Dear family and friends,

The Jewish High Holy Days season begins this year on Saturday evening, September 28 with a service called S’lichot, asking for forgiveness from God. The evening of October 2, 2024 begins the Jewish New Year - in Hebrew, Rosh HaShanah.

As we turn at this time to creating things anew, we at Sowing Opportunities turn our thoughts to how the people of the remote indigenous villages of Chajmaic, Salaguna, and Sisbilhá, Guatemala, are creating new beginnings and having hope in their lives for the first time.

Look, for example, at Aurelia Chub Pop, a single mother of five, who is able to not only feed her children, but also sell vegetables to have funds for her family, even though her husband is no longer in her life.  

Here is the video of her story. (Here she is standing with Sowing Opportunities' agricultural engineer and project manager.):

Look also at Ilda Guiselda Choc Ché, a 10-year-old girl, who is learning a new skill and able to contribute both in terms of helping to provide food, but also, in the future, contributing economically to her impoverished family.

See her video:

A theme of the Jewish New Year is Tikkun Olam, which means to repair our broken world. Sowing Opportunities has as its mission to build agricultural capacity, resources, and leadership for indigenous families in villages in a remote area of Guatemala. In this sense, we are contributing to the repair of the world, in this small forgotten region, and by extension, this affects us all, throughout the world.

As we say in the Jewish tradition, L’Shana Tova Tikatevu - May you be inscribed [in the book of life] for a good year. Thank you for helping us to repair this hurting world. You can make your donation at this link.

Thank you so much and blessings.

Fern and the Sowing Opportunities team