Despite the difficulties, the women of Macará are going ahead with activities initiated by the social and economic reconstruction project set up in Ecuador after the earthquake.
Even after the earthquake that devastated Ecuador in 2016, the women of the Macará community refused to lose heart. Thanks to support from the Sunrise project, they launched and learned to manage production activities, including a community chicken farm. The start was already difficult, and then, after an initial period of work, sales collapsed completed with the arrival of the pandemic.
Now that a gradual reopening and economic recovery is on the horizon, thanks to the support offered by the project, the women have analysed the reasons for the drop in sales and come up with new strategies to expand their catchment area.
Thanks to the refrigerator and slicer bought with the reciprocity funds, and the idea of cooking local chicken and pork dishes, they are now able to store food and offer more formats and solutions for different needs.
The Sunrise + project in Ecuador has not only offered the women of Macara a great opportunity to supplement their family budgets, it has also given them greater autonomy and increased their self-esteem.
Furthermore, 20 per cent of earnings from the activities run by these women is saved, and this capital has so far been used towards several innovations for the Municipal House. It now has access to electricity and a new protective wall which means that a computer room can soon be set up for the children of the entire community with contributions AMU and AFN are making towards installing computers and Internet access.
Thanks to the support and accompaniment provided by the “Ecuador Sunrise +” Project, the community of women in Macará is not just a community of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs but a group that is building its own present and future.