Our Goals
Children planting trees to protect the El Zapotal watershed, which supplies water for six communities.
Sustainable Villages Honduras (SVH) works in seven communities in the department of Santa Barbara and the municipality of Chinda.
They are: Barrio Nuevo, El Chol, El Limón, La Majada, El Tule, El Tulito and El Zapotal. The overall goal of the work of the SVH staff, Roy Lara and a facilitator, is to teach a whole set of techniques ranging from sustainable agriculture to sustainable community organizations that can be used by the villages for years of a better life. This is the philosophy that has been elaborated over a dozen years by our partner Vecinos Honduras (VH).
All of the goals that are described in the following pages form a whole. It takes local leaders to identify and develop sources of water and these in turn make crops and family gardens more productive. More varied diets improve family health. More abundant crops can be sold to increase family income.
SVH staff train men, women, and youth to train other villagers in sustainable agricultural techniques or practices to improve family health. From this campesino a campesino (farmer to farmer) exposure to people in other villages, villagers gain confidence in their own knowledge and make connections with people in other villages to solve problems they have in common.
Members of the Association of Chinda Water Boards being signed in by the Mayor of Chinda
Develop Local Leaders to Strengthen Organizations. Ensure sustainability of progress into the future for the benefit of whole communities. Engage women and children.
Roberto Pérez of El Zapotol displays the many kind of foods from his kitchen garden.
Ensure Family Food Sovereignty. Increase the sources of food that each family controls and the ways they can be transformed to be stored and enjoyed.
View downhill to the restored water storage basins used by residents of La Majada and El Tulito.
Increase Family Access to Adequate and Safe Water with good management of village water systems, assessment of family water supplies, and protection of watersheds.
Bienvenida Aguilar, the head of the El Tule Health Committee, works with a nebulizer.
Ensure Families have Knowledge and Tools to Stay Healthy. Develop and support the health committees in each village.