In early 2023, passing through a hard time personally and trying to find my way back to the biology field, I stumbled upon a hidden gem in southern Guatemala, the community of La Bendición, thanks to applying to a job as a researcher assistant. True to its name, this place felt like a blessing from the moment I arrived.

In 1987, when the Comité Ecológico Aldea de Suyapa (COEAS) began to protect the mountain, it did so with a group of young men and women committed to taking care of the area's water resources

As Mexico experiences one of the hottest and driest years on record, the vital need to protect watersheds remains at the forefront for many of our partner communities. This summer, nearly 68% of the country faces moderate to extreme drought, and large stretches of Mexico City came dangerously close to losing water access entirely.

When our partners say the sky is the limit, they don’t often mean literally. 

But of the hundreds of thousands of trees sown by our partner in El Salvador, Agua y Arboles para el Pueblo (AAP), one has reached new heights. 

In early April, AAP’s executive director, Armando Hernandez, received an unusual call from the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador. Frank Rubio, a well-known U.S. astronaut of Salvadoran descent, was visiting the country and needed help planting some very special seeds.

From June 17-20, we had the privilege of hosting a week-long knowledge exchange in Guatemala City, marking the conclusion of phase 1 of our pilot project in collaboration with the Coordinadora de Mujeres Líderes Territoriales de Mesoamérica (CMLT).

One of the questions we get most often at Trees, Water & People from well-meaning donors of all sizes is, “So… how many trees can we plant for this many dollars”?

The Association of Agroecological Promoters of Jalapa (ASOPROAJ), an indigenous organization of the Xinca people in Guatemala, represents a light of hope in the country's Dry Corridor, especially in the municipality of San Carlos Alzatate. Since its legal constitution in 2022, ASOPROAJ has grown to 80 promoters between men and women distributed throughout the region, there are currently 15 active members in leadership positions.

This afternoon we had a visit from long time Trees, Water & People (TWP) supporter, Karen Allen. Not only had she brought us a bunch of surplus tomato seedlings for TWP staff, she also came bearing a significant gift to start TWP’s work in Mexico.

For years, TWP has been studying and exploring innovative climate resiliency strategies across the Americas. In 2023, our Central America team had the pleasure of attending our first Climate Week in Panama, where we met exemplary organizations working across Mesoamerica.