Through faith, humility and hands‑on support, agricultural technician Orfelina Portillo is helping families in rural Honduras transform their livelihoods—building sustainable farms, healthier homes and a stronger, more connected community.
Supporting Rural Families Through Sustainable Farming in Honduras
Orfelina Portillo once defined herself as part of the “arm that feeds the world.” Now, after three years of dedication to the Produce Verde project, she has become the heart of a team that sustains that effort with love and discipline.
Every morning, before the sun rises over Santa Bárbara, Honduras, Orfelina prays. She asks for safety on the road and that every seed planted in God’s name finds fertile soil. As an agricultural technician for CWS’s local partner, the Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM), she travels through farms and rural paths to guide families—helping their productive projects become truly sustainable. This work builds on 15 years of partnership between CASM and CWS to address food insecurity in the department of Santa Bárbara.
Now in the third year of this initiative, supported by CWS and Growing Hope Globally, Orfelina’s routine remains the same, but the landscape she traverses has changed. She no longer sees only half‑finished plots; now, there are gardens that have stood the test of time. Families who received their first animals are now giving offspring to their neighbors, transforming individual aid into a web of community wellbeing.
How Community‑Led Practices Improve Food Security and Health
Her philosophy is simple and powerful: “You have to know how to reach people.” For her, the first tool people need is trust. Rain or shine, Orfelina arrives with a smile, ready to listen. The process begins by understanding the reality of each home and evaluating how best to offer support.
To Orfelina, scarcity is not an obstacle but a starting point. “There is always something that can be built step‑by‑step,” she says. Depending on their situation, families receive help to organize vegetable gardens, poultry coops, eco‑stoves, metal silos for grain storage, laundry stations, latrines or improved flooring.
Building Long‑Term Impact Through Agricultural Training and Local Leadership
One of the most significant changes she has witnessed is at the dinner table. Gardens have become a natural medicine against malnutrition. “The children have overcome that struggle; they are getting past illnesses like anemia. The training has helped so much, and these are things the families now have right there in their gardens.”
Health From the Roots: What once was a technical explanation about crops is now a testimony of improved health. In coordination with local health promoters, the gardens have become the first line of defense against anemia and childhood malnutrition.
Real Sustainability: The metal silos and eco‑stoves installed in the early stages of the project are now performing at one hundred percent—helping families store food safely, cook efficiently and reduce costs.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Women Farmers and Technicians
Orfelina’s vocation is also felt within her own family. Her daughter Esmeralda, now 13, grew up watching her mother serve these communities and now imagines her own future in agronomy or veterinary medicine. Orfelina’s work has inspired a new generation in Santa Bárbara, and today, young people approach her to say they want to follow in her footsteps.
At home, she practices what she teaches. She maintains her own garden and animals under sustainable principles, allowing her to speak from shared experience. “I recommend these things to them because I do them too.”
At the end of each day, she returns home, reviews her notes and records everything she learned from the community she visited. “It is my happiness. My motto is to teach and learn at the same time,” she says. Her work is constant and quiet—something she believes can “only be done with faith and humility,” and with the conviction that every family has the power to transform their own life when they find the right support.
The Produce Verde project is implemented by our local partner, Comisión de Acción Social Menonita (CASM), with the support of CWS and Growing Hope Globally.
Learn more about CWS’s work in Honduras here.