Guatemala
Latest Proposal: UPAVIM Soy Food Processing, Marketing, & Nutrition Program 2003-2004 in Guatemala—Click UPAVIM 2003-2004 for details.
See also Soy Milk in Solala
In March and June of 2001 Plenty representatives met in Austin and then in Guatemala with Barbara Fenske who is a consultant for UPAVIM (United to Live Better or Unidas Para Vivir Mejor), a women's cooperative that was started twelve years ago in La Esperanza. The cooperative includes 60 women, who together develop and maintain projects that address poverty related needs. Ms Fenske is a native of Texas and has lived and worked in La Esperanza for 12 years.
During the meetings Chuck Haren assisted UPAVIM in designing floor plans and identifying equipment they will need to produce and distribute fresh soy milk and related products. In 2001 Plenty will return to Guatemala and help the women of UPAVIM learn village scale methods of processing and marketing fresh soy food products.
Esperanza's
population of 5,000 is comprised of families who cannot afford housing
in the city and indigenous Mayas who fled the physical and economic violence
of this country's 36 year civil war. Situated on what was one time a city
dump in Guatemala City, La Esperanza receives very few services from the
national or municipal governments. International funding and labor provided
by local residents brought sewers, paved streets and potable water to
the community. Many houses are constructed of sheet metal, scrap wood
or cardboard, though a number of UPAVIM's 60 members, due to their employment
within the cooperative, have been able to build houses of concrete block.
A significant need exists in this marginalized area for community health,
education and employment activities. UPAVIM operates several programs
at costs that can be paid by parents in the community. This includes a
children's center providing day care, pre-school and nutrition supplementation
programs for children ages six weeks to six years, a medical clinic offering
comprehensive services, and a crafts production and marketing program
to help meet the costs of providing education and health services.
UPAVIM is a dynamic group of women attempting, and sometimes succeeding in pulling off near miracles in one of the most economically depressed sectors of Guatemala City. For more information about this project contact Chuck Haren at Plenty Austin.
