Doña Gorgonia: Learning New Skills
Strolling down the streets of Comalapa, Guatemala it is hard to avoid the vast mural painted on the churchyard wall. The mural, which stands about ten feet tall and spans multiple street blocks, depicts the history of Guatemala starting with the Mayan story of creation. It highlights Mayan culture and tradition, the Spanish conquest, devastating earthquakes, the 36 year long civil war, and ends with visions for the future. The truth, so elegantly displayed, provoked a confused reaction in me—wonder, anger, smiles, disbelief and even tears. But after the wave of emotion passed it was impossible to deny one thing—despite a history wrought with tragedy, a sense of hope stubbornly remained.
Not far from the mural in Comalapa, Doña Gorgonia lives in the small farming town of Panabajal. The population is almost 100 percent indigenous Maya and most speak Spanish only second to a variety of indigenous languages. Panabajal is blessed with natural beauty and Doña Gorgonia’s land is no exception. Her fields, carpeted with corn and bean stalk, reach out and touch the forested hills in the distance. Panabajal exhibits a simple beauty—one in which trees, mountains and a clear blue sky are enchanting. Unfortunately, though the landscape is undeniably striking, it cannot mask the difficulties that lie within.
When asked what major problems confront her community Doña Gorgonia replies, “There are many problems here: the unpaved roads are dusty and hard to access. We need potable water, better sewage systems, more schools…lots of things.” Doña Gorgonia is right; not only her community, but Guatemalans as a whole face many challenges. Far too many children are malnourished, job opportunities are scarce and most people do not finish more than four years of primary school.
It is easy to understand the difficulty of providing for one’s family. In a country with no social safety-net and under-funded non-governmental organizations, people must rely on each other, making family cooperation vital to survival. Most often, large extended families work together to farm the same plot of land. This makes sense—more hands make more productive work—especially since there are no machines to do it for them. Each seed must be placed in the earth, each crop individually harvested, and every time a plant is pruned or fertilized it is all done by hand.
Though Doña Gorgonia’s family and her ancestors have worked the land for centuries they still remain subsistence farmers. Despite their efforts, infertile soils often yield weak crops preventing families from literally reaping the fruits of their labor. Without a plentiful harvest farmers cannot feed their families and sell their crops at the market. Low productivity and income keep families trapped in poverty.
Doña Gorgonia is one of eight brothers and sisters, who along with their parents, share about 6.5 cuerdas of land. A cluster of small houses shelter Doña Gorgonia’s parents, siblings and their families. The houses are made of cement bricks stacked waist-high with the rest of the walls and roof made of corrugated metal. The fronts of the houses are marked by well-crafted wooden doors and neatly stacked piles of firewood. The cement porches are freshly swept and surrounded by flowering plants. Just beyond the houses sits an outdoor sink and a chicken coop full of boisterous chicks.
Doña Gorgonia only has two children: Carlos Roberto, 20 years old, and Blanca Rosa, 17 years old. They still live with her and both work in the fields and around the house. Their father abandoned the family two decades ago. While Doña Gorgonia is surrounded by a supportive family, her husband’s absence has placed an even greater burden on her to provide for her children and other family members. Not only does she work in the fields but she also weaves tapestries to sell at market. However, like farming, weaving is very labor intensive and most often the financial rewards are meager. In addition to farming and weaving, Doña Gorgonia also serves her community as a trained midwife and local health promoter.
Years of hard work are reflected in Doña Gorgonia’s eyes, yet I cannot avoid her sense of determination. She is always seeking opportunities to improve her community and to contribute to her family. Just over a year ago Doña Gorgonia was in the town of Comalapa for a training session for rural health workers. During this meeting she overheard other midwives talking about their experience working with Strategies for International Development’s (SID) agricultural development project. This sparked her interest and before leaving, Doña Gorgonia got the name of one of SID’s promoters, named Don Alberto Macario.
She later contacted Don Alberto and he agreed to meet up with her to discuss the details of the project. He explained SID’s approach and how she could become involved if she gathered a group of ten or more women together. So Doña Gorgonia did just that—she found 15 other women from her community to participate with her. “The other women decided to join because they have confidence in me,” she recalls.
The group held a meeting with SID agronomists and local project promoters to determine their goals and decide which practices they wanted to adopt. The women expressed interest in working on building better hen houses, digging fertilization ditches, improving their fruit trees and incorporating green fertilizer. The next big step was creating a timeline of when they would do the following: hold trainings with the agronomists, conduct follow-up visits with local project promoters and have their work evaluated at the end of the growing season. To further motivate participation, SID holds competitions among neighboring communities. Communities compete in each practice to see which community achieved the most success. Then, the winners are awarded with useful prizes such as tools, livestock and seeds.
Female participation in development programs in Guatemala is often hindered by their other responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. These constraints have resulted in women having a bad reputation for not showing up for meetings or perpetually arriving late. However, in reference to this group of women, Doña Gorgonia makes a point of saying, “Everyone always comes on time; they come to the meetings, they come.” The women attended their trainings with SID agronomists and promoters to learn how to dig fertilization ditches, improve their fruit trees, build better hen houses etc. SID has also made it a priority to teach women how to make simple business plans so that they can keep track of how much money they invest in their land compared to the value of their harvest. It is a way to help the women balance their “checkbooks.”
“Our group of women was initially uneasy about working in a group because they had never done it before, but once we all got used to it we liked it,” Doña Gorgonia remembers. After the first year of participation the women won second place in the competition to dig fertilization ditches and second place again for building better hen houses. Rudy, the SID agronomist who works with the community states, “The women in this community are very active and positive.” An important result of the project is that the knowledge trickles down to other family and community members. Each of the 15 women in the group went home after trainings and taught their families the new farming practices they had learned. Additionally, word spreads throughout the community that better farming strategies improve the land and subsequently increase productivity and income. Once people see others enjoying success, they too want to get involved.
Despite the hard work that comes with adopting some of their new farming practices, Doña Gorgonia says without hesitation, “I like doing all of the practices.” She says that the work has been worth it; “the soil is no longer hard, but richer, softer, better.” She has increased her corn and bean production by five and two quintales/cuerda respectively and her family’s income has increased from 58 to 100 quetzales for corn and 166 to 250 quetzales for beans. Doña Gorgonia also believes that the business plans “vale la pena” (are worth it). She says that her family feels equipped to make better decisions about which crops to plant and whether they are losing or gaining money from each crop.
When asked if she would like to be one of the promoters that work alongside SID staff to help teach other community members about better farming practices, she lowers her head with a look of regret. “I would love to be a promoter and teach others, but I just don’t have time.” Working in the fields, participating in SID’s project, weaving tapestries and serving as a midwife fills her days and nights. She may not technically work as a SID “promoter,” but she continues to be very active and participate in SID’s project by promoting and motivating her community to move forward in implementing better farming practices because she believes the project has truly improved their lives.
At a glance, Doña Gorgonia is a simple woman with waist-long dark hair and a slight frame dressed in colorful Mayan attire. Her small build makes one question how she carries out all the work that is asked of her. But after I got to know her, even for only a short time, it was clear to me that she exemplifies the real meaning of strength. She is the vitality and hope reflected in the Comalapa mural—the hope that persists in spite of constant challenges. Just as the farmers in Panabajal plant and care for each seed one by one, SID does the same. A seed has been planted within this group of women. With the help of agronomists and promoters, Doña Gorgonia’s group has grown and flourished. Now they too can spread the seeds of knowledge throughout their community.
by Emily Peca, 2005-2006 Program Associate
