Project Description
Our Story
Grassroots Beginnings
In 2001, just five years after the signing of the Guatemalan Peace Accords which officially ended a brutal 36-year armed conflict, a group of Maya Achi leaders from the region of Baja Verapaz began organizing. Led by the vision of Cristóbal Osório Sánchez, widows and survivors from a series of horrific massacres in the Rabinal, Baja Verapaz region began to organize and restore their fields, using the Campesino a Campesino, “Farmer to Farmer” method of organizing, planting native seeds and rebuilding their communities in the aftermath of the genocide. With time, more and more people became interested as they saw their neighbors breaking their dependency on outside aid and making some extra money to provide for their families.
“At first, we had no idea what to do with these seeds, but we knew they were precious, so we stored them in empty juice bottles and homemade paper envelopes.” – Maria Magdalena Ixpatá
In 2006, they formed Qachuu Aloom ¨Mother Earth¨ Association and now they work with over 400 families and have brought back many seed varieties that had almost completely disappeared. Many seeds were lost during the civil war, when the military burned fields, homes and livestock. Foreign aid organizations introduced hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers, creating a cycle of dependency that threatened traditional seeds and farming traditions. Because of their seed saving, members of Qachuu Aloom can now plant year after year without relying on foreign aid. In fact, the seeds they grow are now sold to some of the very aid organizations that were once part of the problem, inspiring them to develop more sustainable practices. As the seeds came back, many other important cultural practices around agriculture began to re-emerge as well and Qachuu Aloom began to support other needs, like education, health, and the local economy.
During those early years of organizing and starting Qachuu Aloom, three young activists from Albuquerque, New Mexico, (Sarah, Marcos and Aaron) lived in Rabinal and accompanied Cristobal and other families. They learned the farmer to farmer model from him. They sat with widows and heard their stories of survival, and accompanied them as mass graves of their loved ones were exhumed. They also saw the inefficient and sometimes destructive models of foriegn aid, and were inspired to create an alternative model, based on Cristobal’s teachings.
In 2007, Marcos, Sarah and her husband Jesse, founded The Garden’s Edge as a 501(c)3 so that they could continue to support Qachuu Aloom and also create a platform for other famers from Guatemala to share their stories, knowledge and teachings. Their goal was to provide alternatives to international aid programs that promoted high-input agriculture, dependent on chemicals, fertilizers, and expensive hybrid seeds. They also wanted to avoid the colonial model of “development” that brings in out-side “experts” instead of valuing local knowledge, leadership and traditions. Today, The Garden’s Edge continues to support the strong agricultural traditions of the Maya Achi. In 2010, The Garden’s Edge brought a delegation of Guatemalan farmers to New Mexico through TNAFA, the Traditional Native American Farmers Association for cultural exchanges and seed saving workshops. Today that work has grown into a vibrant international movement of seed growers and traditional healers called Seed Travels, where farmers and healers inspire and collaborate with each other to re-create and re-image what our communities can look like as we move into the future.
In recent years, The Garden’s Edge has expanded its work into the areas of Climate Resilience, Education, Heath, and Communication. Using the model that Cristobal taught us, we bring in local teachers and help communities connect, so that they support each other in sharing skills, knowledge and traditions.
For a more complete story, read: How Our Work Began, by Sarah Montgomery