The Pursuit of a Dignified Life
By Daniela Bueso
A dignified life is where any person has basic respect, freedom, and self-worth. Having basic needs met: enough food, a safe home, and money to live a decent life, while still having a choice for how to live their life.
Many of the community leaders and our partners we work with in El Salvador, Honduras, or Guatemala have had to deal with a civil war in their country. Often forced to migrate to another country, abandoning their homes, families, and livelihoods. But regardless of the odds and incredible bravery, people come back to their communities and decide to make a positive change.
Those brave people who have returned to their communities work with and are part of the team of our two new partner organizations in El Salvador - Asociación Mangle and Asociación Cincahuite.
The founders of Asociación Mangle created the organization to help support hundreds of families and communities living in the Bajo Lempa and Jiquilisco Bay, located on the Pacific coast. Showcasing key programs in community leadership, environmental stewardship, and innovative agricultural practices for lasting impact and community growth. Amidst challenges with funding due to legislative changes in the laws related to non-governmental organizations, Mangle made their best efforts to meet all government regulations and work tirelessly to improve the quality of life of the communities.
Just in 2025 alone, Mangle was able to train 20 individuals on ecological mangrove restoration, creating 14 ha of mangrove areas, creating 2.5 km of fire breaks to protect the other 34 hectares of mangrove forest, while improving hydrology. They also helped release 79,537 juvenile sea turtles into the ocean, built 26 composting latrines, and 10 showers for families under extreme poverty.
They also improved the agroecological production of families by training 20 farmers on organic fertilizers, training 18 women on production and poultry feed using local ingredients, built 8 chicken coops, established 7 perennial gardens to obtain vegetables, fruits, and basic grains, and corn plots to support the food security of families, created 3 seed banks for seed exchange, and 3 new local economic incentives to reduce migrations of families. This has increased community participation by 75%!
Our other partner, Asociación Cincahuite, stemmed as an extension of this work and was founded by the communities of Puerto Parada to direct the economic, environmental, and social development of families living in the same area. Focusing mainly on clean fishing initiatives, food security and nutrition for young and single mothers, promoting sustainable and organic agriculture, mangrove cleanup and waste collection, and planting more than 25,000 + red mangrove seedlings to restore their mangrove forests. They have also creating local fishing cooperatives where local fishermen participate in the protection of the mangrove forest - which provide them with the juvenile fish population they depend on.
As of September of this year, the Mesoamerica program will be signing an official one year partnership with these two local organizations. We believe that people who invest in the well-being of their communities, while providing a dignified life and more economic opportunities, is extremely valuable. We are committed as a program to keep promoting these efforts, while providing more equitable, sustainable and multi-generational opportunities in the Mesoamerican region.
