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Dear Friend,
I recently returned from a two week visit to Honduras. Joni and I
lived there a couple of times in the 1980's. Together with some
friends we started a program called Tierra Nueva in the areas of
San Luis and Minas de Oro, Comayagua (our friends in Minas
and we in San Luis). The focus of our work has been sustainable
agriculture and preventative health. We trained farmers to use soil
and water conservation practices for steep hillside farming,
organized groups of women to learn about health and nutrition,
and worked with communities to organize to seek assistance for community water and sanitation projects. We
trained some of our best farmers to be farmer trainers which we call agricultural and health promotors. The
group in San Luis has continued to work together visiting villages and other farmers for over 30 years, and as
long as they continue to meet and present to me projects they think would meet a felt need in the communities
they visit, and I agree that it meets some of the goals of the work of Tierra Nueva, I help them find financing.
There have been many projects over the years, and their latest has been to diversify the shade systems of
coffee farms in the area with tall growing timber species and fruit trees. I had not visited the program for almost
7 years, so I was delighted to see what an enormous success it has
been.
After
several Maribel’s
years, list of
you can farmers
see the she is
trees up giving
above trees to
the
coffee.
With Tierra Nueva, coffee farmers in the area have planted over 100,000 timber species trees (different varieties of
mahoganies). I was very impressed. Talking to the farmers and the promoters, I got a sense that this is just the
beginning. I met several farmers who are now starting their own tree nurseries and transplanting other local timber
varieties into their coffee farms.
So far we have planted 14 different species of trees. During my visit with the promoters we made a list of about a
dozen other varieties to focus on in the future and add even more diversity to benefit wildlife.
Certification
Fruit Trees
There is little doubt that climate disruption is making life more difficult for the Honduran farmers. I visited many
farms that completely lost their corn crops this year to drought. The rains that have always come in May or
June did not come until September and only lasted a few weeks rather than several months.
Coffee farmers are in a constant struggle against coffee leaf rust and warmer temperatures -- coffee only does
well in cooler mountain temperatures. I’ve read that one of the most effective strategies for helping farmers to
cope with these problems is what Tierra Nueva has been doing. By creating the higher canopy of shade from
the tall growing timber species trees, we can help create micro-climates to lower temperatures and increase the
covering of leaf litter over the soil to retain soil moisture. The additional layer of trees aids in the trapping of the
spores of the fungal coffee leaf rust disease to help to prevent its spread.
Reconnecting
In addition to touring the work Tierra Nueva has been doing, I was able to reconnect with a lot of old friends .
Aguinaldo and his family
Honduras is a beautiful country with wonderful, welcoming and hospitable people, but it continues to
struggle with poverty, corruption and violence. Unfortunately, the programs most desperately needed
that are effectively addressing the corruption and violence have recently lost their funding from the
current administration in the US. These are the very programs needed to curb the migration of Hondurans
seeking safety and jobs. A lot of Hondurans have successfully migrated to the US and are sending
remittance money back to Honduras to help their families, and I found that many are sending money to
build homes to return to after they have saved enough money to start a business back in Honduras which
is where they really want to be.
Tierra Nueva now has six active promoters: Raul, Carlos, Maribel, Apolinario, Manuel, and Tobias. The
work they are doing has been entirely funded by myself and small contributions from my family and
friends. All of us who’ve worked hard on this small project are very grateful for the support we’ve
received.
If you want to help, send a check made out to Larry Sell/Tierra Nueva to 23471 W. Petite Lake Rd., Lake
Villa, IL 60046.
Larry Sell