Join SSG for a talk from Veronica Giron, AFOPADI: Training Association for Integral Development, and bring a snack to share during the social portion.

Veronica will discuss “Building Autonomy & Good Living with the Communities of San Ildefonso Ixtahuacan,” with a specific focus on her personal field experience with Climate Resilience Permaculture practices that span borders.

Other panel participants include Permaculture Institute Chicago, Citizens Utility Board (CUB), and CNT RainReady.

About AFOPADI

AFOPADI serves Highland communities in Northwestern Guatemala that are of the Maya Mam ethnic group.

About Veronica

Veronica Giron is a Coordinating Team Leader with AFOPADI. Her formal training took place in Theology (trained in Costa Rica) & Reforestation (trained in Guatemala). Over twenty years ago, she was one of the original AFOPADI founders. During the civil war in Guatemala, Veronica and her husband began visiting indigenous, rural, mountain communities that had been disrupted by war, racism, sexism & poverty. Today, the villagers or campesinos live on subsistence agriculture and do migrant work farming coffee or sugarcane. These conditions currently lead to 64.4% of the children suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Veronica embodies the team values of AFOPADI. She believes that it is possible to create a diverse society where relationships between people and nature are based on respect and positive attitudes. For many years, she has learned & taught both practical and strategic aspects of permaculture. These include how to grow plants, run nurseries, reforest, make compost, and access water as well as how to run the sustainable technology that accompanies these practices (cisterns, composting toilets, silos & fuel-efficient stoves).