Stories from the field
What we built, what we learned, what went wrong.
Since 2022 we have written to our donors after each step, in good months and hard ones. These stories come from those newsletters and from our field reports.
March 2023
"The first time we ever held tools in our hands"
Twenty women came to a weekend at the village school. A month later, fourteen had built tables, benches and a collective with a name they chose themselves.
2022–2026
A centre on donated land
From an empty plot to a centre the women used every day, and what happened when it was broken into.
2024–2026
Schools that grow from listening
From a bamboo school in Punta Brava to a student’s drawing in Chirremox.
2024
The year the rain changed
Cacao prices went up and farmers earned less. What they asked for, and what we did.
2022
Why we started
We went looking for an organisation to support. When we could not find one, we built it.
From the archive
Earlier posts
4 reasons why more women should work with bamboo · March 2023
Elisa on why bamboo can support a women-led circular economy, “from a cup to a house”.
A green future for Guatemala · January 2023
Our early thinking on diversified farms and native crops.
Women’s collectives: an answer to rural challenges in Guatemala · May 2022
Odylia, her daughter Evelyn and the Nuevo Amanecer collective in Suchitepéquez.