LA COOPERATIVA DE MAIZ:
Cambiar vidas
∞ Light of Esperanza inicio su tercer proyecto cooperativo en 2013 - la cooperativa de maíz en la aldea de Vega Redonda.
∞ Los cinco participantes de este proyecto son todos adolescentes, quienes, debido a la falta de fondos, no pudieron continuar estudiando en la escuela después del sexto grado, y estaban trabajando como campesinos para ayudar a sus familias con ingresos necesarios.
∞ Estos cinco jóvenes recibieron todos los fondos y un entrenamiento en la planificación agrícola para cultivar una milpa. En marzo de 2013, sembraron la primera cosecha. Trabajaron diligentemente para aumentar su proyecto. Ellos afrontaron algunos problemas. Al principio del proyecto, los pájaros atacaron las plantas. Los jóvenes tenían que tomar turnos para vigilar y proteger las plantas todos los días de las 5am a 6pm.∞ Al trabajar juntos, mantuvieron con éxito un proyecto prospero.
∞ En 2015, la cooperativa de maiz termino. Todos los participantes dijeron que se sentian con mas confianza de como entender las tecnicas para manejar su propio negocio. Uno de los participantes, Rufino, tuvo muchas ganas para empezar su propio negocio, y, con la ayuda de Light of Esperanza, dedico sus ahorros para empezar un negocio de cerdos. Los otros cuatro participantes dedicaron sus ganacias de este proyecto para el uso personal. Dos usaron sus ahorros para pagar su matricula en la escuela, y los otros dos usaron sus ganancias para moverse a vivir en la ciudad de San Pedro Sula, con la esperanza de encontrar un buen trabajo que paga mejor que estar trabajando por dia en el campo. Sin duda, los cinco jovenes de este proyecto son un ejemplo de como puede cambiar la vida con dedicacion y buen trabajo cuando reciben la oportunidad para hacerlo y ayudar a sus familias.
LIGHT OF ESPERANZA'S
QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE COOPERATIVES
Light of Esperanza holds quarterly meetings with the cooperative participants. This is an opportunity to solve problems that might be arising, as well as to think of ways to improve the success of the cooperative projects.
LAS REUNIONES DE LOS PARTICIPANTES DE
LIGHT OF ESPERANZA:
Cada cuatro meses las participantes de Light of Esperanza tienen una reunion con la junta de directores de Light of Esperanza en Honduras para hablar del progreso de las cooperativas y pensar en las maneras de como mejorar y mantener un buen rendimiento en los negocios.
THE YOUTH CORN COOPERATIVE:
Changing Lives
FUNDED IN PARTNERSHIP THROUGH A GRANT FROM THE JEWISH HELPING HANDS ORGANIZATION
∞ Light of Esperanza initiated its third cooperative project in 2013, the Youth Corn Cooperative, in the village of Vega Redonda.
∞ The five participants are all teenage boys, who, due to lack of funds, were unable to continue studying in school after the sixth grade, and were working as farm laborers to help their families with needed income.
∞ These five youth received all of the start-up funds, and an intensive training in agricultural planning for their corn cooperative. In March of 2013, they planted the first crop. They worked diligently to raise the corn. This was not without challenges. At one point early on in the project, the birds began to attack the seedlings. The youth had to rotate guarding the plants each day from 5am to 6pm. By working together, though, they successfully maintained a thriving project for three years.
∞ In 2015, the Youth Corn Cooperative came to a close. All of the youth finished the project stating that they felt confident that they had obtained the necessary skills to lead a similar endeavor by themselves in the future. One of the youth, Rufino, was especially motivated to continue working on a new business project. He decided to save all of his earnings, and, with the help of Light of Esperanza, began a private business raising and selling pigs. The other four youth decided to take their earnings for personal use, two of whom will be investing their money in helping to pay for their school costs, and the other two who plan on using their earnings to help pay to relocate themselves to the large city, San Pedro Sula, hoping to find a steady job that pays better than working as day laborers in rural Honduras. Without doubt, this project demonstrated the resilience of the five youth who were involved, a shining example of how hard work and dedication can lead to helping themselves and their families get out of the deep poverty they live in.
CURRENT COOPERATIVE PROJECTS:
THE PIG COOPERATIVE AND THE FISH COOPERATIVE
Light of Esperanza currently has two Cooperative projects running, the Pig Cooperative, with five women in the village of Agua Buena, and the Fish Cooperative (in collaboration with the Jewish Helping Hands Foundation) with five women in the village of El Bosque.
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PROYECTOS EN FUNCION:
LA COOPERATIVA DE CERDOS Y LA COOPERATIVA DE PECES
Light of Esperanza tiene dos proyectos de negocios cooperativos funcionando - la cooperativa de los cerdos, con cinco mujeres de la aldea de Agua Buena, y la cooperativa de peces (con la fundacion, Jewish Helping Hands), con cinco mujeres de la aldea de El Bosque.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO END THE CYCLE OF POVERTY:
∞ In the villages of rural Honduras, there are few opportunities for people who actively want to improve their living conditions. Youth who lack sufficient funds in order to pay to continue their studies past the sixth grade, face little alternative other than a future laboring in the farms.
∞ This is especially true for the women and children in the rural villages, who have little ownership over their economic situations or futures.
∞ Those who are lucky enough to work spend 10-12 hours in the fields as farmworkers, earning an average of $5 a day.
∞ Aside from that, there are few options for income.....
COOPERATIVES = ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
∞ Our Cooperatives projects involve small groups of 3-5 individuals who receive all the necessary start-up funds to begin a business through a no-interest micro-loan provided by our organization. This is different from other micro-loan programs that often charge interest on the loans with the intention of recuperating the initial investment, or, in some cases, making a profit off the loan.
∞ Participants receive training in entrepreneurial skills through our volunteer Board, who are agricultural and business experts, learning how to run and successfully manage their business.
∞ The participants in the cooperatives share the profits from their business, reinvesting sufficient funds to ensure the continuation of their enterprise, and divide the remaining between a savings account for a future independent enterprise, and themselves.
∞ After they have participated in the cooperative project for a period of 3 years, they will have enough capital to be ready to start their own independent businesses, and a new group of 3-5 participants will take over the cooperative.
LIGHT OF ESPERANZA'S COOPERATIVE PROJECTS:
A DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS
∞ In 2013, Light of Esperanza celebrated the successful completion of its first cooperative project - the Women's Fish Cooperative.
∞ The five women of this project ran a profitable tilapia fish business for three years, receiving the start-up funds and guidance from Light of Esperanza. In April of 2013, they harvested their final group of tilapia, and used all of their profits from the past three years to begin their own independent business - raising pigs. This business continues to thrive years later.
LOS PROYECTOS COOPERATIVOS DE LIGHT OF ESPERANZA:
UN GRAN EXITO
∞ En 2013, Light of Esperanza celebró el exito de nuestro primer proyecto cooperativo - el proyecto de pescado.
∞ Las cinco mujeres de este proyecto tenían un negocio de peces tilapia durante los últimos tres anos. Obtuvieron los fondos para empezar su negocio, las posas donde ubicar y crecer los peses, y el consejo de Light of Esperanza de como manejar bien su negocio. En Abril de 2013, este grupo realizo su ultima pesca de tilapia y utilizaron sus ganancias obtenidas al finalizar el proyecto y comenzaron su propio negocio - una granja de cerdos. Este negocio de cerdos sigue con exito en el dia presente.
THE CHICKEN EGG COOPERATIVE
LA COOPERATIVA DE HUEVOS DE GALLINA .