In Guatemala, hundreds can support their families thanks to Advent Stiftung Foundation and church-run initiative

Fermin Díaz Gutierrez  and wife Ana, stand in their kitchen in Chiquimula in east Guatemala next to the stove they received last year from the “Viva Mejor” or “Live Better” initiative run by Swiss Foundation Advent Stiftung and the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala. Diaz and his wife went were unemployed and through the initiative were able to begin their small business and support themselves selling tortillas and meals everyday.Image by Edward Smith.

June 18, 2015 | Guatemala City, Guatemala | Gustavo Menendez/IAD Staff

At 55 with four young mouths to feed, Fermin Díaz Gutiérrez would find himself day in and day out rummaging through the trash of the well-to-do families in the eastern city of Chiquimula in Guatemala. He was desperate to bring food to his four children and wife, Ana. Unemployed with no means of supporting his family, Diaz felt hopeless until he came across the Seventh-day Adventist Church, met Jesus and was selected to receive the training and tools to support his family and improve his living conditions.

Giussepe Carbone, executive director of Adventi Stiftung, speaks to dozens of men and women before handing over tools and equipment at El Progreso School auditorium, in Guatemala City, June 1, 2015. Image by Gerson Marroquin.

Díaz was among hundreds living in extreme poverty who received an industrial stove from the church’s partnership with the Swiss Foundation Advent Stiftung called “Viva Mejor” or “Live Better” initiative last year. He and his wife received special training to run a small business with the stove and began to make and sell tortillas during the day and meals at night.

“My life has changed so much because of what you have given me,” said Díaz as he thanked church leaders and Advent Stiftung, and shared his story with hundreds of beneficiaries during a special ceremony held in Guatemala City, on June 1, 2015.

“No one would hire me because of my age so I went from collecting trash to feed my family to earning more $800 thanks to the new stove provided,” said Diaz, who travelled 165 kilometers from Chiquimula to share his success story in the capital city. “Our business has grown so much that we had to hire someone to help my wife make tortillas and in less than a year, we have been able to purchase property so that we can build our home next year.”

Success stories like Díaz is what has been driving the initiative “Viva Mejor” in Guatemala for ten years now.

Two women carry their fumigating pumps in Totonicapan, Guatemala, June 2, 2015. Image by Moises Vidal

Guatemala’s National Institute of Statistics in 2011 revealed that 40 percent of the population live in poverty and 13 percent in extreme poverty, among the 14.6 million inhabitants. Guatemala’s Rural Poverty Map of 2011 revealed that almost eight out of ten people live in poverty.

Advent Stiftung’s Executive Director Giussepe Carbone spoke about the value of social projects and how they dignify the human being.

“There is nothing that can dignify more than honest work, the feeling that you are owners of your own destiny,” said Carbone as he spoke to hundreds new business owners. “God has not abandoned you, trust in God and yourselves because every true dream requires working with passion, energies and perseverance to fight for a better life.”

“The initiative provides an opportunity church members who cannot obtain employment or start their own business because of their Sabbath observance,” said Pastor Guenther Garcia, president of the church in Guatemala.

Pastor Guenther Garcia speaks to recipients of tools and kits in San Benito, Peten, June 3, 2015. Image by North Guatemala Mission

“It’s admirable to see persons like Lorena who graduated from a sewing class in the program after she and her husband were fired for refusing to work on the Sabbath,” said Garcia. “She was able to support her family during the four months she learned how to sew.”

“Many of those who have gone through this project have their own shops, are supervisors or have small businesses that allow them to be faithful to God and their conscience,” added Garcia.

The foundation donates 57 percent of the funds and the church provides 43 percent of the funds collected from yearly ingathering, Garcia explained.

According to Garcia, the church does a socio-economic study of people in need in different communities and selects them for the Viva Mejor initiative. The church then signs contracts with the Technical Training Institute, a certified institution in Guatemala, to provide professional training on how to use tools and start a business.

Equipment and kits ready to be distributed in Totonicapan, Guatemala, June 2, 2015. Image by Moises Vidal

This year, the initiative provided industrial ovens, fumigating pumps, tortilla grills, sewing machines, juicers, blenders, ice machines, carwash kits, food carrying bicycles, agricultural kits and more to 506 men and women in Guatemala City, Totonicapan in northwest Guatemala, and in San Benito, Peten at the northern part of the country, June 1-3, 2015.

The Advent Stiftung Foundation has benefitted thousands of people for over 23 years in Central America, South America, The Caribbean, and India. The foundation also runs another initiative called “Bibles that Save” where thousands of Bibles are distributed every year.

In Guatemala, the church and Advent Stiftung have benefitted 2,024 families more than 10,700 persons during the past 10 years. More than $250,000 has been invested in the Viva Mejor joint initiative.

To view more pictures of the Viva Mejor initiative in Guatemala, click HERE