Project Title: Maya Nut Institute

Location: Guatemala

Grant Amount: $17,790

Grantee Website: mayanutinstitute.org/

Areas of Impact: Health

Mission of Maya Nut Institute
To see that one day soon, children throughout Central America will eat Maya Nut at school for lunch every day, thereby improving their health and nutrition and providing a dignified source of income for their families from the rainforest.

Summary
The Equilibrium Fund (EF) works to alleviate poverty, malnutrition and deforestation by teaching rural and indigenous women about the nutrition, uses and processing of the Maya Nut. Contributions from Dining for Women (DFW) will support Guatemalan women’s cooperatives producing a specific rural school lunch program entitled Healthy Kids, Healthy Forests. The immediate goal of this program is to serve Maya Nut lunches in the poorest Guatemalan schools as a replacement for the unhealthyii corn and soy-based snacks currently provided in these schools. EF will also establish Maya Nut tree nurseries in each participating school with the goal of reforesting 3,000 trees for each school.

Why We Love This
EF shares DFW's belief that improving conditions for women results in improved conditions for the entire family. Women are the primary beneficiaries of their programs. Women who have received EF training have started Maya Nut based businesses producing finished products for local and international sales. EF offers opportunities for women to participate in designing, implementing and expanding programs. The changes to their health, self-esteem and independence are astounding. They are learning to open bank accounts, write checks, use ATM machines and use the Internet.