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Winter Bulletin 2009/2010
Vol. 25 No.4 |
Plenty in Guatemala
by Lisa Wartinger and Chuck Haren
In early November several Plenty representatives visited our long time CAFSI (Central American Food Security Initiative) project partners in the rural Mayan community of Molino Belen, Guatemala, and the women’s association Unidas Para Vivir Mejor (UPAVIM) in Guatemala City.
We wanted to take a fresh look at the progress they were making towards their community and individual goals, determine if resources provided in years past had been used effectively, and listen to their current situation and needs, in order to help Plenty formulate its focus in Guatemala for the next several years. |
Plenty soy technician Chuck Haren (center) and soy author and Plenty volunteer Louise Hagler (left, center) and Plenty director Lisa Wartinger (right) with the staff of Adibe, celebrate 30 years iof continuous operation.. |
We also intended to provide immediate financial and technical support to these dynamic community groups. Another reason for our trip was to see how Plenty might contribute to addressing the needs of children, mothers, and families who eke out a living scavenging at the largest waste dump in Central America. This project was of special interest to our board chair Karen Heikkala, who passed away in July 2009.
Our first destination was Barrio San Bartolo and the Mayan community of Molino Belen, home to about 1200 people. This community overlooks world-renowned Lake Atitlan, a timeless source of food, water, and spiritual significance for the Mayan people. In 2006 Hurricane Stan destroyed a wastewater treatment plant serving Panajachel, the largest community bordering the lake, which has never been rebuilt. Raw sewage flows into the lake, which is now contaminated to a crisis point. Brown finger-like clumps of cyanobacteria float just under the water’s surface, as if in a primordial soup. An international tourist destination; tourism around the lake is down 30%, because of the contamination, the world economy, and a rising incidence of crime, which has been exacerbated by the lack of jobs. Securing the basic necessities of life remains a struggle for many people who live in the surrounding communities. How good it was, then, to visit the Asociacion de Desarrollo Integral Belen (ADIBE), to see how they are addressing these issues.
ADIBE is a non-profit association dedicated to improving the lives of people living in Molino Belen. ADIBE manages the soy dairy (Soy Center) that was established by the community and Plenty in 1979. The community elects their board of directors every two years. Meeting with the current “directiva,” we were impressed by their earnest efforts to benefit the residents of Molino Belen. Edyn (Eddy) Chalcu, at the age of 21, is ADIBE’s current administrator.
The Soy Center produces plain and flavored soymilk, tofu, soy ice cream, and flour and sells these products in Guatemala City and several large towns, as it has done for 30 years. In July 2008 ADIBE participated in a national competition for small rural producers. Out of 180 groups, they were one of the final 12 selected, and received an award of 45,000 quetzales or about $6,000. Using the award as an impetus, in November 2008, they made a formal request to the Agricultural Technical Mission of China (Taiwan) in Guatemala for help to expand their production, sales, and markets.
In January 2009 the Taiwanese agreed to provide two years of consistent technical support, which has been a real boost to ADIBE. It has enabled them to expand their product line to include toasted soy flour, soy coffee, and even shampoo and moisturizing cream made from the whey remaining from the tofu making process (very nice products, as we tested while in the field!)
With Edyn Chalcu’s enthusiasm and energy they have also begun a young people’s group called Digasoya (“Say soy”) that has nine members, all in their late teens or early 20s. With funding from the Spanish development agency AECID and some financial help from ADIBE, they constructed a small bakery on the Soy Center site.
A young Taiwanese volunteer is helping them develop cracker and cookie recipes and packaged baked goods for sale, including a high nutrient cookie using toasted soy flour that can be distributed to schools. Given the struggle for employment faced by so many, and the challenges facing young people especially, it was heartening to see the real potential of Digasoya.
In a stroke of real synchronicity, the day after we arrived, a community-wide event was held at the Soy Center to showcase and promote ADIBE’s soy products, organized by ADIBE, the Taiwanese Mission, and other Guatemalan government agencies. National news media and various dignitaries attended.
It was a soy “love fest,” complete with national anthems, speeches, and a tour of the processing facility. Lunch and snacks were shared with the visitors and some two hundred or so community members who patiently waited.
This small, unique food processing and community development enterprise was started as goodwill collaboration between members of the ‘60s counter-culture and indigenous Mayans. It is gratifying and humbling to see, that after 30 years in operation, it is now gaining national recognition, and actively including the next generation to secure its future.
Plenty soy technician Chuck Haren reviewed the operations and needs of the Soy Center, provided direct technical support, and developed a list of priorities and costs related to improvements needed for the physical plant and its operations. We estimate it will cost about $18,000 to meet these needs, which we want to help ADIBE raise over the next year. |
[caption] Edyn Chalcu (top middle in mask) leads a tour of the soy processing operation.
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The UPA-SOYA project
After our visit to ADIBE, we spent a few days with members of Unidas Para Vivir Mejor (UPAVIM), an association of eighty-four women in urban Zona 12, La Esperanza, Guatemala City.
In late 2003 UPAVIM requested help from Plenty to design a floor plan and set up a small-scale soy food-processing kitchen next to their small bakery.
With Plenty’s assistance, the equipment was installed and, by the end of 2008, more than twenty women had received instruction in commercial food preparation and handling, sanitation procedures, and adapting soy foods to traditional meals. |
UPAVIM staff and volunteers pose with
Plenty representatives. (photo by Kaya Wartinger)
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Soymilk and other foods were sold in the neighborhood, as well as distributed to children attending UPAVIM’s pre and primary school.
The years 2008 and 2009 have been very difficult for UPAVIM. Sales of their artisan items, income that sustains their social service activities, have fallen with the downturn of the world economy, and UPAVIM was not able to keep up with the costs of operating the soy processing room.
The women decided to stop soy production, and then restart UPA-SOYA when they could secure the resources needed to make a sustainable venture.
The Consejo de Negocios, the group of women charged with managing their bakery and soy production, told us they wanted to re-start soy processing, but were concerned about the costs involved. They are not currently licensed to distribute soy products for sale, and therefore could not count on sales income.
After discussing these concerns, we suggested that for the next few months, they focus on providing soymilk to the children involved in their school and day care, which they agreed was possible. We were very happy to provide a grant of $2,000 to assist with the production costs over this time. Additionally, a manual stainless steel soymilk press that we had brought was installed and 10 women participated in a training to help them learn how to use the new tool and improve their processing procedures. Amado Del Valle, a soy foods specialist and technician from Chimaltenango who learned soy processing in the early days of Plenty’s Guatemala program, assisted in the training. He also agreed to provide technical support once a week in production and product development, including ways to utilize the high nutrient soy pulp that remains from the milk making process, which can be added to breads and pastries. Due to the technical support provided during our visit the soy food-processing room was re-opened and is now being used to produce soymilk and related by-products for internal distribution to UPAVIM’s children, workers and volunteers.
UPAVIM’s goal over the next few months is to secure all of the resources they will need to re-open and operate the soy food-processing center for internal use and com—mercial sales for one year. This will allow the women at UPAVIM time to learn the skills they need, address equipment problems, meet costs of product development and registration, secure more raw materials, and secure regular school contracts and other sales for their products. They recognize the need to significantly increase their management, administrative, food handling, and sales skills.
They know the best way to improve these skills is to have guidance and material support while operating their own processing and distribution activities. That is how the women at UPAVIM were able to create a successful crafts production and marketing enterprise in one the lowest per capita income areas of Guatemala City, and they hope to secure the resources to realize similar success with their soy and bakery food processing initiatives.
Plenty is committed to working with UPAVIM to meet the operational goals for UPA-SOYA this year, by providing technical support when appropriate and assisting their search for funding resources. For under $40,000, UPA SOYA can be a fully operational business in 2010.
It was wonderful being in Guatemala again, reinforcing the long-term relationships we have there. Plenty’s history in Guatemala and soy expertise enables us to play a unique support role to the inspiring and determined efforts our friends are carrying out. We hope you’ll help, now and in the years to come.
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