By Lauren O'Neill | External Relations Co-Chair
The Solidarity Project has made a lot of exciting progress since our last update in February. We have achieved one of our major goals for 2018 by holding our first Mesa Comunitaria event in the community of Nueva San Diego (NSD) on May 6. Mesa Comunitaria is a project modeled after the successful Detroit Soup method of participatory development in which local leaders present ideas for community change at a micro-granting lunch and attendees select the projects they value most. Micro-grants are small cash awards given to community leaders to implement their ideas.
The Solidarity Project was impressed with the creativity, ingenuity, and commitment that the NSD community showed as they came together to work for the two-month planning process of the Mesa Comunitaria event. Our history of successful collaboration with this community continued as event leaders planned, organized, and hosted this day of community engagement that involved music, food, games and boasted an attendance of 75 NSD community members! Micro-grants were awarded to two of four community projects:
The Solidarity Project looks forward to supporting the implementation of the ideas of NSD’s leaders and will keep you updated on the results of these projects in the coming months.
The Solidarity Project also started the rollout of Mesa Comunitaria in our second community this year. On May 23, our Project Director, Gloria, led a community-wide meeting in Quebrada Grande, Cedros to introduce the project. Quebrada Grande is a village located in the rural region of Cedros in the Department of Francisco Morazan recognized for its annual cultivation of mandarin organges and coffee. The village is populated by many collaborative and resourceful community members seeking to mitigate the lack of economic opportunity and limited infrastructure related to the community’s distance from major urban areas. More than 60 community members attended this first meeting. Community members expressed enthusiasm about the project’s transparency and accountability to the community and are excited to host Mesa Comunitaria as an innovative way to execute community projects and have their voices heard!
We remain committed to supporting talented local leaders, fostering engagement, and sharing stories of solidarity and resilience from Honduras. We are thrilled to provide a venue to directly empower community members with projects that they design and select. We will keep you updated on Mesa Comunitaria’s progress, successes, and expansion in Quebrada Grande, Nueva San Diego, and the additional community where we plan to launch. Your support, interest, and belief in our mission have made this work happen - our success is your success. Thank you again for your support!
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