Doing more with less in Guatemala: Help us Cultivate Hope! (Email 1 of Giving Tuesday Campaign 2025)

This year, Sowing Opportunities took a bold step. We introduced a greenhouse agriculture curriculum to a second school – the regional Fray School – enabling us to reach students from about 350 additional households in Guatemala’s remote Eastern Alta Verapaz region.  The results have exceeded our expectations – truly cultivating hope. In under six months, […]

The family of Teacher Mirna has their own greenhouses

Both the teacher and the principal of the school in the village of Sisbilhá have their own greenhouses at their homes in the nearby town of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, installed with the help of the Sembrando Oportunidades field team. The teacher, Mirna Suram, is very grateful for what Sembrando Oportunidades has taught her. […]

Corn is being grown in black plastic bags

Because of the rocky soil in the region, vegetables cannot be grown directly in the ground.  For this reason, corn – which is a Guatemalan food staple – doesn’t do well when grown on the land.  So, Sowing Opportunities’ agricultural engineer came up with the plan to grow leafy greens and other crops in greenhouses.  […]

The girls are fully involved in the learning

To the credit of both the teachers and Sowing Opportunities’ team, girls are given equal learning opportunities, and their interest and accomplishments are applauded! It’s well known that students experience excitement in the classroom as they learn this new technique. But what’s surprising is that at the same time they learn and familiarize themselves with […]

September surprises in the Fray School greenhouses

Sowing Opportunities’ team is back in the region because of the unexpected progress of the vegetables at Fray School.   They’ve just started, and their greenhouse tables have already yielded crops!  We have a growing period of only 30-40 days!  They’re starting to protect the plants they already had, removing the ones that aren’t working anymore, […]

Students watering seedlings at Fray School

The key reasons that the plants are growing so tall and healthy are: The teachers and students understand the process Both are dedicated to learning and following through They regularly water and apply fertilizer and insecticide A very important point here is that this school is located within the town of Fray Bartolomé de las […]

The plants in Fray School are growing tall!

One of the hallmarks of the work of Sowing Opportunities’ agricultural engineer is his ability to work with populations to teach them how to grow their plants beautifully in greenhouses in a short amount of time, giving high yield with minimal soil and water. Many times the people are incredulous that something amazing will come […]

August developments at Fray School

Dear friends and family, I am delighted to share with you the news of our team returning to the region one month after setting up the greenhouses in the Fray Bartolome de las Casas School.   I will separately write with the results from the Sisbilhá School and the family participants in the second group of […]