The Federation of Cooperative Association for Agriculture Production in El Salvador (FEDECOOPADES)

• The 2006 project “Literate and Organized Women Make Productive Businesses” supported the organizational, educational and leadership efforts of the women’s committees of three FEDECOOPADES cooperatives: El Jicaro, Paso Carrera and La Reforma-Manguito.

Trainings

Organizational development trainings handled topics of interpersonal relational skills, team building, board member responsibilities and work plans. Leadership development workshops dealt with topics of effective communication, power and authority, being proactive and creative, solidarity, delegation of power and conflict management. The number of members throughout the cooperatives has grown – nearly doubling from seventeen to thirty at El Jicaro, adding five new members in La Reforma and one addition to Paso Carrera.

“I’m very grateful to FEDECOOPADES and SHARE for bringing us training, organization and literacy capacities in which I have now realized the value we have as women to defend our rights and support each other.”

-Gladis Noemi Rosales Garcia

Literacy Program

Almost fifty percent of women in the cooperatives are illiterate which puts them at a great disadvantage in developing businesses and leadership skills. SHARE supported the three women’s committees in a dynamic and transformative literacy program.

From the beginning the literacy program coordinated with the Ministry of Education of Santa Ana, and Mercedes Campos, a member of La Reforma cooperative, took up teaching responsibilities for the three cooperatives. They use the Paulo Freire method of popular education that incorporates their own reality to Ver, Juzgar y Actuar (See, Judge and Act). Words become alive when these women find meaning in their own experiences and let this profound learning move them to action. They are not only learning how to read and write, but they are transforming their consciousness and their country.

In these three cooperatives, only 15% of women are official members of the cooperatives. Therefore, the literacy training is widely known as a success, teaching more women to read, write and do arithmetic so that they can take on the leadership positions necessary to work at the cooperative.

“For FEDECOOPADES and their base cooperative, they’ve moved forward in how many people have learned to read and write, and in their capability for leadership and organization preparing many more to occupy important positions within the cooperative.”

-Teacher of Literacy Campaign, Mercedes Campos

Economic Initiatives

In La Reforma-Manguito they’ve built a new place for their store because the previous store was located in an old storage unit. Their ability to manage the local store and corn grinder has grown as more education has brought greater capacity to fill positions. Their facilities consistently serve the local community by making it easier to purchase daily products without traveling great distances.

“Both youth and adults are very involved with SHARE’s projects of producing bread and selling it. The project seems to be going very well by involving many, teaching new skills and providing an economic chance for the women involved.”

-Rosario Menjivar, El Jicaro

The Jicaro and Paso Carrera bakeries are successful during coffee harvest season, their busiest time for sales as a result of an influx of workers. In other periods, women from El Jicaro cook and sell food throughout their community. This past year Paso Carrera struggled with profit growth but is in process of learning how to make different types of breads and cakes to compete with other bakeries in the region.

FEDECOOPADES has also been active in conducting medical surveys of the women in the cooperatives through interviews to detect medical needs. As a result, five women received successful eye surgeries, coordinated by FEDECOOPADES.

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