When we envisioned these intensive week long programs I don´t think any of us imagined they could or would provide the same cultural immersion, critical reflection or defining experience as those of the six week summer programs. But after having said goodbye to a second group of wide, albeit weary and teary eyed campañeros I´m inclined to wonder...
I remember, in interviews with the then would be participants, calling the spring programs a sprint but after running alongside them as they learned the complexity of Guatemala's culture and explored the benefits of fairer trade, I think that perhaps the shear pace and intensity allowed us to cover near the same figurative ground as the summer marathoners.
So, to those who bravely undertook this formative journey, SALUDOS Y GRACIAS!
Carmen´s Pig pen, Tilapia pond and biodigester are now fully operational. Aside from providing a substantial source of pig and fish protein for the family, the innovative project, constructed in large part by ARW, will produce fuel for stoves/lanterns and fertilizer for Bananas, Corn, and Beans in a nearly completely sustainable closed loop.
San Miguel Escobar´s green school now has nearly 1/4 of its exterior walls built thanks to the hard work of both ASB and ARW crews and the supervision of Don Pedro, Matt, and Timoteo. The facility will be the city´s first secondary school.
A combined total of 110lbs of coffee fruit was picked and processed by both programs. But perhaps the most productive aspect of this experience were the lessons drawn - for their hours of labour those 110lbs of fruit would yield Alberto, our host coffee farmer, about 15lbs of saleable coffee. Think about it, 4 years of planting and tending, 40hrs+ of picking and depulping, 15 days of drying, and incalculable hours of deshelling/selectioning = 15 measly bags of coffee. At int'l prices that would be about $26, at Fair Trade prices that would only be $4 more. Fortunately for Alberto's family, he grows gourmet coffee, roasts it with As Green As It Gets (his coffee
cooperative) and sells a great deal of it via direct trade at between
$7-8 per lb. Makes you think, it sure did us.
We also discovered that in Guatemala, Roya, a rust coloured fungus, was expected to devastate approx. 50-70 percent of the coffee crop for
2013 resulting in an official state of emergency. In the small ex-guerrilla run coffee community of Santa Anita, the prognosis was particularly dire. So, OG and the local association collaborated on the purchase of 8 backpack sprayers as well as 25kg of Copper Sulphate and Calcium. These ingredients have proven to be an effective antifungal and will allow Santa Anita to maintain its organic certification in the US. Eager to help with the first required application, ASB & ARW participants grabbed the glorified squirt guns and joined Don Orelio, Santiago and others in the fields. All in all the crews combined to treat an incredible 40 cuerdas or approx. 14km2 with the mineral agent. Dale!
Weary and with little rest, ASB & ARW still committed themselves to two of Guatemala's more challenging treks.
The first undertook a sometimes gruelling 25km journey, ascending through alpine rainforest onto the Siete Cruces ridge (3500m) and then down through cloud and bamboo forest to the Fuentes Georginas, a volcanic hotspring where they rewarded themselves with a relaxing soak The second group unanimously decided to scale Volcan Santa Maria, one of the highest and most impressive/infamous volcanoes in Central America. This 10km near vertical climb brought participants to the very top of Guatemala's highlands (3772m) where they could stare at Guatemala's impressive volcanic ridge and down to the same valley the volcano had once devastated below.
Needless to say when the groups finally arrived at Lago Atitlan, site of OG's new Placed based operations (The HUB), for debrief and disorientation, there were countless stories to share.
Only one week!? What did you do last week?
