Maria Rivas is a community leader who was trained through CEPAD over the past five years. She shares what they were able to accomplish thanks to your generosity through the training they received. The changes you made possible are incredible! Thank you for making these success stories happen year after year. 

“We started to learn about CEPAD in 2014 and we organized ourselves into a community development committee along with 6 other villages through community assemblies. At first, we didn’t know about the way we were going to work or if we could fill the expectations that the program looked for in the communities.

Today there are significant advances that can be seen through the efforts made by members of the village whom we have worked with in a coordinated manner.

The community is very satisfied for the accomplishments that we have obtained. There is a commitment with the development and well-being of the families, with new opportunities for life on a different level than 5 years ago when we began the accompaniment. We have finished at least 12 projects that have consisted of the following: an improvement to the potable water system to homes, electrification, legalization of properties, access to healthy food, public lighting, improvements to roads, schools and churches, ecological toilets, creation of health centers, a community center and the opening of a high school in coordination with the municipal government and non-governmental organizations.

The change is visible. The empowerment of the leaders and of the population who are now capable of doing whatever development projects are needed…CEPAD, as an accompanying organization, provided us with the tools that taught us from a perspective of community organizing until we could reach our goals of working together in a way that participative and inclusive, integrating Young people, adults, children, teachers, church leaders and health workers together to where we are now.       

Through the experience we have learned to serve others and the leaders are treated with respect by members of our villages and local institutions. We have a permanent plan of follow-up on the work that we have through annual plans. We are holding community assemblies to inform and coordinate work about any emergency in the community. We have learned to work with transparency and honesty with anything and everything we do.

We want to thank those who made it possible to have CEPAD in our villages for 4 years and we will continue serving those who need our support in other villages.”