Organizations working with communities look to expand the program

October 5, 2017

Churches across the U.S. have proven to be a major source of income for a handful of communities in Guatemala through the celebration of Palm Sunday. The annual purchase of palm branches through the Eco-Palms program is helping residents who live in the Maya Biosphere Reserve.

Now, several organizations working to improve the lives of residents in and around the rain forest are working to expand the opportunities. Recently, representatives from the Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management (CINRAM), Continental Floral Greens, and Latin America Partnership and Development met with the Presbyterian Hunger Program to discuss the status of Eco-Palms and ideas for new projects and markets.

The reserve is Central America’s largest area of protected tropical forest and is also home to more than 180,000 people.

Jose Carrera, Jose Porras and Dr. Dean Current recently visited the Presbyterian Hunger Program offices to discuss the future of the Eco-Palm program with staff. (Photo by Rick Jones)

“We want to increase the number of churches participating in the Eco-Palm program because it is a tremendous benefit to the communities, and we also want to start a community development fund for the Maya Biosphere Reserve,” said Dr. Dean Current, with CINRAM. “This involves 5 million acres of rain forest that are being protected by the communities themselves.”

Last year, more than a million palm fronds were sold to churches, providing $50,000 for five communities in Guatemala. The money goes toward improving the standard of living for residents and providing educational opportunities for children.

Over the years, the over-harvest of palms has damaged the forests and depleted resources for residents. Through Eco-Palms, the harvesting is done in a way that protects the forest and provides harvesters a fair price.

“We’ve been able to work with a group of partners, to look at the palm market and help churches get involved with both the social justice and environmental issues of the region,” Current said. “This is a great example of what you can do in both conserving the forest and development and improving livelihoods.”

The three organizations have been meeting with Christian denominations in hopes of helping the communities expand their offerings.

Men typically go into the forest and cut carefully selected leaves, while women manage quality control of the palms, sorting, cleaning, and packaging. Reina Valenzuela Barias has been able to send all of her four children through college with the money she earned from Eco-Palms. (Photo provided)

“These people protect the rain forests, but they don’t have access to health, education and many of the things they should have,” said Jose Porras, chief financial officer with Continental Floral Greens. “They’re doing their part, but they need our help to meet their needs as humans. We wanted to do something bigger. Eco-Palms is a great program and we hope to see it expand, but even doubling the money would not be close to what the people need in order to make a decent living.”

The group told PHP that communities are also working to produce other items, including Christmas wreaths and baskets for floral arrangements.

The organizations hope to increase funds to the participating communities and expand opportunities to 19 additional communities in the coming years.

“We want to increase the market shares so more communities can get involved in the work. With more churches, we will be able to include more communities,” said Jose Carrera, director of Latin America Partnership and Development. “This could be the most important solution for communities to protect forests, provide livelihoods, generate new employment and improve education.”

Carrera says most of the communities don’t have high schools and the only way for young people to get an education is through the scholarships provided by the Eco-Palms project.

“We need to be able to provide an opportunity for someone to get that education, graduate high school and go to college,” Porras said. “If one person is able to do it, then others will see that it is possible.”

But young people aren’t the only ones to benefit. Current says approximately 20 percent of the women in the five communities are involved in the palm selection and packing process.

“There was a group of women who were being supervised by men, and they decided they could do a better job and basically kicked the men out,” Current said. “It has been empowering because this is one of the only sources of cash income and these jobs were not there for women before and they didn’t have a lot of opportunities.”

The Presbyterian Hunger Program is made possible by donations to the One Great Hour of Sharing.

 Rick Jones, Mission Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Today’s Focus:  Presbyterian Hunger Program

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Tina Rhudy, PMA
Kerry Rice, OGA

Let us pray:

Lord, help us find new and challenging ways to support our neighbors as they seek to provide for their families. Amen.

Daily Readings

Morning Psalms 116; 147:12-20
First Reading 2 Kings 18:28-37
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 9:1-15
Gospel Reading Matthew 7:22-29
Evening Psalms 26; 130