On the most recent trip from the TVX facilities, our TVX Cerca a la Comunidad team headed east to Nueva Eden de San Juan, one of the eight districts of San Miguel Norte. A few years ago, the area was mainly used for agriculture, but since 2018, it has been transformed to make way for development.
Likewise, women have begun to expand beyond their duties as housewives and have become entrepreneurs, seeking financial independence.
This boom in entrepreneurship was achieved thanks to the support of the Network of Community Environmentalists of El Salvador in conjunction with the previous Municipal Government, through the Women’s Unit, which has unfortunately disappeared with this new administration.
«In the period 2021-2024, a lot of work was done with entrepreneurship and at present we can see the results and development of the current district»mentioned Dolores López who was a councilor of the former mayor’s office
Previously, the community also had a court and a youth meeting house created with the aim of being a space used by all the young people of the town. This house housed a library where students did school work and had books that had been donated. Unfortunately, this space has also been lost with the arrival of the new municipal council of San Miguel Norte.
It is important to note that job opportunities in the district are few, which drives young people to migrate abroad and families to subsist on remittances. Other problems they face are the lack of access roads and lack of public transport, which forces them to look for alternative means of transport.
However, the work of RACDES with the communities of this place has been fruitful. Proof of this is the formation of a group of 12 members called “Network of Producers and Marketers of the La Adobera hamlet of the Jardín Canton.”
In this network, men and women have been divided into two groups, where the first is in charge of growing vegetables such as tomatoes, guisquiles, cucumbers, among other products of the land and the other is in charge of the Home Farms, where they have chickens and from them they obtain eggs that they later use for their consumption and marketing.
«RACDES has taught us to be environmentalists and we have learned a lot. We have taken advantage of our climate, we have taken advantage of the winter and we have grown chili, we have sold it and when we need it we come and get it. We do not use chemicals and everything has been organic.» Zulma Ramírez, representative of the network of producers, indicated
A little far from the urban center of Nueva Edén de San Juan, in the Masatepeque hamlet, abandonment by the authorities has led to organizing, becoming an example of working to get ahead on their own, highlighting that if they do not do it, no one will do it for them.
Thus, together with RACDES, they have sought support from other entities, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which has allowed them to create home farms, where they have automatic incubators for chicken eggs and planting beans, tomatoes, nances, custard apples, watermelon and other crops.
The Agricultural Marketing, Supply and Production Cooperative Association (ACOPARO) is an organization that has also generated several projects, as well as the acquisition of machinery necessary for the community’s work.
The residents of Nueva Edén de San Juan are an example that organizing is the best option to get ahead despite the difficulties.
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