the poverty line, we have a unique opportunity to bring about lasting change. A generous donor will match your contributions up to $1.5 million, for a total of $3 million to help struggling communities in Honduras. We’re close to reaching our goal, but we still need your help.