la Lecheria de Soya, known today as Adibe Solola
click here to visit a tribute to the Soy Project and Agustin and Elena on Facebook
“(In 1980) After eight months of training the employees at the Soy factory, the political climate in Guatemala became unstable and Plenty was forced to prematurely leave the Soy Project in the hands of the community of San Bartolo. But, never in our wildest dreams did we think they would run this project for all these years and that it would become such a success. I attribute this mostly to the commitment and devotion of Agustin and Maria Elena Xoquic. The Soy Project is still in operation and we hope will continue to develop under the direction of the Association Adibe.”
Bisi Iderabdula was a born New Yorker who left this country due to racism, and moved to Liberia in the 1980s with her husband Mahmoud. Four years later the country went into a terrible civil war, which claimed the lives of 200,000 people. Around this time she and her husband founded an orphanage called the Imani House to serve the children, victims of this war. In the early 90’s they expanded to include a community health center that was on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.
IMANI HOUSE works closely with the country’s Ministry of Health and local community leaders. The clinic offers full family health care services, with a special pediatrics program, a short-stay in patient facility, family planning and emergency deliveries. In addition the clinic offers dental care, laboratory services, and workshops in first aid, nutrition, basic health care and disease prevention, tutoring, and parent workshops.”
She also started an international writing club for woman of color… hence the stamp Bisi Forever!
This image is in reference to the first water project in Guatemala by The Farm’s relief and development nonprofit Plenty International in the village of San Bartolo, Solola. The hippie to the left represents Clifford Figalo, our project director. The project was a true collaboration between Plenty and the people of San Bartolo, who dug the trench, laid the pipeline, and built the holding tank. Ultimately each house in the village had a spigot of safe clean drinking water at their home. The success of this project inspired several more, including one project bringing water to 3 villages and 10,000 people.