Dear Friend –

Women in Puerto Rico are finding creative ways to get things done.

They're feeling the effects of a prolonged economic crisis, a massive hurricane in 2017, and multiple earthquakes that took place in early 2020. Steady employment was already a challenge for many women there, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, many more women have lost their jobs, squeezing budgets even for necessities like food.

With a bit of ingenuity – along with the support of Oxfam and local partners – a determined group of women in the mountain town of Adjuntas are working towards a solution. In 2018, they rescued an abandoned fruit and vegetable garden, establishing the Centro Paz para Ti (Center Peace for You) organization. The Centro lets families secure more fresh, affordable, locally produced food such as chili peppers, eggplants, oranges, and guava.

Once their community garden was fully operating, the women established a monthly farmers market at which more than 100 of them sold their own products. Now, despite the shift to online sales due to COVID-19, the Centro is still concentrating on assisting women grow and sell food, as well as growing their own self-confidence.

Friend – Your support as a member of the Oxfam community allows us to work with local partners to set up projects like these gardens that fight hunger and build community. We're also continuing our work to provide pandemic relief and to fight poverty around the world.

Read more about how gardens like the one in Adjuntas shape local communities.

Community gardens like the one in Adjuntas are serving as a model for a project just getting underway that will establish five similar growing areas and a retail store for selling produce. Bosque Modelo and VAMOS, two organizations working with funds from Oxfam, will carry out the project, provide training for women participants, and set up the garden network.

Supporting women as they grow more food and gain some economic independence also leads to nonmonetary assistance. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the volunteers within the organization have visited families in need to give them food, sanitizer, and masks, for example. And in addition to the women growing their own food to eat and earning money, Group Coordinator Alana Feldman Soler says they talk about gender violence as a way to make the problem more visible and encourage women to get help.

One of the participants, Katherine Escribano finds her time at the Centro Paz para Ti a comfort in times of uncertainty. "This is a therapy to many of us," she says "The moment we leave our homes and visit the Centro, we feel we can potentially help another person."

Friend, thanks to dedicated supporters like you, Oxfam is working with partners to establish long term projects so women can feed their families and build independence. You make it possible for us to continue our commitment to fighting poverty around the world.

Want to contribute to the kind of work that tackles the root causes of poverty and injustice – and changes lives around the world? Our work is only possible because of the support of people like you. Make a donation today.