Therefore, they started seeking assistance for them to get a building to sell their crafts. They succeeded by receiving a funding to build the building which they currently have as their craft center. After receiving their building they have increased the amount of income they were generating. Since then they have been operating the Fajina Arts and Craft Center.

Plenty has been by their side since our earliest days in Belize, helping with training, marketing, and more. It was difficult to keep the craft center open on many days due to the availability of transportation between the villages and town. So the women had an idea to open a restaurant upstairs which would help them to make enough money to make it worth staying in town. After fourteen years of operating only the craft center, they took the opportunity to get funding through an EU funded program being run by a consortium of the local credit union, Plenty, and a sister NGO called SHI. Through this project they got their restaurant building and some other equipment for the restaurant.

Today they are both operating their restaurant and crafts center. Their menu in the restaurant is mainly Mayan traditional dishes such as caldo (soup) and corn tortilla. They serve vegetarian dishes such as cohune cabbage on certain days and when requested. They are grateful for the assistance they have received in order to operate their small business today. The trainings that they received have also given them a lot of knowledge in operating their business. These trainings included Marketing, Book keeping, Leadership and Conflict Resolution. Development takes time. It means being part of people’s lives, and Plenty is proud to be part of the lives of these women for some 15 years now.

Article and Photos by Marcelia Cus, Plenty Belize
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