"We now know where to sell"

“Before, we sold individually in the local market or to coyotes. Now the buyers tell us how many sacks of produce they want and we plant accordingly. It’s better to sell as a group”

“The change I’ve experienced has been in training.

It has involved learning how to tend to crops so that they remain healthy, how to plant, and also how to save capital with which to cultivate and commercialize crops. This implies development for the entire family. It enables my brothers and sisters to study.

I’m an accredited teacher, but here there are no positions for teachers, so I work with ADAM as an agricultural promoter. When I joined, I came with my mother to pay the registration. My main thought was that everyone has the right to participate. There are parents who don’t give their children permission, but when you participate in an organization, you feel more comfortable because all you have to do is let your parents know that you’re going to a training event.

I’m not married. I live in my parents’ house, and everyone in the family always helps out with the farm work. My family has always planted potato and cabbage, and we work together.

With ADAM, we now know where to sell, whether in the Nahualá, Totonicapán or Almolonga market. Before, we sold individually in the local market or to intermediaries. Now the buyers tell us how many sacks of produce they want and we plant accordingly. It’s better to sell as a group, because transport is expensive and the sales price is higher when we eliminate the middlemen.

There are six sisters and three brothers in my family. Four are studying in basic, primary and teacher-training school. Income from the harvests pays for these studies. I’m the only one in my family to take part in the training events, but the revolving fund and crops are for the entire family.”