News from the field
Mexico Earthquake Update
EPIC is launching a campaign to raise $10,000 to help the Arceo Foundation recover its losses and to assist them as they help families in the heavily damaged communities where they work.
2017 AGM Meeting Highlights
EPIC's first Board of Directors meeting with Barry Bartel as the new Associate Executive Director. We passed an ambitious budget for our 2017-18 fiscal year with exciting growth in our program work.
2015 – 2016 Annual Report
Highlights from the 2015 – 2016 Annual Report includes: Heirloom Seeds and Maintaining Biodiversity, Maintaining Soil Fertility with Organic Fertilizer, Updates on Promoting Organic Ecological Agriculture and much more.
FUNDAMARCOS meets in Antigua
On March 7, 2017 29 of us had a FUNDAMARCOS team meeting in Antigua. We covered program reports, planning, and a consultation with our phenomenal CPA on how to avoid the pitfalls of the Guatemalan tax system.
“Care For Our Common Home” Conference
La Casa para la Culture Maya's conference on the Pope's environmental encyclical "Care for Our Common Home" brought together a widely diverse group of persons who would seldom have such an opportunity to discuss their environmental concerns. We had young and old, Maya and Ladino, persons internationally known and villagers from rural Guatemala.
2016 Haitian Relief
Only a few short years after the 2010 earthquake, Haiti is once again on the brink. EPIC is asking that memebers consider a special donation to help Quixoti Center
Gabino Lopez: A Great Scholar, Teacher & Friend
EPIC has experiences a massive loss in the passing of Gabino Lopez at the end of September. We are crushed by this end to his long struggle with cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
2015-2016 Project Highlights
Tony Brun has just returned from visiting La Semilla del Progreso in Honduras where they are reaching out to an entirely new and even more needy region close to the boarder with El Salvador.
Spring in Guatemala
EPIC directors, Paul and Mary McKay just returned from a quick visit to Guatemala. Here are few of the highlights from their power-packed trip.
A Huge Thanks to Seattle Seed Co.
In the current planting season, the FUNDAMARCOS extension team has benefited from a large donation of 7 varieties of organic heirloom seeds from Seattle Seed Company.
Developing Mobile Education Units
Chuck Regier consultant from Kauffman Museum, Kansas, seeks advice from local graphic artists, Marta Julia Tomas and Daniel Mach regarding local printing resources for banners and photographs.
La Semilla del Progreso – November 2015
Honduras was already the poorest county in Central America, and this year’s drought has caused great suffering. La Semilla had been preparing farmers for weather extremes by emphasizing a resilient food production. Each family is advised to plant food crops that like lots of water and crops that do well with little. Still, when the […]
2014 – 2015 Annual Report
Highlights from the 2014 – 2015 Annual Report includes: Updates on FUNDAMARCOS, La Semilla del Progreso, EPIC's partnership with the Friends of Napal (Pariwar), Mujers en Acción, La Buena Tierra, Casa De Los Amigos, Creciendo Juntos, and Casa Para La Cultura Maya.
An Update from the FUNDAMARCOS’ 2015 Agricultural Year
The following are from the FUNDAMARCOS Sustainable Agricultural and Primary Health Program’s work with 11 Villages in Cubulco and Granados, Baja Verapaz from 2014-2015: Tree Planting 29,443 total trees planted 20,097 small trees transplanted onto the hillsides for reforestation, firewood and lumber – 9 varieties selected to be appropriate for the elevation where they were planted. […]
Inspiring Words From The Encyclical Letter
Patricio Jacobo, Coordinator, Trainer, and Supervisor of Agricultural Resiliency Trainers at La Semilla del Progreso in Honduras took inspiration from the Encyclical Letter. “Thank you for bringing to our attention the Encyclical “Care for Our Common Home” by Pope Francis. We appreciate your encouragement to use it in our leadership training. We are very much aware of this […]
Visiting Coffee Farmers in Honduras – FEB 2015
This February, Paul and Mary McKay are visiting the La Semilla del Progreso project in Honduras. As you can see the roads can get tough. Patricio Jacobo is thankful to get back on the roads after some hard work pushing in the mud. Mary sent these words about the photos below, “Beautifully shaded coffee – integrated […]
Thanks For All The Donations – JAN 2015
Our 2014 holiday donation drive was a fabulous success! All your generous gifts will make a tremendous impact on EPIC’s work and what we can do for our project partners. We had 94 recipients in total and here are some of the most popular gifts: Sponsoring an Honduran youth for 4 day course on sustainable […]
La Buena Tierra: New Graduates and New Playground – Nov 2014
La Buena Tierra was started in Cuernavaca in 1999 as a preschool for children of very poor families who were entering first grade with no preparation. Next the mothers dreamed of a quality elementary school. The children had become excited about learning, but they became frustrated and lost interest in the poor under-funded and overcrowded […]
Creating Opportunties for Central American Youth – Nov 2014
Honduras is the poorest county in Central America, and for many youth, opportunities for education or employment are nonexistent. The greatest number of unaccompanied minors to the US now come from Honduras. La Semilla is working in very poor rural areas to give teens from farming backgrounds new hope and the necessary skills to someday […]