We believe in a tiered, progressive method of helping. We begin by focusing on providing necessary, short-term nutrition supplements to infants and children. We then train children and mothers by providing health and education services.
Next, we educate and train for farming beyond corn (so that nutrition is improved), and we teach methods to acquire clean water. We then help them start small businesses so they can begin to support themselves.
1 – NUTRITION AND HEALTH
Living on a diet consisting of almost exclusively corn tortillas can produce potentially fatal protein malnutrition, blindness, stunting, and a myriad of illnesses. We provide result-geared nutritional support to children with moderate to severe malnutrition, bringing their weights up to normal levels while providing health education to the family. Milk is provided when mothers have died in childbirth or to families in which the mothers are unable to give milk.
Costs: $28/month: feed a malnourished child three meals a day
$50/year: provide a family with clean water
THE HEALTH AND NUTRITION CENTER
In 2017, we established the Health and Nutrition Center in Senahu — regional hub village in Alta Verapaz. This Center was established to provide:
- Health and training service to over 300 families a month
- Nutritional supplements to malnourished and severely malnourished children between the ages of 0 to 5
- Milk supplements to infants who do not have access to mother’s milk due to a malnourished mother who cannot produce milk, maternal death, or other medical complications
- Ongoing health screening and monitoring
- Training center for many different subjects, such as: health, nutrition, hygiene, family planning, small business development, and small scale agriculture and chicken farming
2 – EDUCATION AND COMPREHENSIVE TRAININGS
We are providing women and families the education and training they need to help pull themselves out of extreme poverty. We use an integrated approach to provide training in many areas including: maternal care, infant care and child care, nutrition, clean water, hygiene, healthcare, and literacy. We do this through the Health and Nutrition Center, the Ochoch training centers, and village outreach programs.
Costs: $20/month: sponsor a woman with educational trainings
$250/year: sponsor an entire family with a multitude of tools and resources they need to pull themselves out of poverty
THE OCHOCH TRAINING CENTERS
In Q’eqchi’, the indigenous language spoken by the families we serve, “OCHOCH” means “home”. The Training Center or “Ochoch” (home) concept is a smaller, rural, multi-use learning center and community resource for mothers and children that is much closer to where they live, and thus, more accessible.
The “Ochoch” home is a concept that can be repeated at comparatively low cost in outlying rural areas. As funding is made available, we want to place several of these Training Centers throughout the mountains, each of which would serve a specific number of villages. Specifically, these Training Centers help provide the following services:
- Resource Center for Women and Children
A resource center for women and children from nearby villages who are living in extreme poverty and are the most marginalized. Most of the families we serve have lost one or more children due to complications related to malnutrition, which is an indicator of more severe hardships occurring in their lives. Each day, different groups of women come together with other members of their communities for resources and services. They know this is a resource center and a sanctuary where they can find assistance – something they have never had access to before. - Health Trainings
The model home, made from wood in the local style, demonstrates a healthy home environment with a safe cooking area. General health training are delivered in the main room and hygiene/nutrition training are delivered in the kitchen. - Food Production Trainings
A kitchen garden in which nutritious vegetables and super food is cultivated. Their maintenance, harvesting, and propagation is taught here. Higher yield and chemical-free production of the staple corn and beans is also taught.
Chicken coop and egg production, along with other animal production are taught. They not only learn the importance of feeding their families protein rich foods, such as eggs, but they also are taught skills to sell the excess eggs in markets for an income.
VILLAGE OUTREACH PROGRAMS
Our Village Healthcare Outreach workers traveled to remote areas with difficult-to-access communities with high rates of acute and fatal malnutrition. They work with families and teach them the skill sets they need to improve their family’s nutrition and health, provide small business development trainings, and teach other vital lessons using methods that have been developed specifically for the indigenous Q’eqchi’ people. They work endlessly with families to help improve their lives through teaching them the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty. Our community outreach efforts include:
- Identifying families living in need
- Ensuring families have access to medical care
- Providing training in health, sanitation, and nutrition
- Providing nutritional supplements for malnourished children
- Providing training and supplies for clean water, hygiene, family gardens, chicken coops, nutrition, family planning, and more
3 – SELF-RELIANCE THROUGH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
One of the most effective resources we have found to help families create economic growth is training and providing them with resources to start their own small business. Currently, the most culturally appropriate and effective businesses are family gardens and chicken coops. Not only are we able to provide nutritional support to families in need through these programs, but we teach them to sell the excess produce and eggs at local markets to generate income. This has been a wonderful stepping stone to help families get the nutritional and financial empowerment they need to move forward.
Costs: $12/month: provide a chicken coop for a woman to help feed her family and start a small business
$12/month: provide a family with the resources and trainings needed for a kitchen garden to help feed the family and start selling produce