Grow vegetable gardens for 250 Guatemalan families

Implementation of 250 family gardens: Thanks to the GlobalGiving platform and the donations received. Contact was made with an organization that supports the project with the implementation of 250 family gardens for indigenous families. After making the quotation of inputs and toolkits for the implementation of the garden, a purchasing committee was held, which defined, based on cost and quality criteria, the quantities and suppliers from which the purchase would be made. Beneficiaries were trained on the equipment delivered, implementation of the garden, and continuity. Follow-up visits were made in Chimaltenango, and in the other departments, the FUDI technical team is available to provide follow-up to resolve any doubts to guarantee good results. One hundred families from the department of Chimaltenango, nine from Quetzaltenango, 50 from Huehuetenango, 10 from San Marcos, 31 from Totonicapán, and 50 from the department of El Quiché were selected as direct beneficiaries, and 1042 indirect beneficiaries (relatives living in the same house as the beneficiary families) for a total of 1,292 people benefited with family gardens. The raised bed gardens have been an innovative technology for families due to the sowing system, use of spaces, and local resources for their implementation. The taste for the shape and development of plants is surprising, and each family states that production is faster, easier for weed and pest control because it is at hand. The implementation of the orchards demonstrated creativity when designing different models of gardens despite the limitations in the mobilization of materials by COVID-19.

Training on preventive measures against Covid19: During the delivery for the family gardens, a brief training was given on the coronavirus and the hygiene and prevention measures that must be put into practice to avoid the infections by the virus.

Diana, as beneficiary, commented: “Well, it seems good and very practical because it can be put anywhere and does not take up much space, you have your eyesight for anything that may happen to you, and you do not invest so much and chilero (nice, good) because you know what you are eating and, for example, with me some of my nephews helped me plant and bone, our relatives also get involved,” which shows the involvement of the family and the safety of where the vegetables are obtained