Agros

source: Agros

Well it has now been a month since Tom and I traveled to Nicaragua, and I am just now writing about it.  I wish I could say that it has taken me so long to write something due to a lack of time, which is partially true. But if I’m honest, it has also taken me this long because I’m not quite sure what to write.

So, let me begin by introducing you to Agros.  Agros is the organization that we traveled with to Nicaragua.  Based out of Seattle, this non-profit does amazing work!

I think that Agros’ own website explains its purpose better than I could, so I’ve taken this blurb straight from there. Here is how Agros defines itself:

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Agros International is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty for rural families in Central America and Mexico by enabling landless communities to achieve land ownership and economic stability. We have learned that the root causes of poverty extend across communities and are passed down from generation to generation, and so the Agros development model is holistic, sustainable, and focused on long term results. This commitment to the long-term sustainability of a whole community serves to break the cycle of poverty in all its forms.

taken from Agros

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What is poverty?

I’ll admit, before this trip, I had a completely different definition of poverty.  Here are some shocking statistics about world poverty courtesy of Agros.

World poverty is largely rural
• 75 % (900 million) of the 1.2 billion people in the world who live in extreme poverty
(earning less than $1 a day) live in rural areas.
• In Latin America and the Caribbean, 63% of rural people live in extreme poverty.
Land ownership is the rural poor’s best source of livelihood and opportunity
• Land is their principal source of income, nutrition, security, and status.
• Half of the rural poor—some 230 million households worldwide—lack either access to land or ownership the land they till.
• Those without land are almost always the poorest. There is growing concensus that landless and poverty are intrinsically linked.

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Are you intrigued?  Want to learn more about Agros?  Please take a moment to visit their website and read more about the work that they are doing to restore hope to communities in Central America.

www.agros.org

It may take me some time, but I’m going to be posting a series of short blog posts with pictures and reflections from our time in San Jose. I hope that you will travel with me as I recount our time there!