CELL Service-Learning with Sustainable Harvest Honduras

During our last week in Honduras, CELL is partnering with Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) and their local affiliate Sustainable Harvest Honduras. SHI helps rural families become economically and environmentally sustainable. This community based organization was founded by Florence Reed (¨Flo¨), a former Peace Corps volunteer who had a vision of empowering poor families in Central America to improve their incomes and quality of life while preserving and restoring their local environment. Throughout our semester program, we have seen inspiring examples of people like Flo and the amazing things they are doing when they commit their lives to following their passion.

Currently Sustainable Harvest Honduras works with 548 families in 42 communities in the mountain districts of Santa Barbara and Yoro. Many poor families still practice slash and burn techniques to clear their land and grow crops. After two years, however, the land suffers from severe erosion (without trees and other vegetation to hold the soil) and loss of soil productivity. SHI teaches families, through community extension agents, how to turn their marginally productive soil into a fertile environment for growing crops by using compost, permaculture, and organic practices. SHI recognizes that in order for an environmental program to be successful, people´s economic needs have to also be taken into consideration (i.e. people need to have viable ways to earn an income while protecting their environment).

One family, for example, increased their annual income from their land from $80 to over $1,000 when they switched to organic farming practices. SHI works with families for five years training them in sustainable practices. Once a family graduates, they are then able to provide for themselves as well as teach their neighbors what they have learned. In this way, families not only learn valuable skills, increase their incomes, and protect their environment; they also gain something equally important - the self-respect and dignity that come from helping others.

SHI helps families with all aspects of sustainability from reforestation to small integrated fish farms, from composting to making organic pesticides and fertilizers, etc. The following program descriptions will give you a flavor of the work SHI is doing in Honduras (examples borrowed from SHI´s 2007 Annual Report).

Feed the Future: Organic Vegetable Gardens

Proper nutrition is essential to good health, especially with children. Unfortunately, many children living in Central America are malnourished due to a lack of vital nutrients in their diets. These children live in places where most of the families fall below the poverty level. Fruits and vegetables are considered luxuries that only the wealthy can afford. In fact, many of the villages where SHI works, over 75% of the families have never had access to even the most basic garden vegetables such as tomatoes and carrots. SHI provides seeds, training, and support to families desperate to grow nourishing produce to sustain themselves. Now, over 90% of the families working with SHI have planted organic gardens. Not only are the children getting the nutrition they need, the families are experiencing increased income as they are now able to sell excess produce to markets and to their neighbors.

Wood-Conserving Stoves


Imagine breathing in smoke fumes equivalent to smoking eight packs of cigarettes per day, every day. In Honduras, women and children were breathing in that much smoke daily just from the open fireplaces they used for cooking and heating. Now, with help from SHI, hundreds of families are being taught how to build and use simple Lorena stoves, which use chimneys to channel the smoke outside rather than into the room. In addition to improving the air quality in a home, the stoves are beneficial because they are constructed mostly of local materials, are easy to build, and reduce firewood useage by half. These stove are greatly improving the lives of many families throughout Central America.


We are having an amazing week working alongside local families building wood-conserving stoves, creating organic gardens, building low-maintenance chicken coops, and living in homestays in rural villages. We are learning how one person, one family, and one village can make a big difference when they work together in community to achieve a common goal called sustainability! For more information on SHI, you can check out their website at http://www.sustinableharvest.org/.


If you think you are too small to make a difference, try going to sleep with a mosquito in the room. (Gandhi)

Below are several student reflections on our time with SHI.

Sarah: This week our CELL group traveled to the barrios of Ocatal, a new SHI project village. We have worked on three different projects at five different homes in the first two days. When I first arrived, I was taken to my homestay and greeted by Dona Maria. She is a short and somewhat timid woman in her mid 60s, but she has a wonderful warm smile and is very sweet. Her husband, Don Mercedes, is an energetic and friendly man always making sure that we have everything we need. I have felt very much at home with their loving hospitality.

The first day we worked at Don Antonio´s house making a fence for the garden, digging up the soil, making raised beds, and planting carrots and radishes. We worked alongside Don Antonio and Herman, the agricultural extension agent from SHI. Don Antonio showed us around his house -excitedly pointing out the different plants and animals and showing us the mango trees recently planted. As we worked, we talked with Herman and Don Antonio, and they explained the working of the garden and showed us how to use ash, pine needles, and rich compost to create soil for plant growth. During our hours there, more family members and children appeared to watch and see what was going on. They peered around posts and slowly came closer to watch and then scurry back when you smiled at them. After we finished planting the seeds, Don Antonio smiled and seemed pleased with his new garden.

It was empowering to see SHI´s work in action and how they are helping people to help themselves and their environment. SHI really focuses on the community and educating people so that they can live healthier, happier, and more sustainable lives. I really believe that this community support, knowledge, and connectedness is what makes sustainability possible. By working diligently and closely with families and commmunities, SHI is building the basis and potential for a sustainable future.

Dave T: Sustainable Harvest is a great NGO helping families and communities here in Honduras. They hire community members (agricultural extension workers) even though they don´t have university degrees. Even though they may not have a degree, they have something much more important, they know how to speak to and teach members in their community, they know how to use the local materials, and they know what works in these conditions. When they (SHI) go into a community, they set up a meeting and see what the community has, what they do, then they see who wants to work with them. They let the communities know that there are no free handouts, but that they will provide help to families that want to help themselves. Their big project seems to be community gardens so families can have plants to give them the vitamins they are not getting from corn and beans.

Another big project for SHI is building efficient stoves with chimneys. This allows the family to burn less wood, but more importantly, the health benefits are enormous with the smoke leaving the home. This works together with another project, reforestation: planting fruit trees and other trees to help conserve water and regulate temperature/climate in these communities.

I think SHI is doing a great job here working on sustainability. They realize that one can´t have an environmental program without taking people´s needs into account because without meeting the needs of people, environmental degradation would continue. By providing education, they are showing people that they don´t have to slash and burn to grow crops, how to increase nutrition and improve health, and how to look holistically at a community´s needs.

Jonas: Sustainable Harvest seems like a wonderful organization to me. One of the things I really like is how much they have focused on new, more efficient ovens and stoves which use less firewood and vent smoke outside. This helps solve health problems while also saving the family from collecting so much firewood. On our first day here, Greg and I worked with Dona Maria to build a family garden. I really like the way SHI allows us to help the family build the garden right alongside them. That way everybody is involved and everybody gets to learn how the process works. I also really like how we are able to live with the people in the community because it allows for a much richer experience. Just like with Grupo Fenix (a program we spent a month with in Nicaragua), I feel more deeply connected with this program simply because we get to live in the homes and don´t simply stay for a couple of hours and then leave. Once a community project is started, SHI´s first goal is to work with the family on an initial project such as building a garden. In this way, both SHI and the family build trust. Then, after that, the family is more likely to listen to the suggestions of SHI, such as not using slash and burn techniques, something which is hard for them to understand because they have been doing it for so long.

CELL Honduras: Cloud Forest and Bees

Although most of CELL´s field trips and service-learning experiences take place within sustainable communities, during the course of our semester program, we also vist a variety of natural areas such as: volcanoes, cloud forests, coastal beaches, and rain forests. This week we visited Parque Nacional La Tigra, a cloud forest near Tegucigalpa (the capital city of Honduras) and a sustainable honey cooperative in San Lucia.

This is the summer season in Honduras, and most places we have visited have been hot and dry with temperatures ranging from the mid 80s to lower 90s. It was so refreshing to visit the moist, dense mountain forest with towering trees covered with ubiquitous vines and mosses and tropical ferns and lush plants covering the forest floor. The forest was magical. We spent half a day hiking along trails snaking their way through some of the most biodiverse habitat in the world. Although the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Guatamala receive more publicity, Honduras has conserved considerably more virgin cloud forest than either of these countries.

Parque Nacional La Tigra is probably the most visited cloud forest in Honduras because of its closeness to the city of Tegucigalpa. The cloud forest in La Tigra is not the most prestine, having been logged earlier in the 20th century, but a sizeable dense forest has returned along with 200 species of birds, a variety of mammals, and a rich variety of reptiles and insects. I couldn´t help but marvel how fast, when given a chance, nature will heal herself and re-create a rich biodiverse balance of life.

As we walked along the trails, we saw large six-foot-diameter tree trunks partially decaying, forming new soil - the placenta of life for a new generation of trees, tropical plants, insects, and a variety of animals that call this national park home. Walking through this cloud forest gave me a sense of wonder about the incredible diversity of life with which we share this planet. I could see so clearly how everything in this forest was interconnected and interdependent. I was reminded of what John Muir said; ¨When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.¨ I was filled with a desire to learn more about the diversity of life on our planet and to live a life that respects the rights of all species to coexist with us.

After our trek in the cloud forest, we visited Concepcion, a Honduran artist and farmer who is president of a bee association promoting sustainable honey production. Heifer International has helped fund micro-businesses that help local farmers to establish honey production operations using stingless and African bees. Promotion of these small micro-businesses has grown into an association of over 20 local honey harvesters in the beautiful town of San Lucia. The honey produced is used for personal consumption, for sale in local markets, and for sale for tourists. The income from the sale of honey helps supplement farmers´income with an environmentally and economically sustainable product. The stingless bees were particularly interesting: much smaller and easier to work with than traditional bees. We got to open up the bee box and watch their honey-making operation up close and personal. This project is one small example of how Heifer International is building the capacity of local people to help themselves - to achieve economic sustainablity in a way that is also good for the environment.

Dana: We visited a town called Conception de Maria and were fortunate enough to help with a project building a well. While working, someone said that the community had been digging the well for 8 years. EIGHT YEARS!!! I looked at a boy standing beside me and realized that this project had been happening his whole life. Now that´s perspective! Those 8 years would not have been possible if it weren´t for all the people in the community helping each other. With loved ones, nothing is impossible.That day I realized this: Strength through love is the essence of sustainability through community.

CELL Honduras: Sustainability Through Community

During the month of March, we are exploring the beautiful country of Honduras, the second largest country in Central America. Roughly the size of England, Honduras has a variety of habitats, including: cloud-forested mountains, pristine beaches, mangrove wetlands, coral reefs, and tropical rainforests. The months of March, April, and May are the dry season here in Honduras with temperatures ranging from the mid 80s to the mid 90s and delightfully cooler at night.

For the first three weeks in Honduras, CELL is collaborating with Heifer International. We are learning how Heifer, in partnership with other community organizations, is alleviating hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation by helping struggling families become environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Since 1944, Heifer has helped more than 4 million people in 125 countries. Heifer provides more than 25 different kinds of food- and income-producing animals, as well as intensive training in animal husbandry, community development, and environmentally sound sustainable practices. Recipients ¨pass on the gift¨to others in their communities in a way that builds self-esteem and offers everyone the opportunity to make a difference in the struggle against hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation. For more information on Heifer, you can check out their website at: http://www.heifer.org.

Heifer Honduras is working with 25 different community partners in 300 communities throughout the country - impacting over 6,000 families annually. One of Heifer´s partners is an organization called Fundacion Simiente which promotes grassroots initiatives building the capacity of local people to help themselves. What makes this community partnership
so unique? The key to their success is that they focus on the capabilities and strengths of a particular community - they build upon what is already there NOT on what the community is lacking. Once they have identified the key strengths within a community, they then work with the community to build the leadership and organizational skills needed to manage the grassroots sustainability projects successfully. Eventually, the community organizations develop the capacity to manage all aspects of their work on their own.

Yesterday, we traveled by pick-up truck for several hours up into the mountains of Southwest Honduras over rough, winding roads leading to the remote community of Concepcion de Maria - one of the most beautiful villages I have ever seen. Life here has an organic richness. People are poor by ¨Western¨standards. They have no electricity, running water, TVs, microwaves, or designer clothing. They do, however, have something more more meaningful: an inner peace that comes from spending time with their families, knowing their neighbors, and sharing a meal with a stranger.

They don´t have much money, but they have an inner happiness that is shared freely with family, friends, and strangers. They don´t have a lot of material possessions, but what they do have, they share gaciously. They don´t have watches, so their lives flow in a natural daily and seasonal rythym. They don´t have cradles for their babies, so their ¨bebes¨ swing in hand-made hammocks in cool breezes beneath Mango trees. They don´t live frantic, stressful lives, they have time to stop, chat, and work together to build a communal well. They don´t live their lives independently, they live in community. I want to learn what these people have to teach me, and when I return home: I want to slow down, spend more time with my family and community, lend a helping hand to a neighbor without waiting to be asked, take more time to watch the stars and collect fire flies...

Below are reflections from the several days spent with Heifer, Fundacion Simiente, and the beautiful people of this remote region of Honduras.

Dave T: Being in this community takes me back to the village of Sabana Grande (a village in Nicaragua where we lived for two weeks). The animals were part of it, but it was the people that made the experience. The simple act of saying hello as I pass people or the smile and wave received, either way the people living in the country are amazing. They are so willing to give what little they have. They are always so willing to make us cafe (coffee) that is grown on their farm. Their cows were the most beautiful I´ve seen since being in Central America, and perhaps ever. They were well fed and really clean. The ¨pass on the gift¨program has been a real success with 18 heifers being passed on to new families in this small community alone. There is so much ingenuity going on, with a grey water filtration system that fuels a drip irrigation system for the garden; a biodigester producing free, renewable methane from cow dung (used as a fuel for the family´s cookstove reducing their wood consumption by 50% - making a signficant impact on reducing deforestation and soil erosion). The work Simiente is doing with the women´s groups is phenomenal. Now women are organizing, they have savings and money to send their children to school, and they are helping to support their community.

Jonas B: After a month in Nicaragua, I was very sad to leave. Especially after our time in Sabana Grande for two weeks, I felt very welcomed and comfortable there. We made many close relationships with the people in the community and I really hope to return some day.

At first the transition to Honduras was tough for me. For a week, we remained at a hostel-type facility close to the capital Tegucigalpa. After feeling at home and free to roam where I pleased in Nicaragua, we were repeatedly told that the area was unsafe. I began to dread the stay in Honduras. That was until we got to see Fundacion Siamente in action. This foundation works, in partnership with Heifer International, with a community in the mountains near Langue, Honduras. As we drove to the community, I could feel the atmosphere lighten dramatically. We began waving and people would grin and wave back. It was a much-needed trip to the community as it helped strengthen my morale for the rest of our time in Honduras. It makes me really see the effects of globalization in the cities (I think Tegucigalpa has more American companies than Honduran companies). More often than not, this globalization process tears true communities apart, and I hope that its effects do not drift into the countryside.

In the community we helped carry rocks from the mountainside to a well that they have been digging for eight years. I loved feeling that great sense of community as we worked along side the men and women as well as several children. It was hard work, but the idea of working as a community kept me going strong. Halfway through our work, a girl came out and gave us watermelon for a small break. I gladly took a piece and began devouring it until I realized that only we gringos were receiving any. Feeling guilty and more privileged than I wanted to, I gave my other half to a boy named Jose who had been helping me by stacking rocks in my arms.

Max: Heifer’s vision of “Honduran communities inspired by principles of love of one’s neighbor and respect for nature, generating development processes and equitably sharing their resources in order to lead a dignified life;” and, Fundación Simiente´s community structure plan and systems thinking perspective, Isletas #1 was an incredible sustainability experience. They used advanced technologies combined with Honduran ingenuity to create sustainability options for an entire community. While in the community, we were able to see three different projects that all embodied “love one’s neighbor and nature.” The livestock we saw were the cleanest and best looking I have ever seen. There is also something about being in the “campo” and the people that live there, so close to the land. They seem much happier than those with more material things that live in the city. But what it truly is, that I have found out in the northern zone of Honduras, is the community itself, not where it is located. The community could be in the Bronx of NY or the Bayou of LA, it is the community itself that helps foster happy people, animals, and fulfilled lives. These projects have shown us viable sustainable solutions for any type of community. The format that Fundación Simiente has formed focuses on people and on the individual, small group, and large community scales; without a strong base a home or within one’s self, you can never be a part of a well functioning community. We need to start viewing communities and individual people making up a larger group, not just the whole. I feel this was evident in helping build a community well. This made me feel much more connected to that place and the people; we shared laughs, smiles, bruses, and beads of sweat with the people in the community, something that will never be forgotten by all. These types of connections are the ones that strengthen our bonds between our fellow humans, even if they live in a different land, with different customs, or a different skin color; we all live on the same planet and only have one to work with.

Carmen: What really struck me about the people in Las Olivas was how enthusiastic they were about new and positive changes. It seems like these two organizations have brought many new ideas (for example, Heifer's system of "passing on the gift"). So far, these new concepts have taken off and brought so many good things to the community. The people have now witnessed that these things work--that they can be trusted. That is why it is so important for organizations to make sure their plans have a very good chance of succeeding. If not, the people of the community are likely to lose faith in them. The women were very inspiring to me. They have such an amazing ability to support eachother through organizing as a group. They do whatever they can to provide for their families and to send their children to school. One of the main reasons, I feel, that Heifer and Simiente have been successful so far is because they understand how to harness the will-power of the women.

Dave O: Today we visited the Mayan ruins in Copan and a Chorti (Mayan descendent´s) village in the hills nearby. Approximately 30,000 Mayans lived in the valley and hills surrounding Copan, the principal Mayan cultual center during the 400 years when the city was at the peak of its development. Copan was far ahead of other larger and more powerful Mayan cities in its development of sculpture, astronomy, and hieroglyphic writing. While walking around the Mayan ruins, what struck me was: ¨Why did a culture that was so advanced, a culture that so revered the natural world through its art and religious ceremonies on one hand, show such a disregard for its natural world on the other?¨ Most archaeologists, for example, suggest that the decline of the Mayan culture was caused by the lack of stewardship of their natural resouces. The Mayans in Copan deforested their entire environment which resulted in severe soil erosion and an altered climate which grew much hotter and dryer due to the lack of trees to hold moisture and moderate temperatures. The consequence? Failure of crops, starvation, disease, and, eventually, the collapse of their civilization. This same scenerio has been played out by other civilizations that have collapsed (e.g. Aztecs, Incas, Easter Islanders, etc.). I wondered how such advanced cultures could ignore tell tale environmental signs pointing to an eventual collapse of their entire civilization? I then wondered how we in the U.S. (with 5% of the world´s population consuming 30% of the world´s resouces) can continue to ignore the environmental signs of the 21st Century - signs pointing to the possible collapse of our civilization? I wondered what steps I can take to live a life more in harmony with the natural world?

In the afternoon, we visited a poor Mayan Chorti village in the hills near Copan. Most adults in this community are illiterate. They live in thatched-roof dwellings that leak water in the rainy season. They live on a 45 degree-sloped hillside with poor soils for growing their crops. They travel long distances to the river to obtain water. Their children have limited access to education. Historically, they have had little external help. Today, however, with the help of Heifer International and a local community partner, the Chorti are learning how to build homes and furniture, grow crops sustainably, install a community water system that provides clean water to each family, build a new school for their children, and acquire cows that provide fresh milk and a source of income for their families. Today, the Chorti have hope for a more sustainable future. What they are receiving is not charity. Heifer is teaching and empowering this community to learn how to help themselves. They are receiving the education and training needed to help themselves today and to become self-sufficient tomorrow. This process not only builds the skills and capacity of the community, it also builds their self-respect by enabling these beautiful people to help themselves - what they ultimately want and need. We are learning so much about ¨sustainability through community.¨