For 29 years I have been working in the Environmental Forestry program, where we have developed Management Plans in the Reforestation, Agroforestry and Protection modalities in western Guatemala, as well as environmental infrastructure projects; Development of rainwater harvesting systems for agricultural irrigation purposes; gray water filters; Wastewater treatment systems; Design of ventilated seed storage warehouses, with rainwater harvesting; Training for schoolchildren and beneficiaries of management plans on issues of forest and environmental sustainability.
For me, regarding professional field, FUNDAP represents the following:
I was fortunate that the Foundation, in 1993, gave me the opportunity to work in what I like the most: the care and sustainable management of forests. I also had the opportunity to belong to the team that gave rise to the development of production management plans, with the computerized and systematized system. In the 1990s there were no forest management platforms in all of Guatemala, and from there I have been able to learn with the support of the Foundation to access computerized systems, which have allowed me to carry out studies of management plans in their different modalities.
On the most valuable learning obtained in my job:
- Constant updating of the most recent systems for the preparation of forest management plans. The Foundation has allowed me to self-learn electronic platforms for mapping and photo-interpretation of aerospace images, which have been relevant for management plans to be accepted by the national forestry institution -INAB-.
- Update on educational programs and management of virtual platforms, to bring instruction and new knowledge to the communities served by the project. As a result of the pandemic, the discovery and application of virtual tools was key to not getting stuck and taking teaching to all levels, creating a culture of awareness for the management of natural resources and promoting a more developed country.
How I feel about the work I carried out at the Foundation:
I have been very fortunate that the Foundation gave me the opportunity to carry out my work, always with full support. In addition, I must recognize that the years I have worked at FUNDAP, just as they have passed quickly, have left their mark on the communities and organizations supported, as well as on my personal life. This is how I can say that I am satisfied to work in the Foundation, taking through the human team, with its support, the bread of forestry and environmental development to the entire western part of our country, which are the resources most affected by growth. of the national and world population. I believe that the seed of forest and environmental sustainability has been planted, which will flourish, bearing fruit in the fight against poverty, to live in a pollution-free and more productive environment.
The advice I would give to new staff is:
Keep in mind that working at the Foundation not only represents an opportunity for financial support, but it is the way to do what we like the most and not stop until the goals are achieved and the impacts caused are verified. Bringing development to the populations that need it most; this has a highly significant value, carried out within its activities for the benefit of the people with greater needs, who are the focus of the Foundation. But, in addition, bringing development to their communities, using the fundamental pillars of sustainability that entails a great commitment: bringing development, without compromising and avoiding the needs of future generations, taking care of nature by all means, the air that we breathe and the water we drink.
