Agros Blog

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.

With thanks to a very generous donor, we’re excited to share that from now until December 31st, every dollar you donate to Agros – up to $25,000 in general fund giving – will be matched dollar for dollar!

Whether you prefer to make a general donation online, donate by phone, donate by mail, or give a gift in honor of someone you love from the Agros One Seed Alternative Gift Catalog – your gift will be doubled! Your gift to support the work of Agros will go far to make a lasting difference in the lives of the rural poor – from helping provide loans for small agricultural businesses and women’s enterprises, seed for crops, or support for in-country professionals that provide hands on training in agronomy, health and hygiene practices and human development.

Here are just a few examples of how far a gift can go in the countries where we work, and how taking advantage of this matching opportunity can double your impact:

• A $1000 gift is enough to provide one acre of land, the most effective tool for breaking the cycle of poverty. With this match, your gift has the potential to provide two acres of land for a community!

• A $500 gift can supply a fuel-efficient stove and composting latrine for a family.
  With this match, your gift could provide two families with a family health package!

• A gift of $250 can secure a water pump and 100 feet of irrigation piping.
  With this match, your gift could provide two valuable irrigation systems!

• A gift of $100 can provide two women with small business loans.
  With this match, your gift could provide four women with funds to start their new businesses!

Please consider going above and beyond what you might normally give to empower countless families in Mexico and Central America to break free from the cycle of poverty -  to be self-sustaining, and have the freedom to dream again.

Whatever you’re able to give, we thank you for choosing to make such an impact this year and helping Agros finish the year strong!

P.S. – If you plan to make a gift from the Agros One Seed catalog and you’d like us to send your honoree a gift card for the Christmas holiday, please be sure to order your gift by Monday, December 21st to ensure it arrives on time.

Are you fluent in Spanish and have a few hours to donate to Agros?  We have over twenty-five video interviews from Chiapas, Guatemala, and Honduras that need to be translated.

The process is easy and straightforward:

• We will send you an audio .mp3 file of a Spanish interview that you can listen to on your computer, Ipod, mp3 player, etc.
• You type out a word-for-word Spanish transcript of that interview
• You then translate the Spanish transcript into English (just a quick, rough translation)
• Send the word doc back to us and you’re done

The interviews vary in terms of length.  We need all interviews translated by September 15, so if you’re interested please email Maria Jose Soerens at mariajoses@agros.org.  Thanks.

If you’re an Agros supporter perhaps you’ve realized that by caring and investing in this work you’re doing something different.

Agros supporters like you are part of an effort to not just alleviate poverty, but to provide rural communities with the ability to overcome it themselves in a way that spreads across communities and generations. This is a big goal.  It’s hard work. And we are clear of this simple fact: So many more rural families would still be trapped in poverty if not for your ability to help create a world free from the devastation of extreme poverty.

It’s simple… we could not do this work without you.

Knowing you share this vision is why I’m excited to announce a new Agros matching gift opportunity, made possible by one of Agros’ closest supporters and advocates.

From now until June 30th (our fiscal year end) every dollar you donate to Agros – up to $100,000 in general fund giving — will be matched dollar for dollar!

We’re not placing any restrictions on how you contribute to the Agros mission. You can:

• Make a general donation online
• Mail in your gift to Agros
• Phone in your gift to Agros
• Give an alternative gift to others from the Agros One Seed Gift Catalog

This campaign applies to ANY new money that comes in from June 1st through June 30th. Gifts received that are intended to fulfill a past pledge do not qualify. We’ve currently raised $40,000 towards our goal, and need an additional $60,000 by June 30th to qualify for the full $100,000 match!

This campaign not only doubles every dollar received, but it doubles our ability to meet and respond to the hopes of rural families.  If you’ve ever considered the challenges of poverty and wished you could do more, this is your opportunity.  Every dollar used to fight poverty counts.

We’re so grateful for your support and care, and eagerly await your response!

First — many of you received our in-house staff newsletter in your email inbox today. This was an unfortunate accident and we sincerely apologize. Like many of you, here at Agros we work hard to diminish SPAM and ensure that only essential email enters our own inboxes, and so we apologize all the more for the mistake! We can assure you that this will not happen again.

Second — Agros is saying good-bye to the U-District and moving to our new office in Belltown on March 15th. You can help us in a number of ways:

Before the move:

• We need people on call who help us move acquired furniture into our new office.
• Do you have a truck available to share? We need volunteers with a large pickup truck or large enclosed vehicle on an “On Call” basis to help get the furniture we are gathering picked up and delivered to the Belltown office.
• We need Boxes and Packing materials.

Day of the move: Saturday, March 15th

We will be organized in three teams, you can be part of one of them:

U. District Team
7:45 am – Food Hospitality
We need a couple of volunteers to bring and set-up a continental-style breakfast for the volunteer crew. This would include items like coffee, bagels, and fruit.

8:00 am – We need strong volunteers at the U District office to load boxes (and some furniture) into the moving truck, and to also help clean up once the office is empty. Your friends/family are welcome to join us.

Belltown Team
10:30 am – We need strong volunteers at the Belltown office around 10:30 am to unload the truck, attend to security doors and elevators, and deliver items to designated offices. Boxes and offices will be labeled in advance.

11:30 am – Food Hospitality
We need a couple volunteers to order and set up food for the volunteer crews at the Belltown office. We need a couple volunteers to clean up the food after lunch.

Finish Team
Sunday, March 16, Noon – 4 pm
We need flexible volunteers who could be available in case we need help with all those loose end items which couldn’t get covered on Saturday. We will only need volunteers if there are last minute needs to make sure Agros is up and running for Monday morning!

If you are able to volunteer for any of the above, please contact Kathy Riper at kathyr@agros.org or 206.528.1066 to let her know what day(s) and time you are available.

Office Needs
We are also looking for Office furniture! We are specifically looking for:

• Desks 5 – 6 feet length (we need several of these…).
• Desk Chairs in good condition.
• Two-shelf book cases.
• Conference Table – modular.
• Kitchen Table to seat 6 (30-36 inch wide).
• Contemporary track lighting.
• Coat racks.
• Plants – indoor, medium to large, easy to care for.
• New Coffee Maker.
• Kitchen cart (our counter-top is limited in space, our floor space is much more).
• Deck furniture.

Our Former Office Space in the University District is Available!
The space is about 2600 square feet. Contact Jean Ingebritsen for details at jeani@agros.org.

Over the course of the year we get many volunteer requests and for a variety of reasons we are not always able to plug everyone in. However now (this week in fact!) we have need of Spanish translation help.  As follows:

I recently shot over 15 hours of video footage in Honduras, Nicaragua,  and Guatemala.  I am now looking for Spanish speakers who would be willing to help translate video interviews into English.  The process is easy and straightforward:

• I will send you an audio .mp3 file of a Spanish interview that you can listen to on your computer, Ipod, mp3 player, etc…
• You type out a word-for-word Spanish transcript of that interview
• You then translate the Spanish transcript into English (just a quick, rough translation)
• Send the word doc back to me an you’re done

The interviews vary in terms of length.  None of them are over 15 minutes.  I need all interviews translated by this Monday, Oct 15… so if you’re interested you can email me direct at seand@agros.org.

Mario Gaitan, executive director of Agros Nicaragua, reports on the actions taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Felix:

“Because of the devastating consequences of Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua, Agros created a special fund to meet the basic needs of the families impacted by the hurricane. Here is what is being done in each affected Agros Nicaragua village:

Norwich
We’ve been working hard to revitalize the production of sorghum that was affected by flooding. We’ve hired a doctor to provide health care to families in the village, giving special priority to children and women. We’ve also been able to acquire preventive medicines for the villagers to complete a community first aid post, which will be used to treat common illnesses such as flu, fever, and dengue.

Agros Nicaragua also purchased abate, a substance used to disinfect water by killing the parasites that later become mosquitoes that transmit dengue. The families are not only prepared to fight common illnesses during this season, but also are better prepared to prevent health problems in the future.

San José
In the Agros Village San José, we’ve purchased 20qq of bean seeds in order to replenish the food supplies for 28 families. The Nicaraguan team is also providing support with additional agricultural supplies and building materials for the construction of fertilizer latrines. A doctor was hired to provide post-hurricane health care for all 28 families.

El Edén
Agricultural supplies have been purchased to help replenish food supplies for all 27 families. Basic grains will be planted, with harvest targeted for the second crop of the year. 3.4 acres of Maracuya will also be replanted.

As a final note, I would personally like to thank all of the families in the US who have donated funds to support these families in Nicaragua. These resources are an abundant blessing in this difficult season.

The families in Agros Nicaragua villages are actually in good spirits, and are very hopeful in spite of the circumstances.

Greetings to all,
Mario Gaitán
Executive Director, Agros Nicaragua”

First and foremost, thank you for your prayers for the families affected by Hurricane Felix. We are all grateful that the damages suffered do not include the loss of any lives in Agros villages. However, there are significant damages that have occurred that will affect hundreds of families over the next year. Many of the families we serve are now facing the coming year with the potential for disease, hunger, and lost income.

We cannot let these families suffer alone, and we need your help.

Specifically, the early damage reports from the field show that:

• Basic food crops in many villages have been either partially or completely destroyed.
• Many families are suffering from respiratory disease and need medical attention — local clinics are over capacity and do not have enough medicine or human resources to help.
• The latrines have entirely collapsed in the village of San Jose, which could lead to a health epidemic if not repaired soon.
• Heavy rains have caused significant damage to income-producing crops as well, including the coffee crops in some of our newer villages.
• Many of the roads leading to villages in El Salvador have been damaged and will need repair.

For most of these families, damaged crops mean the devastating loss of an entire year’s worth of work, income, and for many the loss of food supplies for the coming year. In addition to coordinating repairs, medical assistance, and the replanting of crops, Mario Gaitan (Agros Nicaragua Exec Director) estimates that it is also necessary to provide emergency food rations throughout the coming months.

$25,000 is needed immediately to provide the necessary support to help these families rebuild and replant. Please donate today to help these families in the rebuilding process.

Thank You,

Greg Rake
President, Agros International

I’ve just returned from an extended time in the field. Driving through some of the poorest areas of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala I was struck by the faces and stories of so many people without land, without jobs, and without hope. People begging on the roads, fathers abandoning their families to work in another country, single mothers risking everything because they don’t have anything.  There are so many thousands of families with children living in borrowed houses on borrowed land, with no security for tomorrow and often having to migrate to secure even just a little food for their children.

Even though I’ve been working with the rural poor for many years, it is still easy for me to feel overwhelmed, overtaken by the enormity of the sheer human need that exists. These are the questions that keep me up at night – How can Agros possibly make a difference given the scale of suffering that exists? How can we have an impact in the lives of these families? How can this impact go beyond the short term, but create tangible and lasting transformation?

Returning home from this trip I am clear that merely feeling overwhelmed by the needs of the poor is just not good enough. We MUST be willing to be moved by the plight of the poor, but I know that there is a more powerful question to ask:

“The needs that exist are clear – but what do these families hope for and dream about?”

Rather than enumerate a list of the needs that exist for the rural poor, at Agros we’ve learned over the years that it’s more powerful and effective to create tangible plans and development models that are based on the values and dreams of the people we serve. And further – we must also be able to articulate the dreams of Agros.

In the face of so much need, at Agros it is our dream to make a difference in the lives of these families that will last for generations; to enable villagers to obtain the security, permanence, and dignity of land ownership and economic opportunity within strong, healthy communities. We are dreaming about starting new projects so that more families will have security and opportunity. We are working hard so that children will have enough to eat, be able to attend school, and have the opportunity to dream their own dreams, with the tangible resources to fulfill them.

It is our dream that in the years to come thousands more rural families will be able to see their dreams realized with crops harvested, houses built, new businesses launched, food provided for their children, and the brutal cycles of poverty ended for good.

So I am back from this trip feeling the needs of the rural poor like never before – yet knowing that ‘need’ is just one part of the whole. We must be willing to weep over the needs of the poor, and then to go to work driven by the values, ambitions, and dreams of those we serve.

We are seeking to raise $1,000 for the families of El Edén to help with their recovery from the massive wind storm. Our Nicaraguan Director sent me this update:

“There was a loss to the bean production, as part of the plants were still very young and therefore won’t fill with full grains as normal. The cacao lost its leaves – and for us this is the crop that was most affected, along with the plantains. There was also loss to the coffee harvest. The houses have been rebuilt, however we are missing roofs for several of the families.”

The families are continuing forward with their coffee harvest and to recuperate as much of their crops as they can. The Agros staff is walking right alongside them as they do so. They haven’t lost hope and they maintain their vision of a better future for their families.

The most urgent need is for the roofing of their homes. The roofs consist of zinc laminate sheets, which will cost approximately $1,000 total. This will buy 128 zinc laminate sheets to provide the families will new roofs to protect them from the elements.

We are seeking to raise this $1,000 as soon as possible. Would you consider making a donation towards the families in El Edén today? Just go to the Agros Give Now page and specify that this is for the families in El Edén.

Thanks for your generosity, and we’ll keep you posted.