This last trip, though short, was such a blessing to be apart of. I rendezvoused with three incredibly knowledgeable men with hearts for helping the malnourished. The first individual was Danny Blank. I had met with Danny several times earlier in the year. He is the farm manager for ECHO out of Ft Meyers, Fl. The visits were in search of ideas to overcome the malnourishment issues in Central America. ECHO being an organization that offers international agricultural technical support for people working with the poor seemed like the obvious choice. The second individual, Keith Hess, is a former ECHO employee specializing in reforestation in such areas as Africa, Haiti, and through out Central America. He had braved several chicken buses from Salvador and met us in Zacapa. The last of the trio, Dwight Carter, we would meet up with several days later on the Rio Dulce River. Dwight was a colorful individual. In 1987 after four years in the Peace Corps he had settled on 20 acres of land off the Rio Dulce River and now specializes in growing different fruits from around the world.
After picking up Danny from the airport, we (the Beenes, Josiah, Danny, and I) made our 3 hour drive to Zacapa where we met Keith and Nathan (a missionary with FIA). A call to Profa William, one of our teachers in Pinalito, made it clear that there was no possible way of heading up at night. The constant rain had the roads a slippery muddy mess and some trees were down. We would wait until the light of the morning and only those needing to go up would make the trip. This meant leaving Rocky, Chelsea, and Travis behind. Those going up would include Danny, Keith, Mike, Nathan, Josiah, Tiffany, and me.
As we approached the first road repair, Danny jumping from the back of the truck twisted his ankle. My heart sank since almost everything we needed to see would involve hours upon hours of rigorous hiking. We would have to hike steep muddy narrow trails with intermittent rocks thrown in as obstacles. We would be crossing swamps via slippery logs. We would have to tromp through suction type mud that would grab your shoes and not let go. I felt there was no possible way Danny would be up for the painful challenge. Thank God I didn’t know Danny very well. I was completely wrong!!!!!
The road repair would continue all the way up the mountain. The next 4 miles from the base of the river would take almost 3 hours. Armed with shovels, a chain saw, machetes and a rope we would cut and drag fallen trees, fill in ruts with rocks, branches, and mud, rebuild a corner of the road washed away by a fast moving stream. Within 200 yards of the mission a mudslide had pushed a very large stump partially into the road. As the villagers pitched in to cut up the stump I took advantage of the time to try out Danny’s ankle by looking at projects at the mission. After an ankle wrap and with the aid of a walking stick surprisingly Danny was ready to go. With three thousand citrus trees ready for grafting, ECHO would be instrumental in helping me find the budding material and grafting the trees. ECHO had provided seeds of various plants to experiment with. The spinach and mammoth pea plants had grown exceptionally well. Just as important as the plants being able to grow is the importance of the plants being tasteful to the villagers. Both plants had high marks in both categories. The moringa trees were a different story. I explained to Danny they were in my seed bed when a cyclone lingered off Honduras for 10 days. Consequently the plants stayed way too wet. Only a handful of the 28 seeds took. I believe in the potential of this plant. The nutritional value especially to those with the highest mortality rate---the newborn through age 5 is unmatched by other plants. It can be fed to nursing mothers and passed to their children through their milk or can be consumed directly. My plans are to buy more seed and try again during the dry season. This time we will plant each seed in an individual bag until they are 6-12 inches tall. The last of the plants we inspected were the bananas, coffee, and macadamia trees.
After a quick lunch, I made a formal introduction of my parrot (Pringles) to my next door neighbor David’s daughter, Maribel. David and Manuel would lead us to David’s farm and then up higher to the outskirt of the rainforest where we have macadamia trees. With Pringles, my baby parrot, on my shoulder and Danny with his walking stick we embark on the steep climb. This would not be easy on his ankle but he wasn’t complaining. After a 40 minute walk Keith and Danny are wading through a maze of young corn plants heading toward a makeshift shade area under which lies thousands of Pony Tail Palm trees. This is an experimental cash crop that we have partnered with several farmers A little further down the hill is a single Spanish Cedar sapling that at only 2 years old is over 30 feet tall. A stream at the bottom of the hill provides a seed bed for a number of Spanish Cedars and other plants. With a good idea of the farming terrain Danny and Keith are ready to head further up the mountain and toward the edge of the rainforest.
The macadamia farm is one of the favorite places for the village kids to visit. Broken shells are seen around the base of the trees as the kids have feasted on the nuts. The protein provided by the nuts far exceeds that of any meat product. Though they don’t have the money for meat a hike to this location can provide all the protein they need during harvest. It is now 5:30, in an hour it will be dark. Rain clouds have appeared over the mountain. It is starting to drizzle. Even though there is a full moon the descent would not be easy without everyone having a flashlight. It is time to go.
The next morning has each of us taking his turn with axe in hand chopping once again on that massive stump. Once we are clear of the stump we are off to Dwight’s fruit tree farm and the lowlands along the Rio Dulce River. It has been thirteen years since FIA started the river ministry. Just as the ministry in the mountains this outreach would not be easy to get to. FIA searches out those people that are isolated and have little or no resources available to them. Most have never seen a missionary and no nothing of the Love of Jesus for them.
(I imagine this is a good place for a side note to state that those who work with FIA should not expect to work at a place that is inundated with a church on every corner. Our mission is not to bring the message or help where it is already available. It is to go where no missionary has gone before -----and yes we are always looking for a few good men/women)
It seems as if everything must be a three hour trip and so this is no different. The roads are windy. Most vehicles especially the semis have trouble getting out of their own way. Being stuck behind one of these turtles, of which there are many, can turn a 100 mile drive into a 5 hour ordeal. Nearly two and one half hours into the trip we are slowed to a stop to come across a common sight. There is a traffic accident that has just happened minutes before our arrival. The usual culprit is a minibus taxi trying to pass around a blind curve. So it is this time with a taxi off the side of the road with a smashed front end. On the other side of a road sits a small red truck with its front completely smashed in. The engine sits in the driver side seat. On the road is a lone paramedic who is putting the legs of a small boy together who lies face down in his own puddle of blood. He has been thrown from either the back of the pick-up or out the window of the taxi. He is lifeless with the back of his head crushed flat. Danny, Keith, and I once engaged in conversation fall silent as we say a prayer knowing there is nothing to be done.
We are only 10 kilometers from Dwight’s. He will meet us off the main road to lead us back to his property. Dwight has tropical fruit of all varieties. Some of the fruit looks like something from another planet. There is fruit that hangs from the branches, fruit that is growing directly off the trunk and even fruit growing just out of the ground at the base of the tree. Big fruit, little fruit, spiky fruit, colorful fruit------you name it Dwight grows it!!!! After a supper of beans, tortillas, hot chilies, and noodles I found a hammock under the tin overhang of the rustic intern house. The night air was still, hot and muggy. It was too hot to sleep indoors. Around midnight a loud clap of lightening was followed with a torrential downpour. The temperature instantly dropped 20 degrees as the stickiness and heat of the tropical lowlands was quickly replaced by a cold night. I convinced myself that I was warm as I pulled the meshed netting of the hammock over my shivering body and fell back asleep.
After a breakfast of fresh local coffee, hardboiled eggs, beans, tortillas, and noodles we were off for an hour and half boat ride to the remote village of Castulo. Dwight had brought several samples of fruit for the villagers to sample. The Jack fruit is a strange looking fruit the size of a small watermelon. It grows off of all parts of the tree from the roots, the trunk, or off the branches. Keith was carrying this to the village following Josiah. Twice the young missionary, Josiah, would fall in the mud. His choice of shoes-----crocs------were an accident waiting to happen in this muddy terrain. I had made the same mistake a trip earlier when bringing a medical team from Time Square Church to the village while wearing my crocs. I thought they were the shoe of choice but found myself walking barefoot after only several hundred yards into the trek.
The fruits were enjoyed by the women and children of the village. The men were out working and missed the sampling. We discovered that each extended family farms together so we hiked to two of the representative farms. The farmed properties are in the hills above the wetlands to allow for drainage. Here, as for most of the family farms in Guatemala, the major crop grown is corn for tortillas. What is different in Castulo is they also raise ducks and turkeys for meat. With my three experts having seen the needs an evaluating the growing conditions it was time to say goodbye and watch Josiah one more time fall in the mud. (Sad as it is I was excitedly anticipating Josiah’s fall. As he approached the muddy log my camera was on ready for a prize winning shot).
The next step when we return in September will be a meeting with the farmers in the different locations to discuss their agricultural and nutritional concerns-------thanks Danny for the input. As Danny reminded me of what I had read in the book ‘Two ears of corn’ by Roland Bunch the farmers have to be part of the solution. It can not just be the gringo’s idea and project. Those projects fail shortly after the support leaves no matter how good they may be. The farmers have to be involved every step of the way.
Part of the process will include taking the farmers to Dwight’s fruit farm and have them sample different fruits. With Dwight’s expertise he will educate them on which fruits will grow on their farms. He will also teach grafting and tree care. I’ll be praying for funding to allow each family to have 4 trees.
In the mean time Danny will continue to help with the selection of different plants Once it is determined what can be grown the next step is to test the villager’s palate for them.
Keith will be instrumental in reforestation. It is an ongoing problem since wood must be harvested everyday for cooking. Currently FIA is experimenting with Echo’s idea of using methane gas from cow manure to cook and thereby eliminating the need of stripping the forest. With Keith and Danny we would like to come up with a viable solution to stop the erosion with the use of trees that can later be harvested for money.
A many thanks to Danny Blank and Keith Hess from ECHO. Also thanks to their boss Stan Doerr who allowed them to come. Thanks to Dwight Carter of Frutas Del Mundo for his hospitality and the heart and vision to help the impoverished.
There is a lot that needs to be done and a lot of prayers that need to be said and answered. I feel that we’ve just made it to first base thanks to the help of God’s perfect plan
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