From Hunger to Hope

Margarita is a widow. She’s raising her three children in Guatemala and survives by washing clothes and running errands using the motorcycle her husband left her saying, “The money I earn only pays for the basics. My son often gets sick with lung infections and I am not able to afford medicine to treat it.”

Margarita told us her work is not consistent, sometimes only two days a week. When that happens, the family goes hungry. Her son David explains, "One night, we had nothing to eat. That day, we only had tortillas with salt and lime, and we had a bit of coffee. I was still hungry."

9-year-old Elena remembers other times when they ran out of food, sharing, "My mom told us that there was no food for us, and my brothers started to cry. I comforted them." A despairing Margarita adds, "It hurts a lot because as a mother, it's my responsibility and because I love them. I have to figure out how to feed them."

Then, Operation Blessing arrived and invited Margarita to take part in a chicken project. First, we trained her how to raise healthy chickens and to manage a poultry and egg business. Then we built her a chicken coop and gave her 195 hens, feed and medicine.  

A rejuvenated Margarita calculates that, "currently, I'm collecting 150 eggs a day, which I can sell for more than $20! Lord willing, I will collect 180 eggs a day in the future. That will mean I can potentially earn around $780 a month!"

Things have completely turned around for Margarita and her children. They now have money for food and other expenses. Elena enthusiastically shares, "When I saw the first egg, I was so happy, I thought, 'now we will always have food and won’t be hungry anymore.'"

Margarita overwhelmingly shares, "I am very grateful to God and Operation Blessing for coming into my life. Thank you!"