Agros Blog

The following was written by Rachel Stenberg, an Agros International Student Worker in the Communications Department.

Earth Day is an opportunity for everyone to pause and reflect on our responsibilities as faithful stewards of the planet on which we live. Here at Agros, on Earth Day, just like every other day of the year, we are committed to bringing sustainable growth and earth-friendly development to the families and communities that need it the most.

In the developing world, many families stake their entire livelihood on the success of their crop yields. When those yields are not sufficient, the cycle of poverty is perpetuated. This means that environmental sustainability essential to the survival of the rural poor. Agros supports our community members through a number of initiatives in order to promote environmental sustainability.

An essential component of Agros’ model is educating our community members on how to develop their land responsibly and sustainably, protecting watersheds and natural freshwater resources, and maintain the productivity of their land with fertilization and reforestation. In doing so, the seeds Agros families plant will not only yield growth for families in the present, but they provide a lasting and stable foundation for future generations.

Each village we serve is at a unique step in the process toward environmental sustainability. The Honduran community of Brisas del Volcán recently planted 400 cedar trees and cultivated 1,000 tree seedlings for the purposes of reforestation and land restoration. Brand new garbage cans have been introduced in El Edén, Nicaragua, and community members have participated in educational programs on responsible waste management. Compost latrines for the production of fertilizer are common in Agros communities; and thanks to maintenance of clean water sources, access to clean water in every home is achieved by the time a community graduates our program. Finally, a number of villages in El Salvador and Honduras have pioneered “field schools”, where communities set aside a parcel of land specifically for use in learning new, sustainable farming techniques.

Agros’ environmental education and stewardship training program is a cornerstone of our holistic model – promoting agricultural practices that are not only environmentally beneficial, but economically and socially transformative as well. All of this would not be possible without the help of you, our partners, who give us the opportunity to further our work. This Earth Day, we invite you to look at the ways that you can play an active role in promoting sustainable environmental health in Agros communities.

• Plant a Dozen Trees
• Provide a Can of Worms
• Buy a Plot of Land

The following was written by Rebecca Craig, an Agros International Student Worker in the Communications Department.

“If you don’t have your health, what do you have?” We have all heard it before, and know how true it can be in our own lives; but for people living in the developing world this statement reveals a stark reality. Ailments that we in the developed world might consider as minor can be fatal in areas that do not have advanced health care systems, or where they are overwhelmed by need. Health care is expensive too, and for many of those Agros serves, living in extreme poverty, an illness can completely destroy a family financially.

At Agros, we view the health of all of our community members with the upmost importance! We have a number of health and nutrition initiatives to ensure the wellness of each of our communities. Today, in honor of World Health Day, we would like to highlight one of our Village Health Promoters. These health promoters go through an extensive training and certification process in order to learn about the importance of personal hygiene, nutrition, and oral hygiene, as well as instruction in first aid, preventive care, diarrheal diseases, and reproductive and sexual health. Village Health Promoters serve as a local source of expertise and training for their community. They also empower entire communities to gain healthcare knowledge for themselves and actively seek partnerships in order to meet their healthcare needs.  Health Promoters can also determine the severity of a community member’s illness and help determine when it’s necessary to travel to see a medical professional.

Glenda is a Village Health Promoter in Nueva Esperanza, Nicaragua. Before making the move to Nueva Esperanza in 2008, Glenda worked at a large plantation in order to take care of her disabled mother and three sons. As a single mother, providing for her family was incredibly difficult and she joined the Agros community in hopes of providing a better life for her family. Through her mother’s experience Glenda has firsthand knowledge of the importance of timely healthcare access. This coupled with her energy to learn and passion to help others led her to volunteer as the local health promoter.

Now Glenda serves not only the 33 families in her community, but also provides health trainings and administers medical supplies to four neighboring communities that have not yet had the opportunity to train a health promoter of their own. In this role she delivers pre and postnatal care, hygiene and nutrition workshops, and brings greater awareness to issues of reproductive health. Glenda recently led a workshop on how to make soymilk from soybeans. This provides children with much-needed protein and improves their overall diets; twenty-one mothers participated.

Glenda also serves as the liaison with partnering health providers such as Acción Médica Cristiana and the local Ministry of Health; these partnerships affords the communities she serves better access to services such as child vaccinations, family planning methods, gynecological exams, medicine, and free medical attention. Through Glenda’s generous service, many men, women and children have the assurance that their healthcare needs will be taken care of, something that many of them lacked before partnering with Agros. And so in honor of World Health Day Agros would like to recognize Glenda and all of the other Village Health Promoters who ensure the well being of their communities.

You can  help Agros to provide training opportunities for women like Glenda by giving a gift of Health Promoter Training.

As we give thanks for all of our partners who supported Agros in our Fiscal Year 2011, I am mindful of the countless intangible gifts that were shared.  In the past year, a total of 417 people traveled to Latin America with Agros. Together they formed 26 Service Teams, who journeyed with Agros villagers and enjoyed mutual encouragement; 8 Vision Trips, who explored developing opportunities with Agros and met our amazing international staff and communities in person; and a couple of unique combination trips that did a little of everything!

The coming year is already starting off well, with many more trips on our calendar.  I look forward to collaborating with many of you to that end! My role with Agros includes facilitating all travel, including planning and training for, then executing and following up on, dignifying inter-cultural exchanges.

While participation in a trip with Agros may not contribute to the financial support of our partnership with communities throughout Latin America, it does reflect an awareness of the value of presence, not only presents. Thank you to everyone who helps raise the Agros core values of fostering relationships, facilitating participation, and following in the ways of Jesus by supporting and engaging in these opportunities for the greater Agros community to connect with and serve one another.  Connecting with people in this direct and relational manner is an Agros distinctive that so many of us are truly grateful for and excited about.

One trip participant, veteran international photojournalist Amanda Koster, who helped organize Agros’ collaboration with SalaamGarage,* summed up her experience recognizing Agros’ success:

“After over a decade and a half of working with NGOs, something powerful affected me on this particular trip, working with this particular NGO, Agros International.  It was one of the first times we did not directly face extreme poverty, remnants of warfare, exorbitant levels of deadly diseases, or even the beautiful yet invisible presence of an NGO. Instead, we got to face success. The people themselves shared their success with us, right down to the last boxbole**.”

Agros and our partners value people, not only projects. We recognize that by physically coming alongside someone, even if only for a short time, we are demonstrating they have value, are worth visiting, and that we believe in them.  We believe that development is something we do with people, not to or for them.

Thank you for joining Agros in empowering people by sharing your presence.

* This unique collaborative trip resulted in some great citizen journalism and a beautiful book.

**Boxboles (pron. bosh-bow-lees) are an indigenous food creatively developed by the Mayan people of the Ixil region in Guatemala.  During Guatemala’s bloody civil war (1960-96), preparing tortillas by slapping the dough between hands was too risky for people in hiding.  To keep from being found in the highlands, boxboles were prepared by steaming, not slapping dough.

Hearing about the always powerful, sometimes stretching, often life-changing experiences people have while visiting Agros villages is one the most rewarding aspects of my role as the Agros Service Team Program Manager.

I will never forget the amazing impact an Agros Service Team had on one of the first team leaders I had the pleasure of working with when I first started with Agros.  The transformation was palpable and it affirmed for me the Agros values of participation and relationships.

Visiting an Agros village is an act of solidarity.  When one group steps outside of their comfort zone and another welcomes them into theirs, each group is affirming the value of the other: appreciating, validating, and encouraging.  The results are more than partnership; they include collaboration, and the potential for mutual transformation in the context of relationship.

Participation and fostering relationships are among Agros’ core values because we recognize them as the means to and context for sustainable transformational development.

Recently, I enjoyed a conversation with a leader from another development organization about the value of partners visiting Agros villages.  We both recognize the complexities involved and understand that for various reasons, fewer development organizations facilitate or even allow partners to visit where their investment is at work.  My friend appreciated with me the distinctiveness of Agros’ Development Model; he observed that because of our holistic approach, “Agros’ model includes tremendous opportunities for everyone involved.”

The vision of the Agros Service Team program is “to provide an opportunity to serve that transforms lives through life-giving relationships.”  Two of our explicit goals are to build and nurture relationships that mutually encourage one another, and the bonds that are formed are able to improve lives beyond material development.   In our trainings, we point out that transformation is not limited to one side or another of an Agros partnership.  By emphasizing mutuality, we recognize how we all benefit by participating.

I love when returning Service Team members share stories of transformation. If you’ve been impacted by an Agros Service Team experience, would you be willing to share in the comments section of this blog what the impact has meant to you?