Evan Markiewicz

During the  implementation of our HCT program in 2023, a third of the 20 women in the program had founded a cooperative two years previously.  They named it CoopEMEGA, an acronym for Cooperative of Entrepreneurial Women Managing Alternatives and Solutions. This group produces chili based condiments known as chileros that are popular in homes and restaurants in the city of León, and  are made with chili, onion, cucumber, carrot and vinegar.

Angélica Epifania García was in our first HCT program in 2023, and now has a new small farm with a greenhouse and open area for row crops. She is 29 years old, married, mother of two children, and lives in Ciénaga Grande, neighborhood adjacent to Los Planes, in the municipality of Santa Lucía Utatlán.

We are thrilled to welcome Yamileth Alonzo Zárate, our most recent addition to the Guatemala staff as the Sustainable Farms Program Director.  Yami is an agronomist with experience in multiple areas of farming including food diversification and nutrition training, agriculture and business technical training, strengthening food security and resilience training, and disaster preparedness in rural populations.

“My name is Abigail Benavidez, I am 30 years old and I live with my husband and three children. I am a housewife and I participate as a volunteer in a parent work group at the La Gallina school. Last year I was encouraged to participate in the Human Training Program that ViviendasLeón taught in our community”

Maybeline Chavajay Cotuc began work with ViviendasLeon in late 2022 as our human training program director. During the following six months she had met with and interviewed more than 30 families and launched our first human training program in the Los Planes and Paxub’ communities of Santa Lucia Utatlan. By July she had risen to the role of country director while continuing to carry out the training program through the end of 2023. By mid 2024, she had hired our first agronomist in Guatemala, Yamileth Alonzo, and is now overseeing our new sustainable farms program.

“During this first month working for ViviendasLeón Guatemala, I have had the opportunity to visit the women who are our first group of farmers in the communities of Paxub’ and Los Planes.  I have noticed the enthusiasm of the women for the new project we are about to start, and the participation and involvement of their families when preparing the land that we will use for planting vegetable crops.

Our Nicaraguan staff recently organized an activity to present the environmental documentary titled, ”The Planet Needs Us”.  We wanted to increase awareness in the community about the need to protect the environment and conserve the soil. This was aimed at girls, boys, parents and the entire community present at the Rubén Darío School in La Gallina, our newest community.

Gender disparities and unequal power relationships represent a challenge to women, children and communities, and to successful development in Nicaragua.
ViviendasLeon’s HCT program, in an alliance with the IXCHEN Women’s Center and the Association for the Support of the New Family in Nicaragua (ANFAN), is developing a new program for women, youth and community leaders aimed at promoting gender equality.

“When I started to participate in the HCT training process, I was a very shy woman with self-esteem problems. In our country Nicaragua, women have had few opportunities to work outside the home.”

My name is Alexandra Galeano and I live in the community of Troilo, Sutiava. I am 19 years old and married with a one-year-old girl. Being a homemaker doesn’t prevent me from continuing my education. I am currently in the 10th grade of secondary school at the Public College Salomon de la Selva in the city of León.