better families Archives - Sugarcane Industry

17 June, 202223 June, 2022

Fundazucar celebrates 32 years of promoting health, education, and development on the South of Guatemala

32 years ago, the Guatemalan Sugar Industry joined forces and created the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar-, which was born as the dream of a group of visionary businessmen who bet on education to promote development on the South of Guatemala.

Fundazucar is the social arm of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry, since 1990 it promotes the integral development of the communities, working with women, youth, health workers, teachers, community leaders and municipal authorities as agents of change.

At the Guatemalan Sugar Industry, we celebrate the 32nd anniversary of Fundazucar, which believes in development through training, an example of which is Better Families, a model that promotes Food and Nutritional Security, self-esteem, self-management and leadership in women, as agents of change for the development and well-being of their families and their communities and has trained more than 532 thousand women.

The program has been so successful that it was implemented in Honduras and is currently being adopted by the municipalities of Escuintla, Masagua, La Gomera, La Democracia, Tiquisate in the department of Escuintla, as well as in San Lorenzo and San Jose el idolo, in Suchitepequez.

During these 32 years, the Sugar Foundation has provided training to thousands of people and has contributed to the development and well-being of the communities with comprehensive community development plans and the preparation of technical projects for the construction of drinking water systems. and drains.

Fundazucar has also facilitated access to health for thousands of people through specialized clinics located in Escuintla.

Thanks to the commitment and effort of the team of social managers who bring training and development to remote communities on the South of Guatemala, Fundazucar has positioned itself as an example and benchmark in community development projects at a national and international level.

We congratulate Fundazucar on its 32nd anniversary and the leaders who had the vision to create the social arm of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry.

24 February, 2022

Guatemalan athlete will run 5,300 km across Chile to support nutritional security

Cals 4 life will support nutrition in Guatemala

The Guatemalan athlete, Daniela Andrade, will begin the journey of running 5,300 kms in Chile in the first days of March. The calories that she burns will be converted into money to promote food and nutritional security through Fundazucar’s Better Families program.

On March 1st, Daniela will return to Chile with the purpose of raising money and awareness for nutrition in Guatemala. “I am very excited to be able to unite the two things that I like, sports and social help, and I am sure that this will be the first project of many,” said Andrade.

The project Cals 4 Life will consist of crossing the South American country running from North to South, from the Atacama Desert down to Punta Arenas. The journey will last five months, and Daniela will be accompanied by a person, who will oversee driving the van that will take everything from food to the recovery equipment.

You can also collaborate

During this time, all the calories that Daniela burns will be converted into money, that is, 1 calorie will be worth 1 quetzal (USD 0.13). This project will have an international impact and anyone who wants to join can also do so. Daniela explained that the project can be supported in two ways: donation of calories and/or purchase of calories.

Through the website www.lifethrusports.org, people will be able to enter their calories burned in their physical activity for the day and, to buy many calories as they like.

All this help will go to the Better Families program of the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar-, which promotes Food and Nutritional Security, self-esteem, self-management, and leadership in women, as agents of change for the development and well-being of their families and their communities.

5 August, 202128 March, 2022

IADB allies with the Guatemalan Sugar Industry to prevent chronic child malnutrition

The Inter-American Development Bank -IADB- signed an alliance with the Sugar Foundation -Fundazucar- of the Guatemalan Sugar Industry for the execution of the SPOON program (Sustaining Program for Improving Nutrition) that seeks to prevent chronic malnutrition and reduce the risks of future obesity in children from 0 to 24 months of age living in areas of high poverty in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico.

In Guatemala, the SPOON initiative was implemented in the department of Baja Verapaz, located 150 kilometers (93 miles) north from the Capital, in the context of “Better Families” program of Fundazucar because it shares the same objectives and is an innovative self-management model driven by women that promotes behavior change to improve Safety Nutritional Food.

The program ended in May 2021 with a duration of 24 months and the participation of 604 women from 39 communities of the 8 municipalities of Baja Verapaz. These women successfully completed the training for behavior change in the programmatic axes of: Self-esteem, Health and Nutrition, Responsible Motherhood and Fatherhood, and Reproductive Health.

The Sugar Foundation has worked with more than 532,000 women who have been empowered and trained in food security and development for their family and community. This program is executed through alliances with authorities and institutions and, in this case, with social investors who relied on field experience to develop effective behavior change strategies.

The positive results and success stories of the Better Families program of the Sugar Foundation – Fundazucar- has led to the implementation by social investors: companies, foundations, and international organizations, to prevent chronic child malnutrition.

29 March, 202128 March, 2022

“Better families” a social program developed by the Guatemalan Sugar Industry will be implemented by local governments

"Better families" a social program developed by the Guatemalan Sugar Industry that promotes food and nutritional security, will be implemented by local governments

The Guatemalan Sugar Industry, through their Sugar Foundation – Fundazucar-, signed a cooperation agreement with municipal authorities of the sixth bigger department of Guatemala, called Escuintla for the transfer of the methodology of the Better Families program, which promotes food security and nutrition, as well as the empowerment of women as agents of change and catalyst for development.

Better Families is a program certified by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education and promotes the training of women for behavior change from the individual, family and community level, recognizing in her a key agent to promote the improvement of health and nutritional status of the family, especially of the children.

The Better Families program has empowered and trained more than 532,000 women since its implementation in 1998. Due to the positive results, it was transferred to the Government of Honduras and was implemented twice as a public policy of the State in Guatemala. Likewise, 14 companies, foundations and international organizations have carried it out in different areas of the country with the aim of reducing chronic child malnutrition.

The objective of this cooperation agreement is to replicate this social program that provides education to women, so they get to know practices for the proper selection, preparation, and consumption of food. As well as educating mothers in preventive health with sustainable actions to improve the conditions of their children, family, and community. Through this program, the implementation of inter-institutional coordination mechanisms for Food and Nutrition Security in the signatory municipalities is facilitated.

The agreement was signed by the mayors of four municipalities of the Department of Escuintla in the South of Guatemala, as well as by Luis Miguel Paiz, General Manager of the Guatemalan Sugar Producers Association and Maria Silvia Pineda Molina, Executive Director of Fundazucar.