Honduras Macuelizo
$102,118 needed of $212,118
Implementing Organization
Church World Service (CWS)
Program Summary
Honduras is highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, landslides, droughts, and forest fires. CASM is working to reduce the high levels of vulnerability in the department of Santa Barbara. The program aims to promote agricultural production under a sustainable farming approach, increase the protection of forested areas and watersheds, expand access to healthy food, and generate income through the sale of surplus crops. The program also forms local alliances with a wide variety of groups that help to strengthen food chains, increase access to water, organize advocacy efforts that promote the rights of children, and reduce violence in the communities. Program activities are centered around three strategic components: food security, nutrition, and family agriculture; natural resource management and climate change adaptation; and citizenship strengthening and human rights.
Don Pedro Maldonado - Honduras Macuelizo
Success Stories
Faithful Service in the Field
As an agricultural technician for the Honduras Macuelizo program’s local partner, Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM), Orfelina is helping families in rural Honduras transform their communities.
Every morning before she sets out, Orfelina prays, asking for safety on the road and that every seed planted in God’s name falls on fertile soil. Rain or shine, she spends her days visiting farms to support local families. She helps them put techniques into practice that encourage long-term health and resilience.
“You have to know how to reach people,” she shares. Orfelina always starts by building trusted relationships, listening and understanding the reality of each family. From there, depending on their situation, families receive technical accompaniment to improve crop management, grow a diversity of fruits and vegetables, produce compost, establish staple grain reserves, manage small-scale livestock systems, and build chicken coops, eco-stoves, latrines, and more.
One of the areas in which Orfelina has witnessed the biggest transformation in over the years is family nutrition. Gardens have become the first line of defense against malnutrition. “The children have overcome that struggle; they are getting past illnesses like anemia. The training has helped so much, and these are things the families now have right there in their gardens.”
Orfelina’s faithful service is also sparking inspiration for the next generation. Her 13-year-old daughter, Esmerelda, watches her mother work alongside these communities and now imagines a future of her own in agriculture as an agronomist or veterinarian.
Whether delivering supplies, tending to livestock, or sharing a laugh with local families, Orfelina is always present and hands-on. Her dedication to this work turns everyday tasks into acts of transformative service.
“It is my happiness. My motto is to teach and learn at the same time,” she says with the conviction that every family has the power to transform their own life when they have the right support.
Honduras Macuelizo is led by Church World Service and local partner Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM)