Agros Blog

After being recognized for our innovative work relieving rural poverty, I am excited to share that Agros has wrapped up a very successful two-year collaboration with the World Bank.  In 2008, Agros was selected along with 100 other winners from a pool of over 1,800 applicants to receive $200,000 from the World Bank Development Marketplace Competition – a competitive grant program that identifies and funds innovative, early-stage projects with high potential for development impact – to implement our project proposal.

Our project, “Land Ownership for the Rural Poor in Mexico,” was designed to purchase land for two rural farming communities in Mexico, and has since resulted – with support from other generous partnerships and foundations – in the formation of Santa Fe Ajké and Nueva Ilusión.  Not only was this a big step for our Mexico office, but it was also a huge achievement for Agros: our innovative model was recognized by a prestigious institution, and we benefited from the expertise and support of the World Bank staff that came alongside us for this project.

Through our partnership with the World Bank, Agros was able to expand to a new region in Chiapas, Mexico—the Guatemala border region in Comitán.  Chiapas is one of the poorest states in Mexico, and Comitán is infamous for ethnic and economic persecution of the vast number of Guatemalan refugees who fled there during the 36-year civil war that ended in 1996.

While visiting Comitán in 2007 in order to prepare for the establishment of Santa Fe Ajké, one man recounted to me the community’s 10-year struggle with the Mexican government to connect to a local water system. Instead of providing for the families’ basic need for water, politicians ignored the obvious urgent needs. Abandoned by both the Guatemalan and Mexican governments, one member said he felt as though the community was “not here nor there,” like citizens of neither country.

Thankfully, with the generous support of partners such as the World Bank, First Fruit Foundation, SG Foundation, and the individual networks that comprise the Santa Fe Ajké and Nueva Ilusión JWAV groups, several families from the group I visited in 2007 started the first Agros community in Comitán: Santa Fe Ajké.  From the beginning, the hard work of its community members has been evident in their motivation to continue despite two years of challenging weather, including drought and torrential rain.  For Nueva Ilusión it has been a long journey to find productive land at a reasonable price, but in June 2010 the land was finally purchased. These two communities have accomplished all of the goals set forth in the project agreement, including:

Santa Fe Ajké

• Defined vision and values, plus a three year village development plan
• Established seven distinct crops for food security and income generation
• Built 20 houses and 20 latrines
• Established a water distribution system
• Received their promissory notes for their land loans

Nueva Ilusión

• Defined their vision statement and new community name
• Selected and purchased land
• Defined vision and values, plus a three year village development plan
• Established four distinct crops for food security, two which are sold for income generation
• Built has 20 houses and 20 latrines

Looking ahead, Santa Fe and Nueva Ilusión still have critical steps to take that will create sustainable, long-term growth.  Though the work with the World Bank has ended, Agros will continue our work for several more years in each of these communities to ensure that they are on the path to land ownership and lasting success. You can follow these communities progress along their journey in the Village Updates by going to the Our Villages tab on our website. Thank you for your continued support!

We’re approaching that special time of year when we give more of our time, energy and resources to the people and causes that mean most to us. Some take time to spend with friends and family to celebrate the holidays in different ways. At our holiday staff party, we all donated gifts to a homeless shelter for youth in our neighborhood. Our in-country staff in Central America and Mexico take a much-deserved rest from their busy schedules traveling between their home, office and Agros communities, often being away from their family for a week at a time.

Those living in Agros villages celebrate in many different ways as well—and many give gifts to one another in response to the blessings they’ve received over the year.  We’ve had many villagers take from the surpluses they have and offer it to even poorer, neighboring families.

Personally, I’m most impacted by the generosity of the Agros families not just during this holiday season, but throughout their daily lives, even as they are fighting their way out of the cycle of poverty one day at a time.

For example, this calendar year, a long-standing activity in Guatemala villages, Women’s Community Banking, received funding to expand to four additional countries. These lending groups are sustainable in the long-term and are designed to increase access to small loans in the community and neighboring areas.

Very few rural women have access to even the smallest loans from banks or MFIs due to their lack of collateral. Through Women’s Community Banking, however, women serve as collateral for each other—if one woman defaults on her loan, it’s up to the others to cover her payment. Each woman contributes to a joint savings account which is eventually grown to provide loans to individuals outside of the Community Bank. In this way, the Community Banks are gifts that keep giving—each woman’s financial success and responsibility makes a positive impact on her family and the entire region that the bank grows to serve.

Since January, women’s Community Banks increased from 23 banks of 400 women in Guatemala to 31 banks in Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, involving over 500 women. More than $135,000 has been distributed in loans in the last 12-month period.

Another example of gifts that keep giving are animal projects.

Animals represent a long-term investment for the rural family. 88% of Agros families own animals to sustain their livelihood. Animals provide food, income diversity and security and labor-saving work in the families’ fields. Many Agros communities receive rabbits, cows, sheep or goats, along with training in animal husbandry techniques with the expectation that the first offspring will be passed on to another neighboring family.

By passing on the blessing of animals, more families have been able to access this gift of health and economic security that animals provide.

There are so many ways that Agros’ work in Central America and Mexico multiplies and continues to give after a first initial investment. Beyond Women’s Community Banking and passing on the blessing of animals, the families we serve teach us what gift giving really looks like and how powerful it can be.

You, too, can give the gift that keeps giving! And with every dollar matched now through December 31st, your impact is doubled!

· Women’s Small Business Loan
· Women’s Economic Initiative Training
· Raise a Cow
· Flock of Chicks
· Give a Goat
· Tend an Animal Menagerie

It’s the holiday season here in Seattle, and people are doing what we used to call “entertaining:” opening their homes, having one another over for food and drink. It’s a time-honored practice; my wife Linda and I are having our own open house in a few days.

At the same time, I am also preparing to lead an Agros group to Honduras in early January. As I work towards both events, my mind goes back to October, when Linda and I were privileged to be able to host Danubia, an Agros villager, and her travel companion Nohemy, an Agros Honduras staff member, for the final day of their Seattle visit.

It was important to me that we have Danubia and Nohemy come over, I had told Linda. Both of them had repeatedly shown me and my fellow travelers hospitality, in their own homes in Honduras. We fed them a lunch I had cooked. We explored our neighborhood a bit. Both are back in their own country, now. I will see them again in a matter of weeks. They won’t be at our open house, but I will be at theirs.

When I return to the Agros village Brisas del Volcán in January and I greet Danubia, who will no doubt have helped lead the village women into cooking a fine lunch for our party of 20 guests, it will be different. She has been in my home, now, as I have been in hers. Linda has shown her pictures of our family. We walked through the Ballard farmer’s market together.

We will see each other better, because we will have seen how we are when we are at home. Danubia has seen something of how we live, of what Linda and I aspire to be when we are at home. Because I have visited her in the past, I have seen that for her life and the lives of her fellow villagers.

There is something about seeing for one’s self. I am reminded of a story that gets enacted and re-told this time of year: A tale of three men travelling a long distance on the say-so of an astronomical anomaly, to visit a couple that had just given birth in temporary housing: the stable of an inn in a garrison town of an occupied country. The three wealthy astonomers came, they gave gifts, they left. We have no record of what they said to the couple, or vice-versa. Why did they make the journey? The narrative tells us about their interest, but the couple they are visiting do not ask the question, and their child is too young to ask an impertinent question.

Agros villagers do sometimes ask why we have come. The answer I give is simple: To see how you are doing on your epic journey to break poverty in a single generation. To encourage that journey, to celebrate it, to listen to your challenges.

This accompaniment is, for me, one of the unique aspects of Agros. Our in-country staff visits villages weekly, doing the work of agronomy and human development, encouraging appropriate entrepreneurial risk, demonstrating the uses of capital and connecting villagers with resources and partners.

But when supporters come to visit, most of us bring little of that expertise, and we are expressly forbidden to bring gifts. We are not visiting the “less fortunate.” Like the family of a marathon runner, we are simply there to witness and encourage the journey.

And like the “wise men” of the story, we usually end up going home by another way.

I recently had the exciting opportunity to travel to Guatemala with an amazing partnering organization called SalaamGarage.  SalaamGarage is a digital storytelling, citizen journalism organization that partners with international NGOs and local non-profits. Participants (amateur and professional photographers, writers, videographers, etc.) connect with international NGOs, like Agros, to create and share independent media projects that raise awareness and cause positive change in their online and offline social communities.

SalaamGarage group with pea farmers in La Esperanza—photo credits: Patrick Lennox Wright

We started our journey with the six photographers from across the US in Antigua, Guatemala to get our bearings and introduce some to Central America for the first time.  From there, we drove six hours to the Ixil region where several of our Agros Guatemala villages are located.  We spent three amazing days visiting the inspiring families in Belén, La Esperanza and Cajixay, learning more about their history during the armed conflict and their journey afterwards with Agros, sharing food and exchanging smiles for the camera.

As the Agros trip leader and translator, I had the privilege of seeing Agros through the new eyes and lenses of these visiting photojournalists and facilitating a very special conversation across different cultures.  Several times, I was asked by a member of the group to translate something like, “Please let her know that I’m changed forever.  From our meeting, I am going to seriously rethink how I live my life.”

Amanda Koster, founder of SalaamGarage shared, “I’ve done a lot of traveling around the world and have worked with a lot of NGOs.  Agros is the most effective and holistic development organization I’ve seen so far, with a powerful emphasis and successful model for long term self empowerment and sustainability.  This was the most amazing trip so far we’ve taken with SalaamGarage.”

Ana weaving a huipil for her daughter’s high school graduation ceremony

After interviews with 18 families in three villages, including time with La Esperanza pea farmers who are exporting to England through a secure regional contract, the elementary school students in Belén who told us their dreams to be teachers, farmers, police officers and lawyers, leaders of the women-run community bank in Cajixay, and a fabulous meal of homemade boxboles made and shared together with men, women and children on our last day, we came home both exhausted and exhilarated.  I know that the stories and images of these courageous, hard-working people will not be forgotten, but shared with diverse networks through the group’s multi-media projects.  Stories like Ana’s, who in La Esperanza proudly weaves each day in an Agros textile project to make enough money to send her daughter Petronila to high school.  A few weeks ago, we saw her working on the most beautiful weaving of all, the one Petronila will wear at her graduation ceremony coming up in November.

The SalaamGarage photographers have returned full of energy and passion and ideas to share stories like Ana’s. Keep in touch with their work and SalaamGarage on Facebook and Twitter.  You can share the Agros story to help cause social change, too.  Check out how at http://onevillage.agros.org/.

Elementary school in Belén—photo credits: Patrick Lennox Wright

Agros Guatemala staff taking a turn with the big lenses! photo credits: Sam Lee

Photo Credit: Sam Lee

We’re so excited to share with you One Village—a unique opportunity to sponsor and walk with a rural village of Central America in a hope-filled journey out of poverty.

Using the power of multimedia, Agros International has created a truly one-of-a-kind online experience where—for as little as $15/month—you can sponsor and follow an actual village as they create new lives for themselves and their children.

For Agros villages, this steady stream of reliable support will help ensure that the development goals of the village can be met.  For sponsoring donors, the unique access via an online platform to the people and projects that comprise a given village is the closest one can get to actually being in a village short of traveling there. Through this journey, you’ll hear the voices of villagers and ambient sounds; you’ll see the beauty behind both the successes and ongoing challenges that the villagers face.

As you follow the progress of your sponsored One Village online, you’ll come to know the people more intimately through stories told in their own words, compelling photos, videos, and project updates.  And in addition, you’ll receive a quarterly update from your sponsored One Village via email!

1 – You Know About the Devastating Problem
Almost half the world lives on less than $2.50/day. More than a billion people go to bed hungry. Most of the world’s extreme poor live in rural areas and are landless.

2 – You Know That Agros Has An Effective Solution
Agros empowers entire rural villages to work their own way out of poverty by providing access to farmable land, long-term credit, and agricultural business training.

3 – Now… You Can Directly Help One Village Break Free from Poverty!

The need is great…the Agros solution works… and the One Village experience is a truly unique opportunity for you to directly help end rural poverty… One Village at a time.

EXPLORE the unique experience of One Village!

CHOOSE to be part of the journey!

SPONSOR One Village today!

Thanks to everyone for the many questions and concerns raised in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Agatha.  We have been assessing the storm’s impact in all of our villages over the last week and here is an update by country:

GUATEMALA
No crop damages, all villages are fine.  There are, however, reports that two bridges into Nebaj have been washed out so staff and teams travelling to the Ixil will take alternate routes until the bridges are repaired.

EL SALVADOR & HONDURAS
Minor damages to recently planted crops in both countries.  Agros staff are working with the communities to replant and provide technical assistance to recoup the minor losses.

NICARAGUA AND CHIAPAS, MEXICO
No damages, all villages are fine.

The following has been written by Susan Moulton, Agros Board Chair:

It is with great sadness that I am sharing with you the news of the death on April 20, 2010 of our beloved friend, Agros board member, and comrade in the fight to end rural poverty.

This beautiful message was posted on Mary Kay’s Carebridge site the morning of her passing:

“As the birds began a morning chorus, Mary Kay Burdick gracefully passed into the arms of God. She was never uncomfortable or in pain. The events of these final days have been exactly as MK wished. We have been able to grieve and laugh in nearly equal parts.”

Our hearts are also heavy and joyful in equal parts. Mary Kay contributed so much to the world she left behind: her CAN DO attitude and actions in serving the poor have been inspirational and have set into motion generational changes in the lives of so many. I am sad that so many of the families she served with all her heart will now never have the chance to encounter Mary Kay and the shinning light that burned in her so fiercely and brightly.

That light did not come without challenging many to ask questions that needed asking; it did not come without standing up for what was just and right no matter how uncomfortable it could be. As a close friend said, “Heaven needs to get ready, because when MK gets there she is sure to have lots of questions!”

Mary Kay raised her family the same way–by charting a deeply meaningful path, with love and engagement in all of life as a wife and mother. This path of love and engagement in the fullness of life will continue to be lived out by Mary Kay’s remarkable husband Don and wonderful children Morgan and Grady.

We miss MK fiercely, even as we celebrate the impact and legacy she has left in all of our lives.

Additionally, the following obituary was published in the Seattle Times:

Mary Kathryn ‘Mary Kay’ (Delay) Burdick, 51, Seattle community activist and former financial executive, passed peacefully into the arms of God on April 20, 2010. Her death followed a courageous three-year battle with cancer.

Born in Spokane on February 2, 1959, Mary Kay was the oldest of three children of Helen and John Delay. She graduated from Idaho’s Priest River High School, and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Idaho.

In 1981, she moved to Seattle and joined the accounting firm Price Waterhouse. She and Don Burdick were married in Seattle in 1983. Later, Mary Kay worked for Sullivan Payne Company as Chief Financial Officer, and for Costco Wholesale Korea as a buyer.

Charitable causes were central to Mary Kay’s life. She was particularly passionate about health care, serving as a community ambassador for the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).

She also cared deeply about the impoverished, acting as a director for Agros, an organization dedicated to helping the rural poor in Central America and Mexico.

In addition, Mary Kay was a director of the Eastside Housing Alliance.

Mary Kay was often engaged in many other causes and was a frequent volunteer. Many people knew Mary Kay as a skilled financial officer, and still others knew her as a passionate gardener, Scout leader, active learner, go-to person, tireless advocate for the poor, or simply special friend.

Her husband Don knew her as best friend and faithful companion. To daughter Morgan and son Grady, she was an actively engaged mom who taught by example to love travel, seek adventure, be curious, treasure learning, explore boundaries, and make thoughtful choices.

Mary Kay’s faith was an integral part of her life, particularly after being diagnosed with metastatic cancer. She studied actively and shared her religious principles with her children. Her deeply held beliefs served as the foundation that allowed her to counsel and comfort not only fellow cancer patients but also others who are suffering.

Although disease was part of Mary Kay’s life for several years, it did not define or consume her. She became an optimist, a proactive student of cancer care, and made her own informed decisions about medical treatment.

In addition to her active engagement with PATH and Agros, she continued to travel widely, including trips to South Africa, Cambodia, Thailand, Nicaragua and much of the European Union.

While receiving enhanced cancer treatment in Germany, she kept a blog and interspersed her treatment updates with tales of her travels in Europe, revealing her great sense of adventure, optimism and curiosity.

Mary Kay is survived by her husband Don, daughter Morgan, and son Grady, all of Mercer Island; sister Cindy, and brother John (Angela), both of Spokane; and parents, John and Helen Delay of Priest River, Idaho.

A mass of celebration will be held May 10 at 3:00 p.m. at Saint Monica Catholic Church, Mercer Island.

Please direct remembrances to PATH.org and Agros.org.

Agros is Latin and Greek for “land.”  Though “being green” has become very trendy in the last decade, since Agros began 25 years ago land and environmental stewardship has always been a cornerstone and guiding principle for how we work.  From the first piece of land that was purchased in 1986, Agros knows the immeasurable value of productive, fertile land, especially in the lives of rural farmers in Central America and Mexico, today and for the generations to come.

While approximately 80% of the rural poor depend on agriculture for their livelihood, most live on marginal land, where water is scarce and land is over-worked by cash crops and stripped of nutrients by extreme weather conditions such as drought and hurricanes.

Dependence on agriculture, poor management of natural resources and population pressures have led to serious environmental degradation and diminished opportunities for rural farmers to make a living.

Just to paint a picture of how serious this is, currently over 50% of Nicaragua’s energy is from firewood, dramatically contributing to the deforestation of the landscape.  With this loss of trees, underground water sources are drying up, rapidly leading to desertification, and plant and animal species are disappearing as well.  Economic losses include the decline in eco-tourism to these forests, various types of forest industries, as well as a decline in soil fertility essential for farmers.

To counter these trends, Agros works with farming families to teach sustainable agricultural practices as well as environmental conservation methods, like replacing slash-and-burn with organic compost produced on the farm and reforestation of the land.

This year, families in Agros Nicaragua communities are finishing the second special reforestation project supported by the generous support of the Weyerhauser Foundation.  Through these reforestation projects, dozens of communities in the Matagalpa and Rivas regions of Nicaragua have planted thousands of trees on hundreds of acres of land since 2007.  Here are just a few of the achievements that these families have made through these projects:

• 30 benefitting communities, including Agros and neighboring villages, making a significant impact on the entire region
• 425 families participated, approximately 3,000 men women and children contributing to a greener future
• 70,245 trees and plants reforested 304 acres, including fruit trees, various forest trees and native plants
• 22 greenhouses built to continue reforestation after the initial project
• Strategic partnerships established with local governments and NGOs to provide funding to expand the project
• Families equipped with forest management skills, including how to plan, budget and report on the project, how to plant and care for the trees, prevent forest fires and damage by cattle, build greenhouses to produce new trees for neighboring communities, and protect water sources and soil at risk for erosion
• Increased understanding of the ecological and economical importance of healthy, thriving forests
• Long-term improved soil fertility, stabilization of underground water sources, microenvironments and climates, decreased desertification

The following was written by Sabine Bernards, Agros International Service Teams Assistant:

In a culture where success is often measured by making, doing, and achieving, it is a challenge to step back to simply “be.” Members of Agros Service Teams traveling to Agros villages often find themselves confronted by this challenge, trying to reconcile their notion of what service means with the ideas of solidarity and accompaniment.

My own understanding of the concept of solidarity came on a recent four month long study abroad experience in El Salvador.  Before arriving, I expected to be doing some sort of tangible work—teaching English classes, working at local schools, or helping with community projects.  Spending two full days a week in the small community of San Ramon, however, I quickly learned that what I was there for was not to offer my services or my knowledge.  Instead of “doing” something, we spent much of our day simply spending time with the families of San Ramon, sitting in living rooms, drinking cafecitos, and talking for hours.

All around me I could see the effects of poverty and marginalization on the people I had grown to know and love; San Ramon is dangerously located at the base of an active volcano, children often leave school at early ages, and gang violence is escalating in the community.  It took me some time, but I finally came to understand that I, as an American college student visiting and living for four months, could not do everything.  What I could do was to graciously accept coffee and pandulce from Aida, Hector and Silvia, Areli, Anita, and so many others and simply “be” with and learn from the people of San Ramon.

Arriving in an Agros village, most Service Teams wrestle with similar tensions as I did in El Salvador.  They are ready to be put to work, hopeful to finish a project, or teach a class, all with the wonderful intentions of serving the community in tangible ways.  Despite these noble intentions, astute teams realize that their physical labor and their knowledge are not the reasons why they are so warmly welcomed into an Agros village. 

Villagers do not rely on teams to fix problems or finish projects; they welcome groups to “convivir,” to come and experience life with them and share in their hopes and dreams. People, not projects, are at the center of an Agros Service Team experience.  Physical labor, while at times very helpful, may not foster conversation, sharing, or relationships quite like sharing meals or cultural exchanges can. 

Slowing down to truly experience the reality of an Agros village opens service team participants and villagers up to a deeper understanding of the each other’s world.  In this deeper understanding lies solidarity, a sense of compassion and accompaniment that can last, both in the village and in the service team group, long after the team leaves.

For Agros service teams, this sense of solidarity can be humbling.  Learning about poverty and visiting Agros villages can often be overwhelming and instill a deep desire to solve problems or offer help.  After the experience of being in a village, participants realize that one week of work is a small but significant component of the complex and long-term work toward village development. 

As teams come to the honest realization that they cannot “fix” everything, they can step back from the need to accomplish tangibles and focus on intangible matters: relationships that can last and continue growing year after year with each service team trip.

Cross-cultural exchanges can be eye-opening, humbling, and transformative experiences for everyone involved. Learning about a new culture and experiencing life in another context can open one’s eyes to not only the differences, but also the many similarities. Perhaps most importantly, we can experience different ways of life and the values of another, especially through the generosity and humility of hosts who offer up their time, their homes, and their lives to guests for a week.  This, and many other aspects of the culture of Agros villages and of much of Latin America, can encourage us to slow down, to graciously accept kidnesss, and to begin to see past our desire to “do” and truly appreciate being in solidarity with others.

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?

Last week we were privileged to have three guests with us here in our Seattle office, joining us for our annual fundraising event, Tierras de Vida.  Visiting were Sergio Sanchez, our Agros Mexico Director, Diego Bernal, Productive Projects Coordinator in Cotzal, Guatemala, and Teresa Sanchez, Agros villager and staff, who currently works as a Productive Projects Promoter in the Ixil region of Guatemala.

It has been a pleasure hosting Sergio, Diego and Teresa here in the Rainy City as they met with partners, shared their stories at Tierras de Vida and elsewhere, and reminded us of the vastness of the Agros family of villagers, partners, staff, volunteers and so many others.

At first glance, many see Agros as a team of 17 hard-working staff here in the Seattle office.  What is sometimes harder to see is that the Agros family is much bigger.  In the five countries in which we work, Agros utilizes the skills, experiences and wisdom of over 60 staff native to the regions in which they serve.

Agros is fortunate to count on the cultural sensitivity, local knowledge and understanding found in our in-country staff, and Sergio, Diego and Teresa are no exception.  Combined, they have decades of experience in participatory rural development and indigenous populations, which they apply to empower hundreds of families across Central America and Mexico to find effective solutions that break the cycle of poverty.

This week, Sergio, Diego and Teresa began their journey back home to Mexico and Guatemala, bringing back with them stories and best wishes from all of those that were touched by their visit.  We will miss them for their generosity as they shared about the beauty and the suffering experienced in their countries, for their grace as they spoke honestly and from the heart before nearly 400 people Saturday night, and for their gratitude as they gave thanks for all the lives and communities that have been transformed by the Agros Model.

We will miss them, but we are encouraged by their visit and touched by how, despite the differences in our cultures, countries and customs, we are always united in a shared purpose.

As Juan from San José, Nicaragua put it so well in this video shown at Tierras de Vida, the Agros family is just that—we are “amor” for one another.

Today Agros makes the exciting announcement that Hans P. Theyer has been selected as President & CEO, effective June 1, 2009.

By way of introducing Hans to the Agros community we recently asked him to respond to the following questions.

What drew you to the Agros position?

The possibility of helping and serving the poor in both the regions where Agros is already working, and in regions where Agros is considering to one day expand.

Agros has a model that actually breaks the cycle of poverty for rural communities. In developing economies, this cycle of poverty and suffering is passed on from generation to generation and sadly is not a condition children can easily overcome.

The key to breaking cyclical poverty for the rural poor is in taking a long-term, holistic approach. This must certainly include empowering families to work and increase their income, as well as helping them to build long-term assets. But in order for the economic component to be successful we must also look at the whole person within the whole community.

To use a familiar analogy, what Agros does is not only teach families how to fish, but how to sell the fish, and to care for the pond. And most importantly, Agros does this in a way where the families themselves become owners of the pond!

We already know that bottom-up strategies that empower rural families over the long-term are more effective than short-term, individual interventions. And for the rural poor, those families depend so much on land for food, security and shelter. Being able to own your own land for these families is not just a dream, it’s essential!

These are just a few of the reasons why I’m honored to be able to join and serve this unique mission!

And then from a personal perspective, working for Agros is a dream come true. Working at Agros is a place where I can integrate the personal, spiritual and professional realms. I come from a background in Latin America where men define themselves in terms of their careers and professional accomplishment, and this does not necessarily go hand in hand with personal growth and serving others.

As you think about the days ahead for Agros, what excites you the most?

It is hard to prioritize — there are so many things. Let me share just a few.

Today I was looking through pictures from our Program Director, Laurie Werner, of families in El Salvador signing their land title deeds after paying off their land loans. Even from a distance I can feel what this means to them and how, previously, obtaining land ownership was a far away dream. But now the dream for these families has come true.

As I’ve had the chance to interact with (Agros founder) Skip, the board and the Agros executive leadership team, it has indeed been a pleasure as they set such a high personal and professional example. I have also interacted with several Journey With a Village partners, and have seen how their eyes and smiles brighten when they speak of their experiences and their connection to their “extended families” in the villages. I can sense how enriching these partnerships are to villagers as well.

I also remember how the Agros staff welcomed me so warmly just a few days ago and I must admit this is one of the most dedicated and knowledgeable teams I have ever seen.

Lastly, for me as well as for my wife and two sons, this opportunity is a joy and a blessing.

Tell us about your past work experience and how it relates to Agros?

First, I believe that my experiences with rural realities in so many different countries give me a good understanding of the challenges our villagers are facing and how Agros’ holistic approach can offer a lasting solution. I have had the chance to work in South East Asia, China and India, as well as throughout Latin America. While these regions are all fairly different from one another, they also have commonalities and similar challenges in their underserved communities.

Secondly, with a background in business, economics, and most recently having brought leadership to Microsoft’s rural computing efforts for emerging economies, I feel I can bring Agros a balance between strategic vision and a results-driven approach, knowing that strong partnerships, relationships, and teamwork are essential.

I have also worked both in the field and in corporate headquarters, giving me an understanding of “both worlds”, a valuable asset for managing our Seattle and country teams in the five countries where we operate.

Lastly, I have worked with and led multicultural and interdisciplinary teams, creating partnerships between many diverse entities, which is also the case at Agros. Creating effective partnerships across cultures, languages, and geographies is a key part of what Agros does.

As you look forward, what do you see in store for Agros?

A time for growth and larger impact! As I recently shared with the Leadership Team, Agros’ work is not only unique and effective, but transformative for everyone involved. Agros has done a good job sharing the work with their current base of supporters, but I believe we have an opportunity to gently but firmly take Agros’ light from under the basket and let it shine in many new places!

Globally, there are so many issues that cry out for sustainable solutions.  Whether it’s the world food crisis, environmental sustainability and over-consumption of resources, or the increasingly linked economies of the developing and developed world; we are in a time where Agros has much to offer.

Alleviating poverty is hard work. There are no quick solutions and so much depends on the generosity of supporters. However, I simply believe that Agros’ work is too effective, too transformative, and too important to not work as hard as we can toward that dream of “mil-Agros”  (In Spanish,  “a thousand Agros Villages” and/or “a thousand miracles.”)

Any last thoughts you wish to share?

Yes. I want to thank Skip, Susan Moulton and the Board, as well as the Agros Leadership Team and staff for how they have already welcomed me. And I can’t wait to meet our hard- working field staff and country directors.

I also want to thank our donors and partners for their support in making Agros the blessing it is for so many today, as well as for the many more rural, poor families we wish to touch. I look forward to meeting and getting to know our current family of supporters, as well as reaching out to new supporters and partners.

You all deserve my very best professional, personal and spiritual effort to assist in this transforming journey called Agros. Thank you.

I’m very excited to announce that Shannon Gallagher has joined the Agros team as the new Agros Annual Campaign Manager. We are grateful to have such a talented, committed person join our team. She brings a clear passion to serve, and a remarkable professional background.

Shannon’s previous work experience includes working as the Yahoo! Global Marketing & Programming Manager, Yahoo! Front Page, managing a multi-country targeted IP marketing program to better engage (localized content) and monetize (premium upsell) 90M international daily users adding millions of dollars in new revenue.  She guided a team of designers, web developers, and media specialists to implement simultaneous international internal marketing, co-branded and cause-related campaigns.

Shannon left Yahoo! for Africa, working in Mozambique as a Microfunds Fellow for Kiva (www.kiva.org). Returning to the US, she then went to work as Director of Marketing and Content for Graspr, Inc., an online video community that offers high quality instructional content on a wide range of topics.

She has a Masters degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, has studied in Venezuela and Chile, worked on projects in Bolivia and Argentina, and is fluent in Spanish as well as proficient in Portuguese. She also completed a Research Assistant Internship at the United Nations, Secretary General’s Office.

Please join me in welcoming Shannon to the Agros family!

Agros has a new open position for an Annual Campaign Manager.  As follows:

Position Summary:

The Agros Annual Campaign Manager will plan, manage, and grow all aspects of Agros’ Annual Giving efforts. This individual will increase overall annual giving by leveraging channel marketing expertise, direct mail and online giving experience, expertise in donor segmentation, and implementing effective donor acquisition and retention strategies. The Annual Campaign Manager will directly oversee the management of all direct mail, online and monthly giving programs, and work closely in all aspects of resource development to create, market and manage multi-faceted fundraising campaigns. Additionally, the Annual Campaign Manager will also help in the design & production of associated online & collateral material to promote the various aspects of the Annual Campaign.

Key Result Areas:

• Campaign Management: Plan, market, and manage Agros Annual Campaign efforts, leading the effort to secure gifts, acquire new donors, and through segmented communication channels strengthen relationships with current donors.
• Donor Acquisition: Increase the overall number of donors within each giving channel by marketing an integrated array of online and direct mail giving opportunities.
• Donor Retention: Increase donor retention through segmented donor stewardship and communication best practices.
• Fiscal Management: Under supervision of Director of Marketing and Communications, able to maintain and fiscally monitor campaign budget.
• Collaboration: Ability to collaborate across departments in a team environment; ability to work with and lead vendors and volunteers as necessary.
• Demonstrated Knowledge: Understand principles related to resource development, fundraising strategies, channel marketing, and resource management (statistical analysis of campaigns).

Click here for more details.

“My dream?  To give my children the education I never had.”  I’m sitting with Petronila, a sturdy woman with a tender but determined posture in the Agros community “Trapichitos” in the highlands of Quiché, Guatemala.  As she tells me about her life before Agros, the war and suffering in her country, she recalls how hard life was. “We suffered. There were no houses. No land to work or produce.” In addition to the physical suffering, being an indigenous woman kept her from learning to how to read or write, resulting in years of shameful discrimination — a legacy that she is now committed to preventing in the lives of her four young daughters.

Around the side of Petronila’s home is a raised compost bin where hundreds of little worms break down organic matter, like kitchen scraps and yard waste, into rich compost that she can apply to her crops. “My motivation for all of my projects is my children. I don’t want them to have to suffer like my husband Cristobal and I did.  Every project we do is so they can continue going to school.“  She proudly opens the lid of her bin and shows us the rich, dark compost that symbolizes life for her entire family.  Compost that not only nourishes her crops, but her family’s needs for nutritious food, bountiful crops that provide income, and a full education for their children.

Petronila isn’t the only one who values education.  Petronila, who has participated in the women’s Agros Community Bank for the last eight years to support her projects in chickens, textiles, vegetables and coffee, has instilled enterprising spirits and a vision for the future in each of her young daughters as well.  When I ask one of the girls her name, she takes my notebook to not only tell me her name, but show me how to write it.  “J-A-C-I-N-T-A,” she spells deliberately and proudly.  Petronila is gleaming.  I ask each child what they would like to be when they grow up. “A nurse!” Jacinta quickly responds. “I want to cure all the sick people in my community.“  It’s obvious that this little girl not only has a vision, but a strong purpose at a young age.

Our time is wrapping up, but there’s more Petronila wants to tell us. As we walk away from the worm bin, she cuts me a gift of sugar cane for the road and shares, “Our life is different than it was before. We are seeing changes in our daily lives because of Agros. I am very happy with Agros’ work in Trapichitos since there’s a beginning and an end to their time with us, we know that we are the ones directing the projects that bring us life.”

And it’s true, in a few months Petronila will begin selling the worms given to her by Agros to other families, passing on the rich compost that the worms provide as well as the blessing of training that she has received from Agros. Petronila will use all of this to positively impact yet another family’s journey towards land, hope, and life.

We are happy to announce the hiring of two new Agros Resource Development (RD) staff — Kathie Delph and Stuart Scadron-Wattles.  Kathie is the new Director of RD, and Stuart will serve as Major Gifts Officer.  While we celebrate the accomplishments of this past year, with more than 8,500 people served in 37 villages across Central America and Mexico, there are still many rural poor families around the world waiting for an opportunity to break free from poverty. It is with those people in mind that Agros is building capacity to fulfill our vision of restoring hope and opportunity to the world’s poor.

Kathie Delph, Director of Resource Development.
Kathie Delph joined the Agros team in September of this year as the Director of Resource Development, bringing 16 years of international nonprofit experience to her position.

Born and raised in California, she and her husband Steve moved to the suburbs of Boston in the mid 80’s to help plant a church. In the years that followed, both became engaged in international nonprofit work. Kathie’s heart for the poor grew while serving with Compassion International, where she became exposed to the breadth and depth of poverty on millions of children in the majority world.

Before her hiring at Agros, Kathie served at Compassion International as the Director of Foundation & Corporate Development, later becoming the Director of Development. She has been a board member of the So Colorado Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and she currently volunteers as a board member of the Development Associates International — an organization providing organizational leadership training to nonprofits in least accessible regions of the world.  She also serves on the board of the US office of Fondation le Grain de Ble, a Swiss based organization helping underprivileged children in Europe and around the world.

Kathie and Steve have two grown children; Brittany, a senior business major at the University of Colorado, and Taylor, a recent high school graduate who is preparing to travel to West Africa to volunteer with humanitarian organizations in Mali and Senegal.

Stuart Scadron-Wattles, Major Gifts Officer.
Stuart joined the Agros team in August 2007 as Major Gifts Officer for Resource Development. He has 26 years of experience in not-for-profit fundraising, beginning with capital gifts work at Cornell University, and moving through various performing arts organizations in the US and Canada. Stuart also has a theater degree, and has spent 16 years as a theater professional. Before joining Agros, Stuart was a principal in Smartworks Consulting, specializing in major gifts program design and capital giving strategies for the arts. Stuart grew up in Europe and in the US, spoke four languages as a child, and has long been interested in international issues, studying international relations at Johns Hopkins University. He has been on staff at Youth With A Mission and is a member of Seattle Mennonite Church. He describes his transition to Agros as “one of those unlikely corners one turns, only to recognize a place foreknown by the heart.”

Stuart and his wife Linda live in Seattle, where they have two married daughters and three grandchildren.

The full participation and involvement of the people we serve is fundamental to the mission of Agros. Paola, a 19-year-old woman from Cajixay, Guatemala, has worked as an Agros promoter since 2006. Her passion to improve the lives of the poor has helped many women in Guatemala. She is currently studying Social Work at the University of Santa Cruz.

“Agros began to work with Cajixay in 2002, and I have seen many changes since then, both in the lives of my family and in the whole community. My family has its own house for the first time!”

In November 2006, Agros offered Paola a job as a promoter of the textiles and weaving project. “I teach women how to improve their products and how to sell them more effectively. I work with all the Agros villages in the area, including Cajixay. It is a privilege to help the women in my own community. I am even teaching my mother!”

With the money that she earns, Paola pays for her studies at the university. “I work Monday through Friday for Agros, and I attend classes on Saturdays in Santa Cruz del Quiché. Saturdays are long days; I leave my house at 4 in the morning and return at about 10 at night, but it is worth the effort.”

Paola is studying social work, and her dream is to continue helping the people in her community and in all of Guatemala. “I love my work!” she says.

Paola’s deep conviction to help the poor are reflected in these words, “I want to urge all you who read this – fight to improve your lives. And if you don’t have your own struggles, fight to improve other people’s lives.”

We have a new opening at Agros for a Major Gift Officer:

GENERAL FUNCTION:  Initiate and cultivate relationships with potential major donors (individuals, businesses, and family foundations) who have the capability of making significant financial contributions to Agros International; maintain and build strong relationships with existing Agros International major donors; and professionally and effectively ask for financial gifts to fund the mission and program of Agros International.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:

• Minimum of 3-5 years major donor fundraising experience
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Effective combination of being people-oriented, detail-oriented, and direct enough to ask for large gifts
• Capability to develop and maintain long-term funding relationships
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to meet deadlines
• Proficient computer skills (Microsoft Office and Blackbaud’s “Raiser’s Edge”)

PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.

Agros International is pleased to welcome its new Director for Agros Honduras, Joel Martínez.

Joel Martínez Durón is a certified Agricultural Engineer with a Master’s Degree in ‘Generation of Development Projects’ and a background in Business Administration and Organizational Development. Joining Agros as the Executive Director of Agros Honduras, Joel’s twelve years of experience directing development projects in the field will greatly contribute to the families in Agros Honduras communities.

Prior to his role with Agros, Joel served as the Director of Program Development in Morzán Yoro for World Vision Honduras.  Joel led the strategic and operative planning process for the program, as well as comprehensive monitoring of the program’s impact.  He directed a team of field staff providing health, education, and economic development projects to the targeted population.

Joel was also responsible for administering the World Vision sponsorship program that generates 50% of the program’s funding. With his depth of experience and networking contacts relevant to the work of Agros, Joel will be a tremendous leader as the Honduras team continues to bring land, hope, and life to impoverished families in Honduras.

Welcome Joel!

On June 2nd, 2008, Nathan Hawkins joined Agros as the new Service Team Coordinator. Nathan is originally from Minneapolis and has lived in Mexico, East Tennessee, and most recently New Orleans, where he helped with rebuilding efforts after hurricane Katrina. He met his wife Joy in Tijuana, and together they moved to Seattle on November 2007. We’re truly excited to have Nathan join us.

Quoting the words of Frederick Buechner, Nathan describes his vocational calling as an intersection between “the place where deep gladness and the world and deep hunger meet.” Nathan adds, “I truly believe one such intersection for me is this opportunity to serve with Agros. I am so grateful to be joining you. I look forward to developing friendships and serving diligently alongside everyone at Agros and the many partners Agros counts as friends.”

Tara E. Leung will be leaving us on June 13th to pursue a masters program in International Development at Tufts University in Boston. She has worked and served with passion, excellence, and commitment.

Our very best wishes to Tara and a warm welcome to Nathan!