Agros Blog

Without regard for cultural, linguistic or ethnic divisions, March 8th is a day we honor the vast social, political and economic achievements of women worldwide.  International Women’s Day first emerged in 1909 largely through the push of labor movements, but officially took the global stage when recognized by the UN in 1975 “to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.”

The women of Agros villages have played extraordinary roles in the development of their communities. Not only do they tend to the family’s crops, but they are also successfully raising their children, managing the home, leading community efforts, furthering their own education, and starting and growing other small businesses. The stories of women’s achievements in Agros villages are countless, but here are just a few of note:

• One woman, Petronilla, is determined to grow multiple income-generating projects and send her four daughters to school to learn to read and write (pursuits she could not achieve as an indigenous girl).
• Ten women in the village of Brisas del Volcán can be credited for having the vision and sheer determination to start, build and grow that village.
• Hundreds of women are advancing opportunity for their extended families by building ‘Women’s Community Banks’ across Agros villages.

Agros International has always recognized and supported the critical role of women in building and nurturing thriving communities, families, and individuals.

One example of this can be seen in the Agros model which ensures that women are equally recognized on the title of land ownership—both the husband and the wife’s name is on the land title, which is not always the case otherwise in the region. Owning land for the first time in their lives is a powerful thing, giving women a tremendous sense of personal pride; getting equal recognition and reward in the eyes of the law for their contributions is an important component to building equity in other areas of community development.

Today we also give pause to look ahead and recognize that there is so much untapped potential and opportunity still awaiting future generations of women.

Together, let’s help support these women’s efforts by providing them with access to resources and the opportunity to grow.  Please consider giving the women of Agros villages the gift of hope through a gift of:

• Women’s Small Business Loan
• Women’s Economic Initiatives Training
• Rabbits and A Flock of Chicks (for small business creation)
• New Mother & Baby Kit

While we do not have operations there, all of us here at Agros are saddened by the tremendous loss and suffering endured by the people of Haiti and the tragedy that continues to unfold. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the countless people struggling to survive, the many families who’ve been affected worldwide, and to those organizations and individuals working tirelessly to help ease the suffering of so many.

The gravity of the situation and the sheer amount of work that lies ahead is daunting. But even the smallest of efforts can multiply into measurable impact for so many on the ground. And with so many organizations to choose from, we wanted to provide a list of a few agencies already at work that you might consider supporting in this effort:

• GlobalGiving’s Relief Fund for Haiti
• Partners in Health
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• Medical Teams International
• Oxfam America
• World Vision

You might also consider making a quick donation by text message. The Mobile Giving Foundation reports they’ve facilitated more than $10M to Haitian earthquake relief through text messages to date. For example, you can donate $5 to Haiti-born musician Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund by texting the word “Yele” to 501501, or $10 to the American Red Cross, by texting the word “Haiti” to 90999, and more.

We know you are a group who cares deeply about alleviating the suffering of those in the throes of poverty and despair — thank you in advance for your care, concern and support for those who truly need it.

Generosity in any form is a powerful force for good in the world… this holiday season, how will your generosity impact others?

This year, consider giving the most unexpected and meaningful gifts from the Agros One Seed Alternative Gift Catalog. Purchase gifts in honor of those you love and transform lives at the same time… One Seed, One Life, One Village at a Time!

The gifts in the One Seed catalog represent the essential elements of holistic development Agros employs to empower families to work their way out of poverty. Choose from a host of meaningful gifts that support our work:

• Land & Farming (an acre of land or a farmer’s toolkit)
• Village Housing & Infrastructure (a house or household wash basin)
• Animal Husbandry (a cow, a flock of chicks, or a goat)
• Women, Families & Villages (a women’s small business loan)
• Education & Training (business training or a child’s school supplies)

Your gift is a tax-deductible donation to Agros and will go far to empower families across Central America and Mexico by supporting actual projects underway in Agros villages. It’s so easy – here’s how it works:

1. Go to the Agros One Seed Alternative Gift Catalog website.
2. Select a gift of meaning for your loved one.
3. Choose how to send your gift card – via email or post mail.

Remember, you can purchase your gifts anytime, and choose to email or print a custom gift card yourself.

However, if you would like Agros to send a card to your gift recipient to arrive by Christmas, we’ll need to receive your order by Friday, December 18th in order to ensure it arrives on time.

Make your gift today and transform lives tomorrow!

Agros International is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty for the rural poor in Central America and Mexico. Poverty, in our view, is the result of broken relationships and in order to break the cycle of poverty in all its forms these broken relationships need to be mended. Agros addresses these issues by applying a development model that is holistic, sustainable, and focused on long-term results. And while we currently focus our work helping families in Mexico and Central America, we know that poverty is a condition persistent in all regions of the world, in both rural and urban settings, and we want to see it come to an end globally.

We know that you care about ending poverty, too. So we encourage you to see the film ‘The End of Poverty?’, directed by Philippe Diaz and narrated by Martin Sheen. It is not often that a documentary allows such a vivid window into the lives of the poor and the root causes of poverty. This movie promises to expose poverty for what it is and inspire us all to take some form of action. Please join us in the fight against poverty.

For those of you in the Seattle metro area, ‘The End of Poverty?’ premieres today in downtown Seattle at the Regal Meridian 16 at 11:40am, 2:10pm, 4:40pm, 7:50pm, and 10:30pm. Also, Philippe Diaz the director will be holding a Q&A session at tonight’s 4:40pm and 7:50pm showings. If you can’t make the premiere tonight, it will be playing through the week.

• Visit the film’s website to learn where the film is playing near you.

• Don’t see it available in your metro area? Bring the film to your town now.

Thanks for helping to spread the word about this film and its important message to end the plight of poverty.

Today, October 16th, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognizes the global observance of World Food Day. In a year deemed the ‘worst financial crisis since the Great Depression’, the ripple effects of which exponentially hurt most those already suffering, it is fitting that this year’s theme focuses on Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis.

The FAO highlights the critical importance of food security for the entire world’s citizens, especially as the ‘economic crisis is stalking the small-scale farms and rural areas of the world, where 70 percent of the world’s hungry live and work. With an estimated increase of 105 million hungry people in 2009, there are now 1.02 billion malnourished people in the world, meaning that almost one sixth of all humanity is suffering from hunger.”  Please visit the FAO’s World Food Day website to learn more about food security issues and how you can get involved in making a difference.

For Agros International, land tenure and food security are tantamount to everything we do working to improve the lives of the rural poor of Central America and Mexico. From selection of fecund, productive agricultural land to providing sound agricultural training, Agros staff is committed to providing Agros communities with all the tools necessary to ensure their ongoing food security and growth.  In turn, Agros communities have worked hard to implement sustainable agricultural techniques to diversify their crops and increase yields. In many cases, these improvements have meant the difference between one meal of tortillas a day to three consistent meals a day from a diversity of nutritious food groups for the whole family.

We invite you to reflect on this date the value of food security in your life, and how critical it remains for the millions of people who continue to go hungry. Please consider giving a hand-up to those working to create sustainable food sources for themselves and their families. Give the gift of One Acre of Seed or a Flock of Chicks today!

Today, October 15th, we celebrate the International Day of Rural Women. Established in 2007 by the UN General Assembly’s resolution 62/136, the annual observance recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.” The observance serves to not only applaud the many contributions made, but also raise awareness around the many challenges and inequities still facing most rural women globally.

As noted in the UN Secretary-General’s annual message, the disparities that continue to exist are particularly noteworthy in a year that also marks the 30th anniversary of the only international human rights treaty to address the rights of rural women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This doctrine calls upon us all “to ensure that women fully participate in rural development; have access to health care…training, education, credit and loans; and benefit equally from infrastructure investments…”

Agros International has always recognized and supported the critical role of women in building and nurturing thriving communities, families, and individuals. Women in Agros villages are not only working the family’s crops, they are also successfully raising their children and managing the home. A great number of them are at the same time advancing their studies to better their future opportunities, taking on loans and successfully managing income-generating microenterprises, and holding elected offices making important decisions in village community leadership. Inspiring isn’t it?

It is probably no surprise, then, that a cornerstone of Agros’ model has always been to ensure that women get equal billing on the title of land ownership—both the husband and the wife’s name is on the land title. Owning land for the first time in their lives is a major step forward for women and a tremendous sense of personal pride; getting equal recognition and reward in the eyes of the law for their contributions is an important component to building equity in other areas of community development.

More amazing still are the women who do it alone – work the land, raise the children, go to school, manage small businesses and contribute to village leadership – working towards attaining their land title.

One such example is Juana from the village of San Diego in El Salvador. While her husband left her with five children to raise alone, she built a life for her family through hard work and a hopeful spirit. During the war in El Salvador she and her family sought refuge in Honduras, surviving difficult conditions. When they returned after the peace agreements and learned of Agros, Juana and her family were one of the first to join the community of San Diego. Partnering with Agros has been one of the most important decisions she ever made because with land of her own, she can take care of her children. In San Diego, her oldest son Nelson helps her cultivate corn and beans and diverse vegetables. Juana is also one of the first in her community to start a tilapia project where she and business partners earn $2/lb. for the 150 – 200 pounds of fish they farm on average each quarter. She’s also an active member of the Women’s Committee, working on a multitude of projects to improve the lives of women and youth in her community. Through these activities, Juana can send her children to school and provide them a more stable home than she ever had.

Through much hard work and determination, Juana is expecting to pay off her land loan very soon. She still has a bit to go, but is determined to see the day when she can take her title to her land as a single working woman, and share the rewards with her children and their children for generations to come.

We invite you to recognize and pay tribute to the many achievements made by so many in the face of great adversity on this International Rural Women’s Day. In honor of this special date, please consider making a difference in the life of a rural, poor woman in an Agros village who, like Juana, is working hard to make a meaningful change in their lives. Make a Women’s Small Business Loan today!

Do you live in the greater Seattle area and enjoy evenings filled with fabulous music all for a good cause?

Join us this Saturday, October 10th for the OPERA-toberfest concert benefiting Agros and a few other worthy causes! The show will include six professional singers performing a collection of well-known arias, musical theater ditties, and popular songs. Selections will include excerpts from La Boheme, Carmen, Pirates of Penzance, Java Jive and Deep Purple.

Show details:
Date: Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
8501 SE 40th St
Mercer Island, WA 98040

Tickets are free, while any donation is most welcome! Two years ago this event raised nearly $8,000, and this year the organizers are hoping to surpass $10,000. Help us reach this goal!

Complimentary autumn brews, assorted wines, soft drinks, and Bavarian goodies will be provided both at intermission and after the show.

To learn more about the event, or RSVP directly, please view the OPERA-toberfest Evite.

We hope to see you there!

Do you live in the greater Seattle area and enjoy good music that benefits not only your ears, but also a good cause?

Please join us this Saturday, August 29th for a benefit concert that is sure to amaze with the phenomenal fingerstyle guitar talent of Trace Bundy!  An Agros fan himself, Trace’s 2008 CD/DVD project release titled “Missile Bell” was inspired by a story he heard while traveling in Central America visiting Agros villages. The families’ stories of struggle and redemption after surviving their country’s civil war has influenced and made its way into Trace’s music. As such, Trace has kindly included us in this benefit concert and we hope to share the good times and good music with you!

Show details:

Saturday, August 29, 2009
7:00pm – 10:00pm (doors open at 6:00pm)
Maple Valley Presbyterian Church
22659 Sweeney Rd. SE
Maple Valley, WA 98038
Phone:  425-432-4399

Tickets are $10 advance, and $12 at the door.

Take a few minutes to watch him play and you’ll surely agree that Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard.

For more detailed event information, visit:
Trace’s Facebook Fan Page and Maple Valley Presbyterian’s website.

We hope to see you there!

It never ceases to amaze me just how much we stand to learn from children. Their perspective about the world around them is so bright, their demand for equality so unwavering, and their desire to “do good”  so pure.

I saw a great example of this in practice the other day at the St. Joseph School’s bake sale. When you think of the traditional bake sale, it’s typically employed to raise money for things the kids need, like more instruments for the school’s band or new uniforms for a sports team.

But this bake sale was different. After first being introduced to Agros and its mission by teacher Beth Peterson, the three 1st grade classrooms at St. Joseph’s joined forces and decided to put on a bake sale to raise money for the children and animals in Agros communities. Their zeal was infectious, and soon a date was set and moms and dads alike were in line last Fall ready to help bake for a cause!

On a carefully orchestrated rotating schedule of parents, students and teachers manning tables across a several hour span, the first bake sale held in the school’s cafeteria was an absolute success. Offering a variety of delicious treats, ranging from cookies to cakes anywhere from 50¢ to $2 for a bundle, the first bake sale brought in an astounding $640!

The kids clearly had a blast baking with their parents. But what may have trumped that was the fun in having the adult responsibility of selling the goodies and handling all the finances. The 1st graders were so pleased with the fruits of their labor, they decided they wanted to do it again in the Spring! In the meantime, the $640 raised was set aside for safe keeping until the next bake sale scheduled a few months later, after which they planned to present one check to Agros.

Before the next bake sale, Ms. Peterson invited her longtime friend and Agros staffer, Dave Spicer, to come share a bit more about Agros with the students. As one of Agros’ fundraising officers, this was the youngest group of “future philanthropists” he’d ever presented to. So he went prepared with rich stories and visuals to engage the children in a way that would help relate the Agros children’s daily experience as compared to their own; showing both the similarities and differences. There were many pictures of Agros children with animals like goats, rabbits, chickens and cows and the children loved it. After the presentation was over, student after student shared that they really liked that “Agros works with people and animals, and they help each other.”

Dave and I both were humbled, and wanted to make sure the kids knew how many lives their efforts would touch in such positive ways, and how inspiring they were to us personally.

When the time came for the second bake sale, the parents, teachers and students functioned like a well-oiled machine. The resources were in place, the goods were plentiful and varied (and I might add quite delicious!), and there were prospective buyers a plenty with thanks to well-placed and artfully decorated poster advertisements! Buyers came and went in steady waves, and the baked goods seamlessly replenished to meet the needs with thanks to the many organized parents behind the scenes.

It was such fun to see the 1st graders work their magic and sell people not only a delicious treat, but also talk about Agros’ mission and what inspired them to run the bake sale in the first place. It was equally heartwarming to see kids from the other grades carefully look at the photos of Agros villages we’d brought and ask such smart questions about the work.

At the end of the day, the second and final bake sale of the year brought in a little over $500! That is a lot of cookies, muffins, and cakes exchanging hands!

A few days later, in a poignant and heartfelt ceremonial gesture, the 1st graders from St. Joseph’s presented Dave with a check to Agros in the amount of $1140!

Our sincere thanks to the first grade teachers at St. Joseph’s Elementary, Beth Peterson, Mary Doquilo and Aimee Meier for their vision and leadership to see this project through, and to all the parents who offered so freely of their time and resources to bake and host the bake sale tables.

And most especially, our warmest thanks to the 63 students of St. Joseph’s 1st grade classrooms for including Agros on your journey to “do good in the world” and reminding us all of the importance of giving. We would be honored to work in tandem with you again next year, and hope you’ll share some of your coveted baking recipes with us, too!

Our heartfelt thanks to our friends around the globe for your concern about the welfare of the Agros villages in Honduras after last week’s tremor. The powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Honduras at 3:24am local time last Thursday. The jolt toppled approximately 80 homes in both Honduras and Belize, killing at least six and sending untold numbers of people running into the streets in the middle of the night. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya estimates the damages total upwards of US$37 million.

Thankfully, the families in the Agros Honduras villages are all safe and sound, and report no damage to community buildings or infrastructure. Equally, Agros in-country staff and their families are all well. We are grateful that the Agros family is unharmed and the only resulting disruption was to the main office’s Internet connection which is expected online again in a few days.

For more information on the quake itself, read CNN’s latest update.

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, we at Agros would like to acknowledge the tremendous amount of hard work and compassion that our mothers, and the many other women in our lives, have put forth to strengthen their families and communities.

Agros International believes investing in women is a critical component in the development of solid communities. Not only do women prove themselves to be successful entrepreneurs, but their commitment to reinvesting profits into their families reaps rewards for the extended community.  Women’s projects are becoming a significant source of income in many Agros villages and better position families to pay off their land loans ahead of schedule.

In La Esperanza, El Salvador, a group of women have started a beading and jewelry-making business and travel to various events and markets to sell their products. Last quarter the group made a profit of $75 which was used to purchase more supplies to then divide amongst the group.

Twenty-five women in Batzchocola, Guatemala have joined together to form a Community Bank.  They have successfully completed six six-month lending cycles with a 100% on-time repayment record and have saved $1,847 to lend to other community members outside of the Community Bank.  This is a huge accomplishment for a group that started working together just three years ago and will significantly increase access to funds for all village members interested in starting projects.

Women in other villages are concentrating on a variety of projects including baking and food catering, animal husbandry, weaving and embroidery, decorative arts, and small stores.  These projects give women economic independence, confidence, and the ability to contribute to their families’ income.  Your support helps Agros make a significant impact in the lives of rural, female entrepreneurs.

What better way to recognize your mother’s love and devotion than by investing in rural mothers working hard to provide a brighter future for their children? Show her how much you appreciate the positive impact she’s made in your life by giving a gift in her honor that helps other women extend their impact!

Consider making one of these impactful gifts today:

• Women’s Small Business Loan
• Family Health Package
• Support a Family
• Raise Rabbits

Learn more at the Agros One Seed Gift Catalog!

As we pause on this 39th anniversary of Earth Day to reflect on our commitment to a healthy environment, I’m reminded that in fact every day is ‘Earth Day’ in the developing world. When your very survival depends on the blessings borne from the land and its ecosystems you can’t help but have laser focus on cultivating, and respect for preserving, its sustained bounty.

But the reality is we remain in the throes of a mounting global food crisis as a large majority of the world’s population does not have access to a consistent food source. In fact, many international development organizations are now making the case to the G8 which Agros has long espoused in Central America and Mexico: the solution to ending the world’s food crisis is by investing in small farmers.

Today, nearly three quarters of the world’s poor live and work in rural areas and are dependent on the land for survival. Over two thirds of the rural population in the Central American and Mexican region Agros serves are landless and find themselves in extreme poverty. To break the resulting cycle of poverty passed on from generation to generation, it’s essential that we empower the rural poor with the tools necessary to lift themselves out of poverty through sustainable measures.

Because people are naturally inclined to take better care of a resource that is their own, we believe the first step toward upholding environmental sustainability begins with land ownership. To that end, the unique Agros development model builds long-term assets ensuring access to land, affordable credit, and technical training proven to support sustainable land stewardship.

Do your part — celebrate Earth Day by investing in rural families who employ sustainable agricultural practices today and reap the rewards for many tomorrows to come!

• Plant a dozen trees
• Buy an acre of land
• Enrich soil with organic worm composting
• Provide business and agricultural sustainability training
• Reduce stove emissions and build composting latrines

Learn more at the Agros One Seed Gift Catalog!