On Earth Day, we celebrate the successes that the people in the villages in Eastern Alta Verapaz are experiencing since January 2022. In each of the villages where Sowing Opportunities’ team has collaborated with the people to help them to develop their skills in agricultural production and leadership development, they have followed a similar path. […]
Sowing Opportunities podcast on Paul Ponders podcast
From Paul Ponders: “Sowing Opportunities”, a Malden, MA -based Charity that assists destitute villages in Guatemala in gaining access to clean water for basic needs and cultivation of their land. You will hear from Executive Director Fern Remedi-Brown and she will expand upon the Five (5) Core Values of her Organization: Doing peace and justice […]
How Sisbilhá, Guatemala waters its greenhouses (March 2024)
A video message from Fern Remedi-Brown, Executive Director of Sowing Opportunities who just returned from visiting the village of Sisbilhá in the Eastern Highlands of Guatemala: What was surprising is how the women have used their ingenuity to apply agricultural techniques that they learned to feed their families and develop an economy, such as growing […]
March 2024 Visit to Sisbilhá: Surprising Experiences
My recent visit to Guatemala was exciting: there is much to share! Our team of four arrived in Sisbilhá on Thursday, March 7 in Guatemala’s hot summer in Alta Verapaz with temps reaching 100°F (37.78°C). Being that it was summer, the rainy season of May to November was a distant memory. So, watering the crops […]
March 2024 update: Amazing developments in the remote indigenous villages in the Guatemala Highlands
The mostly women-led projects are developing at a rapid pace, thanks to the dedication of Sowing Opportunities’ team on the ground in the region, and the tireless and motivated efforts of the participants. They are truly participating in “on the job training,” where they practice what they have learned and receive instruction and evaluation from […]
Valentine’s Day Update in Sisbilhá, Guatemala
Sowing Opportunities has witnessed amazing developments in the remote indigenous village of Sisbilhá, in the Eastern Highlands of Guatemala. The mostly women-led projects are developing at a rapid pace, thanks to the dedication of Sowing Opportunities’ team on the ground in the region, and the tireless and motivated efforts of the participants. They are truly […]
Sisbilhá: Sowing Opportunities’ latest pioneering partnership
Sowing Opportunities’ team left a day earlier than the anticipated January 14, in case there might be roadblocks starting at the time that the new President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, was to be inaugurated – in case there were delays and protests. They made it safely to the remote region in Eastern Alta Verapaz, and […]
Sowing Opportunities’ 2023 Annual Report
In 2015 a ten-year-old girl, adopted in the U.S. from Guatemala, expressed her desire to find her biological family. This led to a pioneering effort for a remote, previously forgotten region in the Eastern Highlands of Guatemala, to have greenhouse agriculture. Two villages now have food security, as well as a commerce and leadership development […]
The strength of Sowing Opportunities’ infrastructure
We at Sowing Opportunities realize that life is very difficult throughout Guatemala right now. People need democracy and are willing to make personal sacrifices to achieve it. In August, President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his political party, Semilla, won by a landslide victory in Guatemala, with promises to be the anti-corruption president. He is due to […]
How Sowing Opportunities Helps Inhabitants in Unfarmable Land to Build Greenhouses
High in the mountains of the Eastern Highlands in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, there are disparate villages with mountains in-between. In an area of scarce resources, rocky soil, and no tourist commerce, Sowing Opportunities works with 75 families – nearly 500 people – to create greenhouses that now feed them year round. The greenhouses were created […]
Sowing Opportunities’ beginnings
Sowing Opportunities, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, formed in 2018 by Fern and Ginny Remedi-Brown of Malden. The idea came following the inquiry in 2011 of their then six-year-old daughter, Maya, who was adopted from Guatemala, after she asked to meet her “real mom.” Fern is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and, […]
Guatemala Travelogue, March 2023
This is a travelogue of Fern’s visit to Guatemala for the purpose of advancing the Agricultural, Water for Food and Water Security, and the Building Project for a Gathering Space for Eastern Alta Verapaz, Guatemala: page 1 Please see the April 1 newsletter for details on the visit to Chajmaic. Details about giving cookware and […]