Closing Out the Year Strong

2022 has been a busy year for ALDEA and ABPD, full of challenges overcome and successes achieved. We haven’t lost any momentum as we reach the end of the year and prepare for the next. This month in the municipalities of Chimaltenango, Comalapa, and Tecpán, ABPD worked with local farmers to train them in methods to increase agricultural production and reduce crop losses, and provided them with equipment for the proper storage to increase food security in our partner communities and protect local farmers’ important investments of money and labor. At the same time, the community health promoters participated in workshops focusing on topics such as leadership and sustainable community development. We were also able to strengthen our partnership with SERES, an organization that we have worked with for many years, who facilitated a workshop with youth from our partner communities to help train the community leaders of tomorrow.

Community capacity-building via workshops and training sessions are essential to our mission and work hand-in-hand with infrastructure projects to reduce the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in our partner communities. Despite the holidays, our investment in community health and sanitation infrastructure hasn’t faltered. This month, we delivered materials to build latrines in El Durazno, Chimaltenango, in order to improve the health of families and reduce the risk of contracting gastrointestinal diseases. We also delivered materials for the construction of improved cookstoves in Cojol Juyu, Comalapa, to help families to use less firewood and eliminate the risk of respiratory illnesses provoked by smoke inhalation while cooking. All in all, it’s been a month chock full of big successes, and we expect 2023 to bring even more achievements!