Barney Margarita
Organization: Grupo para Promover la Educación y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC)
Year Founded: 1990
Country: Mexico
Website: www.grupedsac.org
Geographic Area of Impact: Mexico.
Model: Hybrid Non-Profit
Focus: Agriculture,Culture/ Handicrafts,Environment,Homelessness & Housing,Rural Development,Technology.
Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Mexico, 2008 The Innovation GRUPEDSAC disseminates technologies that help address a range of problems faced in rural Mexico such as the lack of water, food insecurity, rural migration and inadequate housing. It does this through training and the development of skills, accompanied by programs of human development to increase the autonomous and organizational capacity of the community itself. Through its centers, GRUPEDSAC has provided training for Mexican and Latin American organizations and individuals who have replicated the model in diverse states of Mexico and in South America. All technologies are adapted to the respective environment and make sustainable use of the existing natural resources. In addition, GRUPEDSAC revives cultural traditions and resources that have been neglected and underutilized and combines them with modern advances. The organization also grants microfinance loans for the development of small business and housing improvements. Through the sale of handicrafts made from solid wastes and processed food, the organization helps families improve their economic situation. The group provides environmental training for all sectors of society to raise awareness on the issues that are currently facing the country. It particularly seeks to raise the awareness around simple energy saving methods, such as exchanging light bulbs and alternative energies. Background Mexico is considered to be a middle-income country, an emerging market. This disguises high inequalities, particularly between the urban and the rural population. Out of a rural population of 24 million, 56% live below the poverty line. Half of them are considered to be extremely poor. The GDP per capita in the rural area is 73% lower than the national average. Life expectancy is 10 years less and infant mortality three times higher than in the cities. Poverty in the rural areas takes on extreme forms: abandonment of fields, massive migration, deforestation, erosion, water absence, low productiveness, food insecurity and precarious housing. Environmental problems are exacerbated by the poverty level. They are also largely ignored because they are considered to be of lesser importance than the fight against poverty. Strategy GRUPEDSAC takes an innovative, integrated approach to solving the problems of rural poverty and environmental degradation. Learning centers in the State of Mexico and in Oaxaca provide hands-on training outside the classroom on technologies and methods of traditional farming and construction combined with modern advances. The practical courses are regularly taught in a variety of areas such as permaculture, storage and use of rain water, organic agriculture and sanitation. The approach can be taught to anyone from professionals up to the illiterate. The training centers receive groups or members of civil society organizations from Mexico, Central America, and Latin America. These trained experts then replicate the appropriate technologies in their countries and regions of origin. There are now close to 30 training centers, all started by organizations trained at GRUPEDSAC and following its model. The Government of Mexico has also constructed 8 small training centers in the most remote municipalities with the intention of helping to detonate sustainable development in these areas. The Entrepreneur Born in the city of Chihuahua of Mexican nationality, Margarita Barney studied languages and became an interpreter and translator. She has dedicated most of her adult life to the support of education in Mexico. She was among the first to bring the Montessori methodology to Mexico and started a Montessori school in the city of Chihuahua. In Mexico City, she worked at the center responsible for publishing Montessori guides alongside well-known pedagogues. Witnessing the pollution in Mexico City and the widespread indifference of its inhabitants, she decided to carry out awareness raising campaigns. She studied Ecology, Population and Development in the Latin-American University and formed the group Environmental Volunteer of Tecamachalco that later turned into the GRUPEDSAC.
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