Community Impact: ULDESA Cooperative

On May 14, 2015 Enlace Project took part in an inauguration celebration of the ULDESA (Unión de Productores Lecheros de El Sauce) cooperative’s new site, located in the km 3 road El Sauce Achuapa. Created in 2009, the cooperative is a great representation of the age old concept “hard work pays off.”

With a long history of struggle and persistence the cooperative name has come to be recognized throughout the municipality of El Sauce. It´s current president, Martha López, is a strong, driven young entrepreneur who follows the steps of her mother, Brenda López, founder of the cooperative, with the same passion and drive to fight for the farmers’ rights and opportunities.

Now with 19 members, most of which are women, the cooperative looks to the future with optimism and aspiration for better tomorrow. The men and women work to not only produce milk for the people of El Sauce but they support the local dairy farmers by gathering milk from different farms and selling the milk to factories like Parmalat, Centrolac and La Perfecta.

ULDESA is very interested in working with Enlace Project because they understand the value in planning and direction building for the reaching of their objectives. The Enlace Project Entrepreneurial Development Program will be working with the cooperative to provide them with oriented trainings and educational workshops.

The celebration of the new building was a successful display of the past, present, and future of the cooperative. Invited guests heard the powerful words of Brenda López as she shared a historical recap of the cooperative’s journey to today. Martha López spoke proudly of the strength the men and women have and encouraged members to continue working hard. Presentations of traditional dance and song performed by young family members of the cooperative brought the event to a close with a sense of hope and happiness for the upcoming years.