Friendship Bridge’s history began with its work in Vietnam providing medical education and shipping medical supplies to impoverished populations in war-ravaged areas. While medical supplies were positively impacting the lives of recipients, Friendship Bridge was looking for a more sustainable solution to poverty reduction — the solution was microcredit. In 1994, we shifted our focus from medical supplies to microcredit and began offering small loans to impoverished women.
The Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura (Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura - IMAP) is a non-profit organization based in Guatemala. It was founded in 2000 by a group of local people concerned about the serious environmental, social, political and cultural problems that affect Mesoamerican communities.
We have established an education center where we promotes the teaching of Permaculture techniques, the conservation of biodiversity, the production of seeds and vegetables in an organic way, and a seed bank that fights for the rescue of the heritage of native seeds.
We are a civil organization of indigenous women of the Mayan culture, we support and work in solidarity with rural development, promoting the empowerment and autonomy of women in the various areas of their daily lives.