On Saturday, April 23, Esperanza de Guatemala provided emergency fertilizer assistance to 80 farmers in Nimasac, Guatemala.
Recently, our Guatemala staff alerted us to the tremendous increase in the cost of fertilizer, an insurmountable amount for many of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters in Nimasac who rely on farming small plots of land for sustenance.
Esperanza felt very strongly about this food insecurity crisis, and agreed to provide a 100-pound bag of fertilizer to 80 farmer families. This relief represents approximately a third of the fertilizer needed for a standard plot, and roughly equates to the value of the 75% cost increase. The families receiving assistance included Monte Sinai church members, scholarship families, agricultural program families, and those most needy. The list was similar to those who received our four previous COVID food relief distributions.
We express great gratitude to our Guatemalan staff, Martin Maldonado, Estefani Jacobs, and Mario Mejia, and our Nimasac community volunteers Francisco Cux Tuy and Juan Sandoval. Their enormous energy, compassion, resourcefulness and organizational talents are crucial to the success of everything we do.
As always, many thanks to our dedicated and faithful donors. Whether it is food, fertilizer, computer labs, water meters or scholarship assistance, it is all a result of your great generosity!
Please watch this video documenting the day. And, yes, those are 100-pound bags they are slinging around!