Santa Fe Ajke
“Our Holy Faith”
Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico
Size: 247 acres
Population: 29 families
Founded: 2008
This group of families is the first one to be established in the new region where Agros Mexico has begun to expand, near the town of Comitan, close to the Mexican-Guatemalan border. The families of Santa Fe Ajke are predominately Mam and Jacalteco, originating from the Ixcan region of Guatemala, just over the Mexican border. During the civil war in Guatemala (1970s – 1990s), violence spread throughout the countryside, burning homes and fields and killing innocent families in once quiet mountainside communities. As a result, many Guatemalan families fled to Mexico for refuge. While they found respite from the war, they have nevertheless struggled to survive amidst discrimination, racism, neglect, and extreme poverty.
Over twenty-five years later, the families making up Santa Fe Ajke are beginning a new chapter in their lives. Having carried their cultural knowledge across borders and generations, they are excited to have the opportunity to search for and select land that they will live, work, raise their families in safety, and soon, own themselves. Women talk of raising small animals and selling homemade bread and handicrafts. Men plan for new ways to grow diverse crops sustainably. Children are interested in continuing their education and learning trades. In the 247-acre community, children, women and men are dreaming of the possibilities for the first time, and where fear and despair once took hold, are now planning for the future.
Projects planned for the 2009-2010 fiscal year:
- Values-based planning and self-esteem workshops
- Improved housing and community infrastructure projects
- Alternative economic-generating activities
- Health-related discussions and workshops
- Crop diversification to improve nutrition and secure income
- Plant fruit trees to improve diet and conserve environment
