At 14,763 feet above sea level, the Andes could never be described as balmy. But in recent years, the cold the Q’eros Nation deals with day after day has grown more severe.“Because of climate change, the cold is more intense,” says Ycton, a young Q’ero leader and father of two, […]
Bolivian Agriculturalist Flourishes | Esperança Microbusiness
Lilian Marilu Carvajal Sanchez is the single mother of two grown sons but has been a caretaker all her life. Lilian’s own mother left the family for more opportunities in the big city when she was just a teenager, leaving her to raise her six younger brothers. Since then she […]
Government Corruption Keeps Bolivian Town From Their Water Supply
You would think that a community located next to a dam would have all the water they would ever need. And when the government stepped in to dam the river near the small farming community of Huacata, Bolivia, that’s what was promised – safe drinking water for everyone, piped into […]
New Homes & Clean Water in the Q’eros Nation
When the weather is cold outside, the last thing you want is to jump into a freezing bath. For Julián, Evarista and their family of five, there’s never been another option.In the mountainous region of Cusco, Peru, where the Q’ero people live more than 14,000 feet above sea level, summer […]
Esperança Breaks Ground on Community Garden in Phoenix
Volunteers of all ages gathered to get their hands dirty in building and planting Phoenix’s newest community garden in support of Esperança. For 21 years, the Phoenix-based nonprofit has been uniquely positioned as a leader in delivering health education and services to Arizona’s most vulnerable and underserved Latino youth, adults, […]
About | World Soil Day, December 5th
Submitted by Tatumn Zale, Development Associate The 5th of December is World Soil Day. Soil is the ultimate life supply for healthy food, ecology, and a healthy planet as a whole! This day is marked each year to commemorate the birthday of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning king. King Adulyadej […]
Women-Owned Business Earns Legal Status in Bolivia
Leonor lives in rural Bolivia, in the small town of Padcaya, some 30 miles from the nearest city. Money and food were scarce — but Leonor was determined to feed her family, and help her neighbors.So she began doing what she knew how to do. She made tortillas, tamales and […]
Hungry for the Holidays? Not with Esperança.
When you get up in the morning, what are your first thoughts?Maria used to wake up feeling tired, and go through the whole day in a state of grinding fatigue and worry. Her mind raced between thoughts of where her next meal would come from and pain and discomfort from […]
International Day of Rural Women – October 15th
An opportunity to reflect on the situation of women in the Andean world.Submitted by Carmen Rosario Alvarez Ponce de Leon. Carmen is the Executive Director of CADEP, Esperança’s partner organization in Peru. She has worked with CADEP for 30 years, assuming the position of Executive Director in the year 2010. Carmen is […]
Seeds + Knowledge = Hope
When we met Margarida, a single mother raising four children in rural Mozambique, it was clear she needed help. Her family was working tirelessly to grow food the best way they knew how, but each harvest barely produced enough to stave off starvation, leaving little to nothing leftover to take […]