A Story of Hope from Honduras

Before the sun rises in Intibucá, Honduras, Willian Cabrera and Digna Méndez are already getting ready for the day. Soon, they will head to their strawberry field with their 4-year-old daughter, Vivian, who drinks her milk before going with them.

This is how their days normally begin. But life was not always this way. In the first years of their marriage, Willian and Digna grew tomatoes, lettuce and onions, hoping to build a better future for their family. But it was hard. Sometimes buyers didn’t want their crops, and other times they had to sell them for very little money. They barely made enough to get by.

Still, they never stopped looking for new opportunities.

Then they started growing strawberries. They also joined training sessions in their community, where they learned new ways to manage their small business. They learned how to plan their time, keep track of what they spent and save money for the future. 

“After the workshops, we learned that we need to keep everything in order—what we spend, what we invest and what we earn,” Digna says.

They also learned how to make strawberry wine from berries they couldn’t sell fresh. This helped them use more of what they grew. Little by little, their hard work began to make a difference.

“What we really wanted was to have a house, and we were able to build it after one successful strawberry harvest,” Digna says. 

Morales, Thor /CRS

Reaching that goal gave them hope and helped them keep working toward the future they wanted for their family.

When Willian and Digna talk about their dreams, they are thinking about more than a house. Willian once dreamed of going to college, but he never had the opportunity. Now, he hopes Vivian will one day. 

“I want her to have something I never had,” he says.

Through their hard work and the support of their community, Willian and Digna are creating new opportunities for their family. They are building hope for Vivian’s future.