Agros Blog

In five Agros villages in Nicaragua, 102 families have combined their efforts and produced nearly 50,000 pounds of Tabasco chili peppers for export. Through agricultural loans and technical training with Agros, these families from the El Edén, Nuevas Esperanzas, San José, and San Marcos villages have already generated $7,500 in profits. The farmers obtained a favorable market price by joining together and negotiating a contract with a Nicaraguan exporter.

The pepper project improves families’ year-round income, and is also an opportunity for families to apply the agricultural and business techniques they are learning. With the help of Agros staff, farmers are using a new drip irrigation system, testing new fertilizers, and exploring different methods to minimize and control insect infestations.  The success of this project is boosting farmer’s confidence and encouraging them to apply new skills to other crops and projects as well.

In San Marcos de Belen, Luis and his family are waiting to build their new house, and in the meantime, the family bikes three miles each day to arrive on time to help with the pepper project. Luis works hard at the project and appreciates the equal effort and responsibility from his neighbors.  He remarks proudly, “I am very happy with the work ethic of Agros; we have to work to gain results.  This gives me pride and dignity and the opportunity to leave something behind for my children.”

Here at Agros, we are committed to connecting our supporters with stories, information, and progress made by the inspiring individuals we work with. We do this through a variety of channels: this blog, enewsletters, Facebook, Twitter, our video gallery, and our quarterly village updates.

Every quarter we publish pdf updates on the work and progress of each of our active villages. These updates come directly from Agros’ program staff working in-country and contain the most up-to-date information about projects and programs currently underway in Agros villages along with quotes and profiles of individuals.

All village updates can all be found by mousing over the “Our Villages” tab on the Agros website and clicking on any village to then view and download a pdf.

Here are a few examples of what these updates contain:

• This spring, many Agros village members have made impressive progress starting new projects and expanding their existing ventures. For example, over the past three months, the women’s chicken project in El Milagro, El Salvador has sold a remarkable $1,800 worth of eggs! The group has used profits to pay loans, purchase supplies, put aside savings, and help their families. We invite you to read more about the women of El Milagro and find stories of other dedicated and successful village members by looking in the Spring 2009 Village Updates.

• This spring’s update on La Providencia, Guatemala, profiles Ramon, a community health worker. Each week, Ramon dedicates two days to provide health care for community members and he also administers the village’s supplies of medicine and first aid equipment. The success of the leadership in La Providencia is evident from their support for Ramon as well as the recently completed construction of a three-room school supplied with 200 desks and six teachers for 186 proud elementary students.

• In El Edén, Guatemala, five families recently completely paid their land loans, and many more families are quickly moving towards paying off their loans by investing in successful small business opportunities.

There are many more examples and stories of lives being changed. Enjoy exploring and reading.

Many of you may have heard that there was a 6.8 earthquake off the coast of Guatemala.  We’ve been in touch with key staff in Guatemala & El Salvador and they assure us that everything is ok – none of the villages or villagers have suffered damage.  CNN has more on the earthquake itself.

I returned this past Sunday from a 6 village visit in Nicaragua. Perhaps ‘visit’ is too tame a word. In reality, the trip was more of an expedition. Through videography and still photography, it was 16+ hour work days trying to capture stories, scenes, and experiences of the communities served by Agros Nicaragua. From Managua to Matagalpa to Rivas, we drove through stunning landscape, humble yet dignified communities, and met with a people who are simply some of the hardest working men and women I’ve ever met.

We visited four Agros villages (El Edén, Aduana Dos, Futuro del Manaña, and San Marcos de Belen) and two communities who may one day start their own sustainable Agros village. In each community we interviewed 3-4 people in depth, and then shot a variety of still photos of each person. We are now working on logging the video footage and translating the interviews, and once this is complete we’ll publish it all here on the Agros website in a series of photo essays (stay tuned for this) and short videos in our video gallery.

There is much I want to say about the people we spent time with… to tell of their determination, focus, faith, and commitment to create a new future for their children… but I do believe that there ARE times when the cliché is true: a photo is worth more than words. So to that end, I’ve posted a small sample of these photos here in the Agros Photo Gallery. Please take a look.

(Note: these photos were all shot by Trevor Snapp, professional photographer extraordinaire – be sure to check out Trevor’s website here).

Also, several of you recently and generously contributed to the Agros Nicaragua Truck Appeal letter we sent out (Agros staff were in urgent need of a new truck)… and let me assure you that over countless miles of pavement and gutted dirt roads, the new truck is greatly appreciated by ALL of the Agros staff! Your generosity enables the staff in Nicaragua to continue to serve and reach these communities no matter how remote. Here is a photo of the truck in action: