BRICKS TO BREAD COSTA RICA PROJECTS
MARJORIE CAMACHO MARTINEZ – LAS BRISAS DE SANTA CECILIA
THE COMMUNITY
Marjorie Camacho Martínez and her husband, Jose, live in a newly awarded government-granted house in Las Brisas de Santa Cecilia, just 3.5 miles from the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border. On a clear day, they can see Lake Nicaragua. Around 2020, the village of Las Brisas de Santa Cecilia obtained electricity and water. In 2024, the community still had no paved streets, medical clinic, supermarket, or church. The only public transportation available is one bus that leaves town at 6am and returns at 2pm. The only work available for women is in the fields, planting rice, beans, corn, bananas, and plantains. To buy fresh bread, residents must drive to a store in Santa Cecilia or Santa Elena 30 minutes away.
THE FAMILY
Marjorie (46) learned about Bricks to Bread from her 4-H club where she has been the lead baker for 10 years. Her mother taught her how to bake and she has added to her skills by taking courses in entrepreneurial sales and marketing, food handling, customer service, and business management. Twice a week, she cooked corn and prepared other ingredients, then walked one hour to a traditional volcanic mud oven where she ground the corn and made 35 to 40 units of homemade bread, cakes, and donuts. The oven had no chimney, so the smoke was a constant hazard. Doña Marjorie’s husband, Jose (53), is a contractor who takes jobs as often as he can, but he also frequently helped his wife by driving her to and from the oven on baking days.
LIVES CHANGED
With her Bricks to Bread oven, Marjorie can bake at home, increase her production, and offer families in all nearby communities fresh, innovative artisanal bread made without unhealthy preservatives. With her husband’s support, she will bake roasted tamales, cakes, sweet breads, biscuits, stuffed empanadas, and breads filled with jelly and pastry cream. By baking unique products and trying new recipes, Marjorie and Jose hope to not only achieve sustainable economic stability by drawing more customers but also, ultimately, be able to give other women opportunities to have employment at the bakery so they can provide for their own families.
