While I was in Juticalpa, Honduras, I met a very special woman that I want to tell you more about. Her name is Orquidea Lopez (we called her Orchid, for short) and she is currently the librarian at Santa Clara School.
Orquidea and me
I worked on various library projects with her during my time there and as such, we got to have many great conversations. As I learned more about her, I discovered her heart for helping others, and more specifically, for empowering impoverished women from her hometown in Honduras (El Triunfo, Choluteca). She wants to provide single mothers with the tools, education and resources needed to provide a consistent income for themselves, and their families. She is a very smart and talented young woman and I full confidence in her ability to see this vision out to completion.
This mean so much to her that she created her own non-profit organization, which she is desperately trying to get off the ground. The only problem is funding as donations and grants are not easy to come by where she lives. Neither is the internet and all the networking it can provide. That is where each of you come in. I want to share more about her organization and vision with you all and ask that you prayerfully consider supporting her through financial donations, as well as by spreading the word about it all through Facebook, email, etc. It is a wonderful concept that is well thought out and very sustainable. So, please read through the summary before and consider getting involved in this great cause.
Orquidea Lopez created a non-profit organization called the Agricultural Business Society for Rural Women, whose goal is to help and empower single mothers within Honduras. This will be accomplished through teaching them to farm and market/sell their crops in order to create a reliable income and skills that can be passed down to future generations.
Orquidea grew up in El Triunfo, Choluteca (located in Honduras) and witnessed the hardships created by poverty and lack of education firsthand through her own family. She later went on to study business marketing and management at Northcentral Technical College in the States, after receiving a scholarship sponsored by Georgetown University and the United States Agency For International Development.
She now wishes to use her education and skills to help the women in her hometown avoid the poverty and brokenness that is so prevalent in that region. Her organization hopes to stimulate economic development by teaching women how to run a farming business, harvesting and marketing corn, bean and sorghum. They are prepared to provide technical assistance, agro-equipment, seeds and business management training to single mothers in El Triunfo, Choluteca, but lack the funds needed to begin.
They have already selected 10 women from rural areas within Choluteca to be the first to receive this training, once funding is available. These are women without an education, many of whom have been abused and/or abandoned, who are struggling to provide for their family. These women, once established, will then become community leaders and are required to mentor and teach these skills to two additional females each (per year), using the organizations resources. This ensures the sustainability of the program, and helps reach more individuals in need.
These are some of the women who will be a part of the first 10, with your help
You can read more about the Agricultural Business Society for Rural Women by clicking this website. You can also donate directly to her cause through her GoFundMe page located here. I can also put you in contact with Orquidea directly, should you have any further questions. Please consider donating so that this organization can move forward with their vision and begin the work that is so desperately needed in Honduras. This is a rare opportunity to be directly involved in supporting a locally run and intentional project.
