Letter from María Pacheco

Dear friends, we are so happy to introduce to you COMUNIDADES DE LA TIERRRA (Communities of the Earth), an organization that is born out of a dream: ...one in which we can see a world where all of the communities of the Earth are happy and prosperous, surrounded by beautiful trees, clear crystalline water springs, amazing plants and animals . . . a world where the word HARMONY is everywhere!!!

For 18 years, this dream has put us on an amazing journey. One that has taken us into the heart of rural communities, initially in Guatemala, then in other parts of the World. It has also taken us into the business world, since communities expressed that the possibility to have national and international markets, would allow them, not only to value their culture and take care of their ecosystems, it would also allow them to have a source of income, which would create prosperous conditions for them, their families and their communities.

It has also taken us into the International Cooperation World. They have walked with us in the journey, finding and financing the first bridges that made sustainable trade possible between these remote communities and businesses!!! And finally, it has also taken us into the heart of governments, where a project was developed, in this case, not only to create markets, but also critical infrastructure for competitiveness of the regions!!! We have created different organizations during this journey. Initially, we were more interested in recovering ecosystems, but rural communities’ mentioned that TRADE was critical to them. We decided to start KIEJ DE LOS BOSQUES, a social company that would incubate rural businesses, develop products with communities and create market access, therefore, generating sources of income that would start in remote communities.

Along the journey, it became important to separate the marketing component from the incubation, training and development of products. It is then, that COMUNIDADES DE LA TIERRA (Communities of the Earth) was born!!! Once Communities of the Earth was created, we were invited to take the model to other countries through our alliance with United Nation Foundation and UNDP. Together with them, Communities of the Earth, is creating a program where communities living in World Heritage Sites, are developing and marketing products to national and soon, international markets. The pilot took place in Mexico.

The changes that we have seen take place, when we as people, work together towards creating a prosperity that includes all kinds of communities of the world, a prosperity that values ancestral cultures and a prosperity that protects and conserves the ecosystem, is what makes us believe in possibilities!! We know that the world in our dreams starts appearing before us, when we as people of the Earth, work together. This is an invitation to everybody, who wants to participate somehow in this process: creating markets, developing products, training communities, financing processes . . . taking this system to other countries . . . This is an invitation to work together towards a collective dream, that is already starting to happen!! Welcome!!!

Maria Pacheco Rodriguez
Founder / President