Posted by Sandy March on Jun 24, 2019
Lots of very exciting news from Curt Bowen about Semilla Neuava.  Here is an update on our work to improve malnutrition and poverty in Guatemala.
Hi everyone!
I’ve been getting lots of emails with questions about Semilla Nueva, the previous Global Grant from Boise Downtown and Quetzaltenango, and the new Global Grant that is being promoted right now. I wanted to take a second and give everyone an update on our work to improve malnutrition and poverty in Guatemala.
 
UPDATE:
In Central America, it is poverty that is the ultimate cause of the immigration crisis which continues to polarize our country. Millions of people live in conditions that would motivate anyone to risk everything for a better life. Our goal is to give those families another option. We’ve spent the last five years creating a brand new model to help thousands of the poorest farming families get a better livelihood and also provide their kids the nutrition they need to have a real shot at escaping poverty.
 
Last year, well over 1,000 families purchased seed our new, high yielding, more nutritious corn seed, improving their incomes and nutrition. This year the funds from those sales were directly reinvested in producing new seed. To date we’ve already sold nearly twice the seed in 2019 that we sold over the entirety of 2018. We hope to reach nearly 3,000 families by the end of the year, improving their incomes, improving their nutrition, and then using the funds to reinvest in more seed for the following year.
Kids with healthy brains and bodies can actually get through school. They are statistically proven to earn over 20% more income. If we help a poor rural Guatemalan child get a healthy brain and body—they will statistically earn around $25,000 more over the course of their lives. Now remember that we expect 3,000 families to get corn with the nutrients they need this year.
 
Great seed at a low cost with lots of nutrition = a big sustainable solution.
I owe all of you a huge thank you for everything it took to get to this point.
The work has been so high impact that it has led us to big prestigious awards in Dubai, investment from the Mulago Foundation (funds from the banking family that first invested in George Soros--very smart move), and two new investments from the US government, among nearly a dozen family foundations. But we want to remind everyone that it was Rotary that helped us get our start!
 
PREVIOUS GRANT:
The best way to help Semilla Nueva right now continues to be through Rotary! The Global Grant led by Boise Downtown and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala just finished its last audit and now both clubs are working on the final report. To Pocatello Gate City, Boise Metro, Boise Centennial, Pocatello Portneuf, Rigby, Emmett, Boise East, Blue Lakes-Twin Falls, Boise West, Canyon County Sunrise, St. Anthony, Burley, Nampa, Boise Southwest, Boise Downtown, and Quetzaltenango—thank you all! Semilla Nueva’s entire model was tested, piloted, and expanded through this grant. It even paid for part of the first round of seed production in 2018—seed which was sold and funds which were reinvested in the seed we just sold to farmers this year! It truly is gift that keeps on giving.
We’ll be helping Boise Downtown and Quetzaltenango with the final report, and since many of the people on this list were supporters for the grant, please let us know if you’d like a copy of the final report that gets turned in to Rotary International.
 
THE CHANCE TO GET INVOLVED!
 
 
Everyone has been asking me about the new Global Grant that is being led by the Guatemala club of Ermita and Boise Southwest. Already the Santa Fe, New Mexico club and Fort Collins, Colorado club have joined Meridian, Salmon, Boise Sunrise, McCall, Boise Southwest and Guatemala City Ermita. Nearly a hundred Rotarians came to or supported the Boise Southwest sponsored Gala for the grant in 2018. The grant is very close—and it needs help to get across the finish line. If we get to full funding, we hope to reach between 8,000-11,000 families over two years! I’ve never heard of a single Rotary project ever with those kinds of numbers affected. That’s the level of impact we need if we want to start actually making a dent in poverty and malnutrition!
It’s important for me to state that due to worries about a conflict of interest, I can’t directly lead the charge for the grant. While Curt Bowen receives no payment of any kind in any Global Grant budget, I still lead the organization that would be the primary local partner, and it was decided that I should not actively promote the Global Grant. Everyone has been asking why they have heard so little from me this last year—and this is the main reason why! I can promote Semilla Nueva and thank you all for what you’ve done, but leading the fundraising efforts of the grant has to happen from elsewhere.
 
So in this email, I want to put in front of all of you the Rotarians who are leading the charge. John Verity, Dennis Hanrahan, and Erin Hasler from Boise Southwest are working with Edward Farrington, Paolo Melini, and Alvaro Gonzalez from Guatemala Ermita to lead the fundraising efforts. With the new Rotary year approaching, you should hear from them to answer the questions that people have so far been posing, out of habit, to me!
I also want to give a quick thank you to the 8 Rotarians who’ve come to Guatemala in the past months from Boise and Twin Falls! It was amazing getting to share all of our work with you.
John, Dennis, and Erin are copied in this email. Please get in touch with them if you want to find a way that your club can support the upcoming project. 
 
All the best,
Curt