BRICKS TO BREAD COSTA RICA PROJECTS
XIOMARA RODRIGUEZ PICADO – ESTERITO DE POCOSOL

THE COMMUNITY

Until about 2014, Esterito de Pocosol, a community about 40 miles from the Nicaragua border in the province of Alajuela, had streets made of stone and very few houses. Xiomara and her neighbors traveled four hours on foot (or two hours on horseback) to find a store where they could buy ingredients for food and other necessities. Today, they have paved roads, electricity, and water, as well as a church, school, and small grocery store. However, they still lack many public services including transportation, a clinic, a supermarket, a secondary school and activities for youth. The jobs available in this area are limited to manual labor in the fields of sugar cane, pineapple, papaya, and pepper.

THE FAMILY

Xiomara Rodríguez Picado is an ambitious and enterprising 29-year-old woman who has been baking for two years. She and her husband, Alexander (32), have four children – Yubelki (12), Junior (9), Alex (7), and Jumara (2). Alexander has a job as the caretaker of a livestock farm and Xiomara bakes and sells bread at the children’s school and the little church in their town.

Before her Bricks to Bread oven, Xiomara and her children walked more than an hour to the farm to bake in an oven Alexander built for her. Made from concrete blocks with a sheet of corrugated aluminum propped against the opening and old clothing filling the gaps to help keep the heat in, the structure was dangerous in many ways. With her new brick oven at her own house, Xiomara can bake in greater quantities, using a safe and low-maintenance structure, and she can sell her products more efficiently close to home.

LIVES CHANGED

In Esterito de Pocosol, Xiomara’s bakery will be unique – the only quality homemade bread products of their kind in the area – giving this family endless opportunities for growth. After attending Bricks to Bread’s annual women’s leadership and business conference, Xiomara is learning and innovating with different recipes. Her dreams of helping support her family and her oven becoming a place where her community can gather to share a coffee and bread together are coming true!