Wednesday was a busy day in the community of Munoces. Warren caught the "new" Tortuga early in the morning and spent a few hours walking the road and meeting the families who are new to the community since we were here last year. The family below lives at the highest part of the hill where they have to walk more than 30 minutes each way to get to any source of water. They are still in the process of building their house. I think they need to replace that cardboard before the rainy season!
Others in the group accompanied a group of cattle for sale down the mountain to Mercedes Umana where the cattle were sold and 44 bags of fertilizer were picked up. We then accompanied the fertilizer to Munoces where a bag was distributed to each family in the community.
They worked together to distribute the bags and to help get them to each household. The bags weigh 240 pounds so some of the strapping young men of the community did most of the carrying.
It took 3 Iowans to lift one bag! I did see several 40-something men from Munoces carry bags on their backs to nearby homes. Of course, they are used to hard labor and carrying heavy loads of wood every day of their lives.
We visited one of the new "fish farmers" in the community. He said that this size fish will grow to about 12-16 inches in 2 months. They are to share some of the small fish with others in the community if others want to start their own fish farming operation so now there are 5 fish ponds in the community....next year maybe 10!
The afternoon was spent in a meeting with the farmers of the community. Nearly all the families of Munoces were represented. They explained the process of farming by hand on the steep sides of the volcano....very different from farming in Iowa! We talked with them about beginning the process of developing the use of organic fertilizers and they expressed interest in getting training in that area. We are excited about the possibilities of what "permaculture" concepts could do for farm life in Munoces.
Others in the group accompanied a group of cattle for sale down the mountain to Mercedes Umana where the cattle were sold and 44 bags of fertilizer were picked up. We then accompanied the fertilizer to Munoces where a bag was distributed to each family in the community.
They worked together to distribute the bags and to help get them to each household. The bags weigh 240 pounds so some of the strapping young men of the community did most of the carrying.
It took 3 Iowans to lift one bag! I did see several 40-something men from Munoces carry bags on their backs to nearby homes. Of course, they are used to hard labor and carrying heavy loads of wood every day of their lives.
We visited one of the new "fish farmers" in the community. He said that this size fish will grow to about 12-16 inches in 2 months. They are to share some of the small fish with others in the community if others want to start their own fish farming operation so now there are 5 fish ponds in the community....next year maybe 10!
The afternoon was spent in a meeting with the farmers of the community. Nearly all the families of Munoces were represented. They explained the process of farming by hand on the steep sides of the volcano....very different from farming in Iowa! We talked with them about beginning the process of developing the use of organic fertilizers and they expressed interest in getting training in that area. We are excited about the possibilities of what "permaculture" concepts could do for farm life in Munoces.
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