We have had a lot going on in the past few months in the Cahabon District and wanted to give you an update on what we've been up to and how you can help!
Keep on reading to learn more about the activities we have been involved in, the various experiences, and upcoming opportunities!
Activity Highlights
Here are some highlights about what we've been up to in Guatemala in the past 5 months.
We have participated in local programs where the Kekchi women were encouraged to become more proactive in many parts of their lives. This project is important because we were able to encourage the women to be proactive and take part in their lives.
We were able to participate in the delivery of several thousands of the 5,000 water filters that we acquired. It is important to provide water filtration so that they can have access to cleaner water sources. We are thankful to the donors who made this possible. As we delivered the filters we were able to build trust with the recipients which will help with the foundations of a relationship.
We were able to provide many other helpful resources in the past 5 months including steel to help families rebuild their homes that were damaged by a severe storm, corn seed to help impoverished farmers in the Polochic area, and funds for fertilizer which will aid 23,000 farmers.
We are continuing our relationship and building trust so that we can begin the process of organizing a Branch in Cahabon. This will allow for more opportunities. It is important to continue building relationships with the foundations of trust, and the above opportunities have allowed us to continue to do so.
Tour Group Visit
We had the pleasure of hosting another tour group, which had a great time. They were able to enjoy the sites of Lanquin and also spent three days in the Cahabon area.
They were able to participate in a variety of projects including:
Painting and preparing measuring devices that will help detect malnourished children.
Helped distribute some of the water filters that we acquired and were able to have the cultural experience of riding in the back of a truck for one and a half hours so that the filters could be distributed.
They were invited to eat the traditional Chicken Soup, which is a ritual that occurs when visitors come to the villages.
We appreciate all the work and help that the tour group provided to us and to the people of Cahabon. We are glad that they had a nice time and were able to help others and learn a lot about the culture of Cahabon.
Agricultural Situation
The nature of the agricultural situation in the Cahabon District continues to be critical.
The Kekchi people view their lands as a spiritual entity and feel that burning the corn stalks will cleanse the soil. As a result of this practice, a lot of the soil is depleted of its nutrients to help with a successful crop. Burning the soil has impacted the fields in many ways including the number of nutrients, water intake rate, and erosion tendencies.
It was decided the best way of overcoming this barrier is to refer to the crops as a friend. The Kekchi people seem receptive to this idea because it relates to if you give to a friend they will give back to you and vise versa. We began with an experimental plot that we hope will show how their crop yields can improve with these methods.
The planting day went well, and we will continue with this project.
The biggest obstacle is to convince the farmers to stop burning the fields. Unless we can convince these farmers to change their ways, generation after generation will continue to find the need to keep cutting down trees which will impact and create more problems for the Kekchi people.
How You Can Help
We are thankful for all that has been accomplished over the past few months and are glad we were able to share what we've been up to in Cahabon with you.
If you would like to help us continue projects such as water filtration or our agricultural efforts, you can Donate Today!
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