In 2002, we began collaborating with Maya communities to provide an alternative to international aid programs after the highly destructive civil war in Guatemala. We started by planting native and medicinal plants, and helped bring back many highly nutritious Maya food crops and medicines like amaranth, native corns, beans, and vegetables such as Chipilin and Macuy (Hierba Mora). The sustainable food and seed production we reintroduced has helped Maya families break thiri dependency on western aid projects and government handouts and has reduced seasonal work migration to large plantations and urban factories. We helped farmers and families in the villages around Rabinal organize their own association: Qachuu Aloom “Madre Tierra” — The Mother Earth Association. In order to continue our work we needed the help and financial support of the public, so we founded the Garden’s Edge in 2007. Thanks to our generous supporters, we have been able to keep working in Guatemala, and to expand into other communities, including New Mexico.
