Our story
We started as an idea. A seed.
Then we grew (and grew, and grew).
In 2006, a connection was born between two Washington DC service trip participants and town of Trinidad, Honduras and nearby communities in the Department of Santa Barbara. Led by Roy Lara, a Honduran agronomist, teens planted trees in Trinidad, and teens and adults climbed steep slopes to plant trees in the mountains. The participants came back talking about Roy's commitment getting to these communities by thumbing a ride on trucks, riding a burro, and the work the communities were willing to undertake to preserve their forests. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Churches and individuals organized the Trinidad Conservation Project (TCP) to support the work of reforestation. In the first year over 15,000 trees were planted.
SVH Facilitator Roy Lara running a workshop for SVH community members.
The next step was to look for US non-profit organizations with a Honduran affiliates willing to take in the work of Roy Lara and these committed communities. Fortunately there were two such organizations. In 2008 TCP partnered with Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) and added agriculture to the forestry already being done.
Eight years later the families in the TCP communities graduated from the SHI program. In 2015 TCP began a partnership with Groundswell International, and its affiliate, Vecinos Honduras (VH). The communities continued the agriculture and forestry and also benefited from emphasis of VH on building leadership at the community level, drawing on untapped potential of women and youth.
SVH donors have visited the SVH communities almost every year. Here Mary Procter and Bill Matuszeski walk with young people in El Tule.
In 2017 TCP began the process of becoming a US independent non-profit organization, Sustainable Villages Honduras (SVH). In April 2018 SVH achieved its goal of becoming a registered, IRS-approved tax-exempt non-governmental organization (NGO). The three-year relationship with Vecinos Honduras (VH), the Groundswell International partner in Honduras, had been fully successful so the SVH Board of Directors was pleased to continue the direct tie with VH. Roy Lara continued without interruption to be the Project Coordinator for the villages in Chinda, Santa Barbara and serves on the staff of VH.