Goals for 2012

Our goal is to make 2012 Semilla Nueva’s best year yet, and with our plans so far, we are on our way to making that happen.

The New Harvest event brought overwhelming support from the Boise community, and many volunteers and attendees were eager to continue helping our organization. As a result, we formed an Associate Board consisting of a talented and diverse group of individuals. Their ambitious agenda includes launching a new membership campaign as well as coordinating multiple community events throughout the year. One upcoming event, on Earth Day, partners with Hewlett-Packard to promote sustainability and land use awareness through kid-friendly interactive models and games.

In addition, we have five invaluable interns serving four months each in Guatemala. You may have already seen the enlightening and engaging content from Anne Barkett, our new PR master. While assisting with on-the-ground tasks in the Guatemalan communities Semilla Nueva serves, our talented team will—among other things—expand our nutrition project, maintain public relations and social media efforts, and write grant proposals. The nutrition project expands on our farmer-to-farmer approach, empowering communities to solve nutrition issues. Specifically, it will create a nutritional curriculum as well as provide pigeon pea recipes that can be used by Guatemalan families. Our team will continue to provide progress updates through social media and email.

And finally, one of our biggest goals is to secure the Rotary Foundation Global Grant. This grant specifically “supports large international activities with sustainable high-impact outcomes in one or more of the six areas of focus and have a long-term impact.” We are grateful for the overwhelming support from local and regional Rotary clubs, as well as Rotary’s commitment to improving the lives of people around the world. Should Semilla Nueva be awarded this grant, the additional funding will enable us to reach five new communities in Guatemala.

All of this work ensures that our life-changing programs in Guatemala will not only continue, they will grow. Count on new work with no-till, pigeonpea, and green manures! Count on more families becoming leaders in their communities! Count on a greener and more prosperous Guatemala, thanks to your help!

We will continue to report the progress of these new initiatives on our blog, but please also follow us on twitter and Facebook for ongoing dialogue if you haven’t already done so. We look forward to sharing the upcoming year with you!