Pictures tell a thousand words.
This summer World Renew offers a gallery of images from nine countries, giving you a close up look at communities engaged in the work of renewal and building resilience.
PHOTO TOP: A mother brings her child to be weighed on a regularly scheduled weigh-in day in the community of La Palmera, in southwest Guatemala. World Renew began preventative health programming in this village in 2008 through partner agency Vid y Pampanos (Vine and Branch), and is also carrying out adult education and improved agriculture training to help fight poverty in the community.
This picture was taken in a Community called “Xalitzul Monte Blanco." Xalitzul is one of the communities where the “Integral Development Association Polochic” (ADIP local partner organization for World Renew Guatemala) works. It was a training about Hydroponics which is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions. Implemented with agriculture, health and education promoters from that community and other promoters invited from another local organization. About 20 promoters and community leaders were involved.
One of the objectives for World Renew Guatemala is to support and motivate the use of agriculture techniques that contributes the development of sustainable agriculture for the communities. This picture shows the implementation of a technique that is use to create organic compost, this brings many benefits as the recovery of the soil and the productive use of it for the future, also to grow organic vegetables and to stop the use of chemicals. The training is given to the agriculture promoters in each community then they train the people in the communities. (Community Laguna Nueva Linda)
Other of the techniques implemented in the agriculture program developed by the local partners in the communities of Guatemala, is the importance of diversifying crops in order to have a variety and more nutritious diet. As this picture shows, this family in the Community of Esperanza Miralta had the capacity to built their own green house and to plant different crops, like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil.
As part of the preventative health program in the communities, health promoters are trained in pre-natal control and also in weight and height control for children from 0 to 5 years old, with this practice the communities aim to decrease malnutrition in children and also to prevent maternal and child mortality. (Community Esperanza Miralta)
An important aspect about the programs developed by the partners is that they encourage men and women to get involved in the different activities and trainings that they give. This creates a better relationship between men and women in the communities because in the Guatemalan culture many people believes that certain things like cooking is only for women or agriculture is only for men. (Community Monte Blanco)
One of the important things about the programs developed by the partners is that they are integral programs that complements each others, people in the communities is trained in aspects like diversifying their crops in order to diversify and have more nutritious meals also to create home vegetables gardens as part of the food security and sustainable agriculture program, but after they are trained about it and start diversifying their crops people in the communities is trained in how to cook their meals in a way that they can take advantage of all the nutrients of the crops as part of the preventative health program. This picture shows community people who are being trained by a nutritionist in how to prepare their meals in the best way, using the resources that they have. (Community Monte Blanco)
The activity presented in the picture was part of an evaluation made to a local partner, in this evaluation local authorities, and people from the communities are involved and learn about participatory tools that they are able to implement in their community development program. (Community El Tamariz)
This is another of the tools implemented for the evaluations to local partners, with this tool the community members are able to identify their principals achievements with the activities and trainings developed. They are also able to identify which trainings have helped them the most, and which ones did not were completely useful for them. (Community Valle Nuevo)
This picture is about an evaluation developed with another local partner organization implementing the same tool, with this tool the community members are able to identify their principals achievements with the activities and trainings developed, also they are able to identify which trainings have helped them the most, which ones are sustainable and which ones did not were completely useful for them. (Community Laguna Nueva Linda)
As believers in the vision of World Renew that says: “World Renew envisions a world where people experience and extend Christ's compassion and live together in hope as God's community”, this picture shows a Christian service were members of the Escalone CRC from United States, World Renew staff from Guatemala, local partner organization staff and members of the community, were able to share and to live the word of God. (Community Laguna Nueva Linda)