In developing countries like Mexico, one of the inevitable questions is what can be done to improve the living conditions of people in rural communities where indexes of education, nutrition, health, and poverty are significantly worse than in city populations. While there are no easy answers, government and private institutions are in constant search for solutions to this difficult problem. One of these institutions is the non-profit Mexico Tierra de Amaranto founded in 2005. Their mission is to leverage the amaranth plant leaves and grains’ outstanding nutritional properties and relatively low water requirements to improve eating habits, self-sufficiency, and promote the development of productive projects to increase standards of living.
‘Dry Land Flower’ is the story of Margarita Dominguez Marcial, one of the 600 residents of El Varal, who completed only two years of school due to her parents’ lack of resources. She represents the situation of millions of women in Mexico’s rural communities. This series created over a period of three years captures different aspects of how the communities of El Varal and the neighboring Chiteje de Garabato are being positively transformed with new skills, amaranth production, a more nutritious diet, and with increased levels of service and collaboration. Margarita has been empowered by Mexico Tierra de Amaranto with knowledge, work ethic, and other tools. Not very long ago she did not know how to read or write, now she is playing a key role in this very positive transformation.
The purpose of this photographic project is making a strong case that Mexico Tierra de Amaranto’s strategy is working to convince more institutions and individual donors to join or increase their support to accelerate the speed of change and its reach.
See the complete body of work at: https://www.alcalatorreslanda.com/