Community Health Stores
by Rebecca Cutter
May 20, 2020
Nolverta Osorio De Paz
Nolverta Osorio is a member of the Association Qachuu Aloom (QA) from the community of Pahoj. She’s also a single mother of eight children and was an active participant in the Early Childhood Nutrition Program that monitors the health and nutrition of children ages five and under. From 2015 to 2017 she was a board member, helping shape this program.
In her home garden, which she’s been cultivating for approximately 15 years, she grows native greens, vegetables, amaranth, and medicinal plants. Her parents are farmers too, so she learned from an early age, how to cultivate food, and how to care for Mother Earth. She sells her harvest along with the healthy products made at Qachuu Aloom to her neighbors or in the market in Rabinal.
When the organization began implementing the Community Health Stores Project, Nolverta was eager to sell the Qachuu Aloom subsidized foods along with her own garden harvest, in her small shop. In turn, she’s earning an income for herself and her family is inspired to eat more locally grown nutritious foods. Today, there are 12 Community Health Stores run by Qachuu Aloom Associates. This unique project generates income for women while distributing subsidized healthy food including popped amaranth bars, various types of flour, roasted pumpkin seeds, and peanuts.