Empowering Communities Through Agriculture and Leadership

Martha Brito, a young leader from Aldea Xemamatze, Guatemala, has transformed her community through agricultural knowledge and workshops on women’s empowerment. Inspired by her grandmother and mother, Martha teaches sustainable farming practices and advocates for dignity and confidence among women.

Food at home, without depending on market products, is a blessing. We only need to buy the basics; everything else we can grow ourselves. These words reflect the skills and success of Martha Brito, an active participant in our Guatemala programs led by our partner, CIEDEG.*

Since she was just 9 years old, Martha, from the village of Aldea Xemamatze, Caserío Visajkub, has witnessed how training in agriculture, health and dignity has transformed her reality and that of many families around her.

A Generational Cycle of Learning 

Martha’s leadership story began when she lived with her grandmother, a key figure in her life who taught her the importance of community projects.”We come from a low-income family, and the support from CIEDEG has been essential for us. They provided training on how to make organic fertilizers, prepare homemade insecticides, and take care of our crops,” Martha shared. Thanks to this training, she learned from a young age how to improve agricultural production at home and understood the importance of growing food for a healthy diet.

Martha has also learned a great deal alongside her mother, Catarina Brito, a CIEDEG promoter. “I’ve always been by her side, helping her in any way I can. Sometimes I accompany her on visits to other communities and encourage people to harvest more.” In addition to her agricultural knowledge, Martha has learned to prepare traditional foods. “My grandmother always said we had to work together to improve our nutrition, especially to fight child malnutrition,” she recalls fondly.

Empowering Women in the Community

Over the years, Martha has become a facilitator of learning in her community. She has held workshops on using organic fertilizers and homemade pesticides, contributing to the empowerment of the women around her. In 2023, she taught her first course on dignity for the women in her community. This workshop emphasized the importance of women feeling confident in themselves and understanding that they have the right to lead and be heard.

Today, Martha dreams of having her own pig farm to support other women in her community. “It’s a project I would love to make a reality because there are many women who need help in these areas,” she says with hope.

Beyond Guatemala 

One of Martha’s most enriching experiences was her trip to Japan in 2022, thanks to CIEDEG’s support. For nine months, she learned about crops, pig care, and goat farming. Although it was initially difficult to adapt to the language and food, she gradually got used to it and shared her experiences with other participants. “We learned a lot, and our colleagues were proud of us for making it so far.”

Today, Martha continues her daily activities at home, such as feeding her chickens and taking care of her animals. In every small action, she honors her mother and grandmother, while empowering her community and the next generations who will benefit from the sharing of this rich knowledge.

*We are thankful to the Conference of Evangelical Churches in Guatemala for their leadership in this program and the support of the LDS Charities. 

You can learn more about the work CWS does in Latin America by clicking here.