It is a long, bumpy, dusty couple of hours to get from Catacamas to el Coyolar. On the way we pass a lot of cactus and some huge rock formations, the terrain reminds me of Arizona. In the community of El Coyolar for the past three years the harvests of basic grains have been low or nothing at all. This past October they asked Diaconia for help in getting bean seeds to plant because there were so little in the community. A group of 20 people in the community each received 50 pounds of red beans to plant. Then we prayed earnestly for rain. The agreement was that they would pay Diaconia back the same amount of beans at harvest time (which is a pretty good deal considering that it is customary to pay back twice the amount of seed borrowed). God sent rain, there was a modest harvest, and they paid back the beans. Here you can see a youth putting a 200 pound sack of beans in the Diaconia truck. Most grains are stored in sacks like those. I’ve had to move them around and it is not real easy.
The people in El Coyolar are motivated and true to their word, I think in part because they realize they are quite isolated and not a lot of institutions notice them. This isolation also means that local disputes tend to get resolved locally. Olancho is renowned for this kind of independent mindset. Every time we have a community meeting is seems that an argument gets going, and sometimes it gets pretty heated, but it is almost always resolved somehow. The people know that somehow they need to make things work with each other.
A while back we trained the people of El Coyolar on how to grow and use Moringa trees. Here is a photo of one of them and the owner. On this day the community started the process of the Ag diagnostic where they start to make priorities for agricultural and environmental improvement. They also elected their “facilitators” who will be trained more intensively and work to get people to adopt new practices. Raul, the owner of the Moringa tree is one of the facilitators for El Coyolar.
4 comments:
I enjoyed your essay, Matt , about the pros and cons of isolation. I was not aware of the dryness. I have Central America pictured as a place with heavy rainfall.
Now I am learning about the moringa tree and El Coyolar! For what use did you promote the moringa tree to the citizens of this community?
Oh! Oh! I read more of your web site and I saw pictures of your Mom and Dad De Kam. I also read an essay by Katie, I believe, which explained the use and value of the moringa tree.
This is very exciting to read! My name is Justine Vandergrift and I am leading something called the Honduras Water Project out of the Kings University College. Maybe you've heard about us coming in May to work with and learn from the people of El Coyolar on a sustainable water system. Ana Joya informed me about your blog. We are really looking forward to being in Honduras. Perhaps we will meet you and Katie?
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