Jose Acosta is a member of one of 40 villages that will be starting with CEPAD in January 2021. He shares about how the struggles his village faces and what he hopes they will be able to accomplish with your support over the next five years.

Jose is a teacher and supplements his income by farming when there is enough rain during the rainy season for his family to plant.

“We try to work in agriculture when the rainy season allows us. Through this, we are sometimes able to harvest corn and beans, but only if the rainy season helps us.”

Some of the biggest challenges that Jose identifies in their village are around water. There are rivers on either side of their village and there is no bridge. Sometimes they get trapped and are unable to leave. “Another need is that I can’t travel to my work without a bridge, it affects me. During rainy season when it’s too dangerous to cross, my students just have to miss a day.”

Those same rivers are the only source of drinking water they have. “The river water we use for only two things: bathing and for drinking, too. Because if we don’t, we don’t have any other water [to drink from].”

He also hopes they can learn more about agriculture and how to reforest their area since the river dries up during the dry season and they need more trees to help keep the water in the soil.

Jose has hope for what he and his fellow villagers will learn with your support of CEPAD. He has heard and seen what other villages have done and they hope to grow

“People have talked well about CEPAD. The solutions to their problems have become a reality. All the problems that really affect them, and that’s what we want in our community.”

Jose and his village will start training in January. These are the people who will benefit from your generous gifts. Thank you for giving to change lives for people like Jose and his family