Reviving Health and Entrepreneurship through Ancestral Knowledge

Over the past year, the Association of Highland Women (AMA) has successfully implemented a groundbreaking program to empower women entrepreneurs through micro-investments and formalize their businesses. This initiative has seen remarkable participation, with 150 women regularly engaged in developing comprehensive business plans, creating unique branding, and gaining access to professional photography. These efforts culminated in creating an online platform developed in partnership with the Highland Support Project (HSP), where their products are now showcased at [La Marchante en Línea]. During the final quarter, the program expanded its focus to address critical challenges within rural communities, including limited access to healthy foods and the alarming rise of pyramid schemes exploiting vulnerable populations with misleading herbal supplement claims. Through these targeted efforts, the AMA program continues to foster resilience, economic growth, and informed decision-making within the communities it serves.

Understanding Social Enterprise

A social enterprise represents a forward-thinking approach to addressing critical societal challenges through the lens of business innovation. Unlike traditional business models driven by profit, social enterprises focus on creating sustainable solutions to pressing social, cultural, or environmental issues. At their core, all businesses—whether for-profit or not-for-profit—exist to solve problems, and social enterprises take this mission-driven essence a step further by integrating purpose with market strategies. By leveraging the power of commerce, a social enterprise tackles pervasive challenges such as food deserts, bridging the gap in access to healthy food options, providing vital nutrition education, or delivering counter-narratives to combat the spread of harmful misinformation. Through these efforts, social enterprises generate impact and plant the seeds of long-term resilience and equity in communities worldwide.

At its heart, our program stands as a beacon of hope and resilience for rural Maya communities. It utilizes ancestral knowledge and sustainable practices to counter the rising pressures of exploitative marketing and economic dependency. This initiative addresses immediate health challenges and offers pathways to financial empowerment, fostering a future built on solidarity, self-sustainability, and cultural heritage.

Impactful Achievements of the Program

Over the quarter, our program has made significant strides in equipping rural communities with tools to reclaim their health and economic autonomy. Here are some key milestones:

• Healing through Ancestral Knowledge

We launched an outreach program that empowers health entrepreneurs to address the aggressive marketing tactics of foreign multi-level marketing companies, which push expensive and often unnecessary supplements. By reconnecting them with ancestral healing traditions, our program equips them with tools to address health challenges using locally available resources.

• Developing New Resources

To amplify these efforts, we created a "Healing through Food" cookbook and handouts to accompany cooking and nutrition classes. These culturally attuned resources teach participants how to use food as medicine and as a pillar of sustainable business ventures.

• Innovative Collaboration with York College

Partnering with York College engineering students, we designed specialized greenhouses tailored for the propagation of rural medicinal plants. This collaboration merges modern technology with traditional agricultural knowledge, creating a sustainable model for medicinal plant cultivation.

• Integration with Cloud Forest Restoration

By working closely with another Highland Support Project initiative focused on Cloud Forest Restoration, we’ve incorporated natural medicine and healing ingredients into sustainable forestry efforts. Complementing forest restoration with enterprise-driven medicinal plant propagation promotes environmental stewardship and strengthens rural women’s economic opportunities.

Eco Forestry training in Chuicutama to incorporate herbal medicines as part of crop planning.

Empowering Lives, One Success Story at a Time

The impact of this program is deeply personal and profoundly transformational.

For instance, several women in the community of Chuicutama, initially drawn in by the misleading promises of herbal supplement marketing, expressed their gratitude for learning the value of locally sourced, ancestral remedies. Armed with the knowledge that they could heal and thrive using resources already at their fingertips, they chose to reinvest in their skills and communities rather than perpetuating economic dependency.

Participants are excited about utilizing ancestral knowledge for healing and recognize its potential as a source of income. Many have shared their frustrations with past external efforts that overlooked their inherent capabilities, leaving them more reliant on external aid. This program develops the tools to reclaim independence and pride in their heritage.

Introducing Amademas - A Cooperative Vision for the Future

Building on this progress, our next chapter, “Amademas,” seeks to create a revolutionary direct marketing network. This initiative is more than just selling products; it’s about fostering love, collaboration, and community-driven economies—a stark contrast to the competitive individualism promoted by conventional microlending models.

"Amademas" - More Than Just a Name

• A Symbol of Love and More: The term "ama" conveys care, connection, and compassion, while además translates to “furthermore,” signaling abundance and inclusivity. “Amademas” represents “love and more,” highlighting the program’s broader mission to bring health, well-being, and economic solidarity to rural Maya women.

• A Cooperative Market Model: Unlike the isolated models of empowerment found in the global north, Amademas draws on Maya traditions to build a cooperative entrepreneurial experience. It reframes the concept of success, moving away from competition and focusing on thriving together. Through Amademas, women become stewards of an equitable market that addresses their material and emotional needs within a communal framework.

• Reviving the Sacred Dimension of the Market: Rooted in the ancestral Maya worldview, Amademas restores the sacredness of the market as a space for relationships and holistic well-being. Here, exchanges are opportunities to build connections and strengthen communal bonds, not merely transactions.

The Power of Holistic Solutions - Health and Economic Empowerment in Harmony

This program integrates health improvement with economic opportunity. The program uplifts entire communities by teaching participants about the healing power of food and natural remedies and combining it with entrepreneurial tools. The dual approach addresses physical wellness and economic equity, creating a ripple effect of sustainable impact.

Goals for the Future - Scaling Impact

To further enhance the program’s reach and efficacy, additional funding would enable us to:

1. Expand Amademas

Develop and implement an innovative direct marketing platform tailored for mutual aid and local producers, thereby building sustainable markets for rural entrepreneurs.

2. Increase Medicinal Plant Propagation

Scale up greenhouse construction efforts to support wider medicinal plant cultivation, fostering environmental conservation and financial independence.

3. Deepen Education and Training

Advance cooking and nutrition classes with additional resources and workshops to strengthen the entrepreneurial potential of participants.

4. Create Broader Economic Networks

Link rural producers with nearby markets and urban buyers, promoting the value of ancestral practices while creating steady income streams.

Join Us in Transforming Lives

Through your support, we can ensure that the women and families involved in this program continue to thrive, achieve financial independence, and celebrate their rich cultural heritage. By empowering them with tools, resources, and opportunities rooted in ancestral knowledge and sustainable practices, we’re laying the groundwork for a future that honors tradition while addressing modern challenges.

Your contributions fund a program and create an ecosystem of solidarity, sustainability, and self-reliance. Help us nourish these efforts and build a healthier, more equitable world for rural communities.