Sharing the essentials with neighbors in need
Heifer International staff and project participants in Central and South America keep working despite the limits on travel and in-person meetings that COVID-19 presents. Staff members are making the most of technology to stay engaged, and project participants are stepping up in big ways to pass on gifts of food and sanitation supplies to fellow community members in need.
These stories from Nicaragua, Honduras and Ecuador capture the creative thinking and generous hearts shaping Heifer International’s work during this time of global crisis.
In Nicaragua, young people working on a project to plant drought-resistant crops and expand irrigation in the Dry Corridor temporarily shifted gears to meet the immediate needs created by the pandemic.
In Honduras, Heifer project participants are helping their neighbors in different ways. The Association of Honey Producers of San Juan La Labor is a small group, with only 10 member families. In recent weeks they created and delivered relief packages to 10 neighboring families in need. Each package includes rice, corn flour, coffee, sugar, oats, pasta, shortening, tomato paste and, of course, a bottle of honey.
Another beekeeping group in Honduras, the Multiple Apiculture Services Company of San Francisco Cones, also put together packages for neighbors in need, with the goal of keeping their homes clean and healthy. The kits included cleaners, disinfectants, bleach and hand sanitizer.
In Ecuador, Heifer staff do their best to support the farmers and small business owners out in the field even as they’re forced to work from home. Working remotely can be lonely, so the Ecuador staff put together this fun video to keep spirits up. Even if your Spanish skills are rusty, you’ll enjoy this jazzy, upbeat dispatch from the other side of the equator.
In the face of rising pandemic, Heifer Guatemala is working to help farmers and artisans who stand to be most affected.
