(HONDURAS) World Renew’s work with Honduran partner Ministerios Cristianos de Mayordomía (MCM) involves women’s groups that are mostly attended by single mothers who are heads of their household. These women worry every day about how they are going to feed their children, how to protect them from the crime and violence involved in living in an urban area, and how to earn enough income to keep their children in school so that they can have a better future.
Through MCM, World Renew is working in nine poor neighborhoods in Nueva Suyapa, a district in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. One of these areas began the development process last year with an evaluation and community planning activities.
The women in the community have received leadership training, and have developed a community plan to guide them through the transformation process and help MCM accompany them as they work to create change in their communities.
The women in each of the neighborhoods are involved in a food security program that focuses on establishing home gardens to provide a variety of vegetables that will improve household nutrition. The women are successfully growing vegetables in their kitchen gardens after receiving training in the production of organic fertilizers and pesticides, producing their own seeds, soil and seed bed preparation, and establishing and managing greenhouses. More than 140 women have been trained so far.
In addition, 21 women leaders were certified recently as qualified kitchen gardening facilitators by the National Vocational Training Institute. Most of these women have also had an opportunity to train program participants from others that partner with World Renew, including HARVEST and ALFALIT. The women are sharing their knowledge and successes in sustainable vegetable cultivation and home garden management. I thank God that these women have acquired new skills, and they can now better respond to the needs of their families.
Praise
- for a reduction in crime and violence in the community.
- for the establishment of partnerships between the community and public and private organizations to promote sustainable agriculture practices.
Pray
- for vegetable production this summer because the women are now facing water shortages.
- that the women and MCM find innovative ways to manage and provide water for their vegetable crops so that their families can benefit from more and better nutrition.
Irene Zepeda de Murillo
Country Consultant
World Renew Honduras
