Semilla Nueva’s Food and Nutritional Security classes are by far the most happenin’ places to be in el campo, the countryside. Every other week, women from a community gather at one member’s house to cook, laugh and catch up. During these classes women learn new recipes that incorporate the nutritious crops SN promotes; chaya, Quality Protein Maize (QPM) and pigeonpea, as well as the nutritional value of each crop. (more…)

“If you give me a fish, you have fed me for a day. If you teach me how to fish you have fed me until the river is contaminated or the shoreline seized for development. But if you teach me to organize then whatever the challenge I can join together with my peers and we will fashion our own solution.”

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Last week three donors flew down to Guatemala from Boise, Idaho with one goal: to see, feel, smell and taste the work of Semilla Nueva. This trip is designed for people who want to be at the heart of the hands-on, day-to-day work of Semilla Nueva in rural communities. Donors immersed themselves in Guatemalan culture by spending a week working alongside farmers in their communities.

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By: Haley Kirk

My friends from the states that I work with like to tell me that I’m “immersed”. I’m the most Guatemalan gringa that they know. It would come as no surprise then, that I love tortillas. Many people who come to visit Guatemala get bored with the taste quickly or decide to turn down the extra carbohydrates. I, on the other hand, love them in all shapes and sizes, whether they are hand formed or made with a press, whether they are made from white, yellow, or blue corn, and whether they are soft and doughy or crispy like a tostada. I do not discriminate against tortillas.

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