Seeds for a Future has a unique method for helping rural women and their children have more, and more nutritious, food at every meal. Through household visits over several months, we make sure each family is learning to be successful with their home-raised nutrition gardens and protein sources.

1. Working since 2007 to fight poverty
and malnutrition in rural Guatemala,
through learning and self-help.

2. • We help rural families put more nutritious food into every
meal.
• Families learn to successfully raise home nutrition gardens
and small protein animals.
• We train farmers in better farming methods and crop
diversification so they can increase their family income.
• Extra learning opportunities are available to all ages in our
computer learning center and library.
• Seeds for a Future helps all family members build self-
confidence and a brighter future.

3. Teaching and learning about nutrition – sometimes in a
classroom,
sometimes in the yard of a home in the forest.

4. Gardens may be in small backyard spaces…
…or in containers if a family has no yard.

5. Rural women
face many
challenges when
cooking in a
typical kitchen.
Households may
include from 5
to as many as 20
extended family
members at
each meal.

6. Julio Lopez, our Field
Chief, demonstrates
how to harvest
Chaya, a very
nutritious plant.
Chaya plants are
often grown as a
protective yet
productive “fence”
around a vegetable
garden.
Chaya leaves add
nutrition to soups,
stews and traditional
corn-based foods
such as little tamales
or “tamalitos.”

7. We help each family plan the best use of their available space. Ruth Ajquí’s
chicken coop fits a small space between 2 houses. She feeds them fresh
greens and corn, both of which are affordable and readily available. Re-
cycled jumbo plastic bottles are used for fresh water, and her next step will
be to add 1 or 2 nesting boxes so she will have fresh eggs for her family.

8. Doña Ruth has
taught herself to
weave so that she
can add to her
family’s income.
Here in the main
room of her house
she is working on an
embroidered huipil,
or woman’s blouse.
Two beautiful
embroidered belts, a
table cover and a
purse hang behind
her.
The Seeds team and Doña Ruth proudly display
the “manta” she wove and embroidered
especially for Seeds for a Future.

9. If a family’s chickens
run free, they often
die from diseases
brought on by the
rainy season, or are
killed by predators.
Micaela Ixtos
protects her flock
with this little house
made of bamboo,
which grows readily
in the area.
We encourage the use of locally available materials,
especially those that don’t cost money.

10. Micaela talks with Seeds team members about how keeping
her poultry healthy has benefitted her family. They are also
fortunate to have an area for growing bananas – a nutritious
food for the family, and one they can also sell in the market.

11. Agroforestry and crop diversification are two
strategies to help rural families have more food and
more income.
Here, over a dozen species are growing -- for food, for
use in cooking, or to produce household items.
Doña Dominga
plans to remove
some of her coffee
plants, so her cacao
trees will produce
more.
She processes her
cacao into small
disks which she sells
for making
traditional
chocolate drinks.

12. To get the best
yield, pruning is
vital. In these
before and
after photos,
Julio shows
how to prune a
young cacao
tree.
Native to this
area, Cacao
thrives here.
Growing it is an
excellent way
for farmers to
diversify their
crops and get
better income. Cacao beans are very nutritious, and -- they are
the source of chocolate!

13. Here in Seeds for a Future’s Learning Center, students came for class
despite the downpour of the rainy season. Taking turns reading aloud
will be followed by a quiz on comprehension of the story.
At the end of reading class, students choose a new book which to check
out and read at home.
In most of rural Guatemala, libraries are rare and do not permit books
to be taken out, so students miss a lot of the pleasure and information
that comes from good reading skills and easy access to books.

14. Schools in rural Guatemala often lack basic resources such
as books, paper and pencils, and access to computers is
mostly non-existent. Seeds for a Future’s simple set-up
offers students a chance to learn to use a computer, and
they can connect to the RACHEL System which has a huge
range of learning resources for all ages in electronic form.
These kids were excited to sign up for a special class
to learn to play chess. In this first session, our
Project Manager, Armando Astorga, explains how
each piece can move.
Chess is an excellent way to teach strategic thinking!

15. Learning chess can be fun, and it also makes you think!

16. Improved nutrition
means a better start
for these youngsters,
and healthier lives
for their moms.
Emphasis on learning
supports self-
reliance and
development of new
ideas
Improved farming
raises the income of
rural families.
YOUR GENEROUS GIFT
means Seeds for a Future
can continue to help
families
• Grow their own
nutritious foods,
• Have access to new
learning opportunities,
and
• Increase their incomes
through diversified
farming and new skills.
THANK YOU! FROM
ALL THE FAMILIES
AND FROM