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 Asociación Nuevo Amanecer de Santiago Atitlán (ANADESA Association) was born as a result of the natural disaster caused by Hurricane Stan in October 2005, which severely hit the communities of Panabaj and Tzanchaj in the municipality of Santiago Atitlán. Currently the Association works in the development and service of rural communities in the municipality of Santiago Atitlán.
Yabal Guatemala is a Fair Trade organization, focused on sustainable fashion, that supports indigenous women’s weaving cooperatives in Guatemala, providing them with the opportunity to sell their hand-woven products through local and international markets.
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.
Finding Freedom through Friendship, Inc. (FFF) was founded in 2009 to meet the critical needs of rural Guatemalan women and their children who suffer from generational poverty. Finding Freedom through Friendship (FFF) strives for long-term sustainability for women, children, and the community.