Blog

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.

ViviendasLeon was founded in 2003 to create solutions to the interconnected causes of rural poverty in Central America. Our mission to “empower and equip rural families to be the agents of their own development” has shown time and again that people are willing and capable to work hard and succeed at changing their family’s future.

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.

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.

ViviendasLeon trains families in rural communities to farm their small plots of land while diversifying and updating their methods to secure their food supply. They are given fencing, drip irrigation, and hand operated fumigation pumps.

Dinia Amador, a young teenager and daughter of Paula Hernandez, completed the HCT program with her mother and received the delivery of material for the construction of her farm. Paula and Dinia are currently harvesting a great variety of vegetables, some of which Paula uses for her and her children’s consumption.

ViviendasLeón has been working since March with 23 indigenous women from the Los Planes community in Santa Lucía Utatlán, Guatemala.  The Mayan communities of Central America live with multiple challenges including lack of food security, unemployment, and access to education. Additionally, indigenous women have faced violence and discrimination. Our training program works to restore women’s self-esteem, personal empowerment, agency, social development, and technical skills to take on the challenges of the multiple needs they have lived with for generations.