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AMMID

AMMID (Asociación Maya-Mam de Investigación y Desarrollo) is a non-profit organization whose members live in the Comitancillo area of Guatemala.  The NGO is managed and staffed by Mayan people from the Mam culture.  It was established in 1997 to facilitate the development of self-sufficiency of its members.  AMMID serves as a centre for training, research and community projects.

The area is mountainous with very little land suitable for agriculture and livestock farming.  Hurricane Stan in October 2005 destroyed about 80% of the harvests of corn, basic grains, and fruit.  Sharing the Dream has given $6,647.76 to AMMID for a chicken project.  Eighty women will be provided with chickens and training in how to keep them. The women must provide the chicken houses before they get the chickens.  Each family would receive a “Poultry Module” comprised of nine hens and one rooster of the “Zazo” breed and 100 pounds of chicken feed.  This project will permit them to confront their daily food shortages. 

 

Twenty-six communities in the area lost their water supply because of hurricane Stan.  The communities of San Pablo, Cerro los Bujes, and aldea San Isidro have water systems that have not been repaired.  Sharing the Dream will use $9,320.69 of the money donated for disaster relief to repair these water systems.

AMMID has nine women’s groups.  Sharing the Dream is working with these groups to help develop their traditional regional crafts into income-generating products.  We sell their products in our store and are helping them find other markets for their products.

Dalesburg Lutheran, a church near Vermillion, SD, donated $1200.00 so the women of Los Bujes could build a sewing center.  The women made the bricks and the construction of the building was done by people in the area.  

 


Making bricks for the sewing center


Inside the sewing center

 

The women of Los Bujes have had sewing lessons and have purchased sewing machines.  Dalesburg donated money for the training and some sewing machines.  The 12 women in the group are making the traditional trajes for the middle school in town.  They have 4 women who work on the industrial machines and 8 women who work on the small machines. Since they have started earning more money there are 2 women who have bought their own machines.


Some of the embroidery done on the new machines