You Have Given Pedro’s Family a Fighting Chance

Pedro gives you credit for your support of his family. Despite the current crisis his family is harvesting food and have been able to stay in their home. He says without your support for training he would have had to sell his land and they would have had to leave Nicaragua. Thank you for your contributions that are sustaining rural villages in Nicaragua.

“My name is Pedro Guevara, I am 66 years old, married and a father of 5 children. I live in the community of el Zapotal which is located 5 kilometers to the South of the municipality of Jinotepe.

I started working with CEPAD as a beneficiary of the Food and Environmental Security program in 2015. I received training and in these moments of crisis that we are living in Nicaragua the training I received has helped me a lot.

I learned to plant using native seeds that I had available, to plant in the right time using organic techniques without the use of agro-chemicals. It has been very beneficial to me because today I have planted both corn and beans using native seeds.

We are using environmentally friendly techniques without chemical inputs or pesticides, using integral pest management. I have shared and showed 15 farmers in my village what we are using thanks to the training this organization has given us with the interest in improving our capacity for producing every day and our future nourishment. As we say in Nicaragua I have my gallo pinto [rice and beans] ready, which is what we live off of in the rural areas of my country.

If I hadn’t received this training by CEPAD I would be in another, negative situation in my home. We would be without food, without work, bad economically, I would have had to sell my land because if I felt I had no resources I would have to dip into what I have. But thanks be to God I was taken into account at the right time.

In these moments we are growing vegetables and eating them, even though we are not working we are bartering with others. I give 3 squash or 6 peppers for a pound of sugar or a bar of soap. We are not using oil but the little we are able to get in cash is used to purchase food or medicine. Today the words from the sacred scripts are coming true, “Don’t spend money on what is not bread.”

I want to call to all the donors [of CEPAD], please don’t forget the poor families in Nicaragua. We always remember you and the doors of our homes are always open and waiting for delegations to come visit.

You can be sure that your donations have arrived in our villages and they have served to prepare us in this moment of crisis.”