Women Pass on the Gift of a Better Future

VERACRUZ, Mexico—Las Bajadas is a squatter settlement in the town of Puerto de Veracruz where housing conditions are truly dreadful. Most of the families migrated from other poor municipalities in search of better living opportunities but found none. The men work at informal jobs, as waiters, peddlers or domestic servants. The women are mostly occupied by housekeeping.

Heifer International’s project here, Women for a Better Future, began in 2005 to improve living conditions by providing animals, starting backyard gardens and training inhabitants of the settlement. In spite of the lack of support from their community and with little masonry experience, the women of Las Bajadas acquired a plot of land on which to house their project. They came together to build pigpens and feed their animals. Their perseverance paid off as their resources grew to include pigs, hens, a donkey and fruit trees. After selling a few hogs, the participants began making improvements to their homes and their diets. They were now consuming vegetables from their gardens, and meat and eggs from their hens.

The women in the project celebrated a Passing on the Gift ceremony recently. Using produce from their own gardens, the project participants prepared a feast and passed on pigs, hens and a donkey. Not only did women from the community benefit from the pass on, but the local kindergarten also received fruit trees to improve the playground environment and provide fruit for the children.

“We never dreamed that anyone could trust us, being so poor, uneducated, without steady jobs, immersed in total poverty,” said one of the project members. “Now we are more knowledgeable, and we are not afraid.”