FXB Women and Children Association of Machacamarca

Established in a participative manner that promotes local ownership, the FXB Women and Children Association of Machacamarca is today an independent entity, led entirely by the beneficiaries. The women have been empowered to rely on themselves and take control over their own lives.

Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Its social indicators are similar to those found in some countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Two-thirds of the population lack access to health care services, water and sanitation, as well as adequate nutrition, particularly in the rural areas. In the rural town of Machacamarca, located in the State of Oruro, the vulnerability of populations is heightened by environmental conditions. High altitude, low temperatures and lack of fertile land hamper subsistence farming and, in the absence of other sources of income, jeopardize people’s capacity to secure survival.

To mend this situation, FXB had launched in 1998 a support project for the integrated productive development for women and children, a comprehensive community-based program that both addressed the needs of destitute families and those of the community as a whole.

The FXB project was designed with a view to improving the quality of life of women and their children in Machacamarca through a comprehensive community-based program that both addressed the needs of destitute families and those of the community as a whole. Several programs were set up: literacy, poultry-breeding, hothouse cultivation, a children's program, bread-making, environmental protection, and reproductive health.

Strategies:

• Stimulated and developed income-generating activities (IGAs) at the family level, particularly through poultry-breeding, to increase income and provide foodstuffs.
• Provided appropriate technologies – hot houses – to overcome environmental obstacles and facilitate the production of vegetables for personal consumption as well as for commercial purposes.
• Created a communal bakery, thereby encouraging community mobilization and solidarity.
• Organized vocational training to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary to run IGAs in a sustainable and efficient manner.
• Trained beneficiaries in small business management as well as in marketing to help them optimize their ventures.
• Organized training and information sessions to raise awareness on health-related issues, especially reproductive health, hygiene, nutrition, environmental protection, and community development.