Jessica headshot

Jessica Castañeda

Class of 2025, Guatemala

Jessica Castañeda

Jéssica is 21 years old and comes from Alta Verapaz. Her maternal grandparents used to be coffee and cardamom farmers, so Jéssica grew up planting with them and learning about agriculture and nature. Her grandparents also taught her to create a vegetable garden at home where they harvested corn and beans for self-consumption. These experiences awakened her passion for agronomy.

Jéssica graduated in 2019 from the Escuela de Formación Agrícola in Cobán, where she earned a diploma as an agronomist. Jéssica was able to
study at this private boarding school thanks to a scholarship for her good grades. She worked on a project with biodigesters to recycle cattle manure into gas for the high school kitchen. She was also part of the basketball team, and practiced violin and singing.

She first heard about EARTH University through a talk given by an EARTH graduate at her school. Jéssica was very interested in the educational model, the quality of the teachers, and the variety in the curriculum. Jéssica applied to EARTH in 2019 and in 2020, however, despite being admitted, there were no scholarships available. However, she persevered and in 2021, she was finally admitted thanks to a scholarship from FONAGRO.

I felt like the happiest woman in the world! The news came in December, and I had a week to go. But it was the best news my family and I have ever received."

Jéssica arrived at the EARTH campus in Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica, in January 2022: "When I saw the campus, I cried with joy. My dream had finally come true. Additionally, the campus is very nice, well-kept and full of green nature. I have been able to adapt very well, and the staff and my classmates have welcomed me very well. Who would have thought that now I have friends from other countries like Jamaica, South Africa, Ecuador and that I am learning English better!"

She is completing her first quarter and courses such as Natural Resource Management, Tropical Crops, Mathematics, Communication and Leadership, Cognitive Skills, Organic Farm Work Experience, and Entrepreneurial Projects. For this last course, and due to the entrepreneurial focus of the EARTH curriculum, Jéssica, together with a team of her classmates, founded their own company to sell sausages. She was appointed as the General Manager of this project. They will sell vacuum-packed bacon, mortadella, ham, and chorizo. Her colleagues come from Haiti, Malawi, Ecuador, and Colombia. Additionally, Jéssica is also in the EARTH clubs for Zumba, popular dances, and singing.

In the future, she wants to focus on a master's program on renewable energies and germplasm banks, which seek to locate, collect, and conserve the germplasm of plants that, because of their attributes, are considered of priority interest for the benefit of humanity. Jéssica also wishes to return to Guatemala to offer technical training to small producers and achieve more sustainable production.

To her FONAGRO donors, Jéssica wishes to express her most sincere gratitude:

Thank you so much for your consideration and generosity. I am giving 100% to show you that it is worth your investment and that there are young people in whom it is worth investing to improve their future. Thank you very much for your support!"