Mujerave's Story
In 2014, Kody M. Gerkin and his wife, Melissa R. Martinez, traveled to the small Maya K’iche’ village of Santa María Chiquimula, the town that had been Kody's home for a two-year period between 2006 and 2008 when Kody was a Peace Corps Volunteer. In the Peace Corps, Kody was trained to carry out projects to improve family health. Between 2006 and 2008, Kody helped organize a project that installed nearly 450 improved wood-burning stoves for families that cooked over open fires inside in their homes. When Kody returned in 2014, Guatemala was in the midst of its worst drought in decades.
With up to 75 percent of the corn crop failing, one million subsistence farmers were being pushed to the brink of starvation. In August of 2014, the Guatemalan government declared a State of Public Calamity in 16 of its 22 departments, including Totonicapán, where Santa María Chiquimula is located. According to a United Nations (U.N.) report, “female heads of household, children under age five and pregnant women were identified among the most vulnerable groups given the increased likelihood of suffering the consequences of the effects caused by prolonged drought.” Aid organizations, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), had pledged millions of dollars for immediate assistance, though the U.N. stresses in its report the amount of money pledged is not enough to alleviate the suffering of millions of Guatemalans.
When Kody and Melissa bore witness to the suffering of their friends in Guatemala, they decided to act. Kody began to leverage his experience in rural, indigenous communities in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. Melissa brought her project management skills and unique experience in start-up organizations to Mujerave. Once Kody and Melissa began sharing their passion with friends and family, they quickly realized how much support they had. The Board of Directors as well as countless volunteers have truly fueled their desire and helped turn the passion into action!
Mujerave is a small organization that is highly efficient with the donations it receives. In 2019, we remain an all-volunteer organization that works directly with women's groups to build clean cook-stoves and greenhouses, and we continue to offer community-based education for local women. We collaborated with rural women's groups to plant over 1,000 trees in agro-forestry patterns in 2018 alone.
Mujerave believes that women are the key (and often missing) ingredient to successful sustainable development in rural Guatemala. We continue to be guided by the founding principle that when women control more equitable portions of family resources, family and community health improve.
With up to 75 percent of the corn crop failing, one million subsistence farmers were being pushed to the brink of starvation. In August of 2014, the Guatemalan government declared a State of Public Calamity in 16 of its 22 departments, including Totonicapán, where Santa María Chiquimula is located. According to a United Nations (U.N.) report, “female heads of household, children under age five and pregnant women were identified among the most vulnerable groups given the increased likelihood of suffering the consequences of the effects caused by prolonged drought.” Aid organizations, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), had pledged millions of dollars for immediate assistance, though the U.N. stresses in its report the amount of money pledged is not enough to alleviate the suffering of millions of Guatemalans.
When Kody and Melissa bore witness to the suffering of their friends in Guatemala, they decided to act. Kody began to leverage his experience in rural, indigenous communities in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. Melissa brought her project management skills and unique experience in start-up organizations to Mujerave. Once Kody and Melissa began sharing their passion with friends and family, they quickly realized how much support they had. The Board of Directors as well as countless volunteers have truly fueled their desire and helped turn the passion into action!
Mujerave is a small organization that is highly efficient with the donations it receives. In 2019, we remain an all-volunteer organization that works directly with women's groups to build clean cook-stoves and greenhouses, and we continue to offer community-based education for local women. We collaborated with rural women's groups to plant over 1,000 trees in agro-forestry patterns in 2018 alone.
Mujerave believes that women are the key (and often missing) ingredient to successful sustainable development in rural Guatemala. We continue to be guided by the founding principle that when women control more equitable portions of family resources, family and community health improve.
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