CELL Central America Semester Program 2008

CELL Central America Semester Program Blog

2008-05-03T13:32:00.002-04:00

On April 24, 2008, we completed a three month/three country (Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica) semester program focusing on a theme of "sustainability through community." We visited 24 amazing, yet very different, communities committed to sustainability - ranging from small community ventures and women's cooperatives to large international organizations like Heifer International. We rolled up our shirt sleeves and volunteered in a variety of service-learning projects from building organic gardens and chicken houses with Sustainable Harvest in Honduras to volunteering with Widecast, an international organization researching and protecting endangered sea turtles in the Gandoca Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. We visited indigenous communities. We partnered with the Northwest Earth Institute, using their study guides to explore topics like Voluntary Simplicity, Choices for Sustainability, and Human Ecology. We explored what sustainability means on various levels, including: personal, community, and global. We developed personal action plans that will enable all of us to leave our time together with a specific plan of what we can each do to implement sustainable practices back home. We leave empowered with the hope for a sustainable future because we have seen individuals and communities living sustainably. We leave knowing and feeling, as Carlos (an enthusiastic Honduran committed to sustainable gardening) said in prophetically powerful words: "It is possible!"

Below are several student reflections on their 2008 CELL Central America Semester Program.

Carmen: Looking back on all I have learned from this experience, I cannot imagine not having done this. This has been and will continue to be such an important part of my life. I will continue learning from this experience for the rest of my life. I feel like this has given me the power to be a better global citizen, and to make a positive difference in the communities in which I live. The program certainly has expanded my whole view on sustainability, especially in the ways in which community plays such an important role. I feel like I have a much better perspective and much more wisdom not just in the area of sustainability, but also in the many issues facing third world countries and things that are and are not being done. Overall, this could be the best study abroad opportunity out there!

Jonas: This CELL program has had a major impact on my life. I have learned so many things from my professor and my fellow classmates, not only about sustainability through community, but also about my life. It has rekindled my ambition to improve the health of our ecosystem as well as given me an action plan with steps I am going to take when I return home in order to begin living more sustainably. It has also led me to realize the importance of strong support systems. Because of this, I have included several steps in my action plan in order to help build and strengthen my relationships with my family and friends. This way we can all have a stronger support system on which to rely. This semester abroad has taught me so many things that I will take with me for the rest of my life. I will also be able to take these learning experiences and make new discoveries from them.

Dave T: By seeing so many different communities and organizations of varying sizes, I feel like I have a greater understanding of what sustainability is and how we can achieve it. I definitely feel this experience has changed the way I see the world. I have Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica in me - the stories, the people, the landscapes, and so much more. I've seen how people live and work and have learned so much from them and so much about myself. I've had my flame relit inside me to strive toward a more sustainable world. I was in a funk and I have new found purpose. Plus, if these communities can do it here, it can be done everywhere. Looking at the world today: there are a lot of problems or a lot of possibilities - it is all in how we look at it. We can continue to build an army or we can rebuild the world so everyone lives meaningful and purposeful lives. I have decided to walk the latter path seeing a healthy world for both humans and the natural world. I've discovered so many things, and I know there is still more waiting for me after I leave Central America.

Dana: CELL definitely expanded my appreciation and understanding of "sustainability through community." Before the trip all I knew about the subject was what I learned in school. This consisted of the facts that: for tourism to be sustainable, community members must be involved in ownership and higher level jobs; that cultures should be respected; that, to be sustainable, one must observe carrying capacities. Though people had told me about these things, they were only words. I had no "true" experience with this. My view was expanded greatly as well. I now have a much broader view. I realize that "sustainability" has to do with many things. Sustainability has to do with food and having enough of it. Sustainability has to do with teaching people how to do things rather than giving them things... One thing that has to be a part of the road to building sustainability is community. There are many pieces to sustainability, but community is key. Everywhere we went and everyone we visited had a community piece. There are many different pieces to many different programs, but community seems to be a common thread. Before this semester, I had no idea. I am now encouraged to strengthen my own community. I believe that I will be discovering lessons for years to come because of this trip. I now have the base-knowledge to begin making my own life more sustainable, and voluntarily simplistic.

Max: Overall, I am completely satisfied with my experiences with this program and would not, and could not, replace them with anything. This has been such a valuable part of my education and an unforgetable part of my life. I would recommend this program to anyone wanting to explore their lives in relation to communities around the world, the world itself, sustainability, indigenous cultures, and so much more. I will cherish every lesson I have learned, and in the true nature of sustainability, pass on these lessons to the people I meet.

If you'd like to find out more about CELL's study abroad programs, you can visit us at: http://www.cellonline.org/ or e-mail us at: info@cellonline.org or call us at (207) 230-4025. We look forward to hearing from you! Below are reflections from some of our semester learning experiences.

Sea Turtles and Sustainability Through Community

2008-04-17T13:22:00.005-04:00

For the past three months, we've been having an amazing adventure in Central America - daily inspired by individuals and communities committing their lives to building sustainability through community. During the last two weeks of our semester program, we are volunteering with an international sea turtle conservation program in a small village called Gandoca on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica ten kilometers north of Panama. We are working in the Gandoca Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge in the beautiful Talamanca region. There is a remarkable story here...

Let's start with the sea turtles. Playa Gandoca is one of the most important sea turtle nesting sites in the South Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica with three nesting species (Leatherback, the most abundant; followed by the Hawksbill and Green sea turtles). Since 1991, the sea turtle conservation program at Gandoca beach has tagged over 2,100 nesting Leatherback female turtles. Females mate every two to three years and can nest as often as 12 times during a reproductive year.

Sea turtles are keystone species (not only an indicator of the overall health of our ocean ecosystems, but a species critical to the balance of marine environments) and they are endangered. Worldwide their population has decreased over 80% in the last ten years due to water pollution, loss of nesting habitat to development and beach erosion, poaching of eggs, drowings caused when caught in fishing nets, and ingestion of plastic bags floating in the ocean - which they confuse for jellyfish - their main food source. The Costa Rica coastal zone once supported populations of sea turtles that numbered in the tens of thousands. In the 17th and 18th centuries, mariners' records document "flotillas" of turtles so dense that net fishing was impossible. Their teeming numbers were a dominant force in the ecology of coral reefs and sea grass meadows and in the economy of local communities. Sea turtles have been exploited for centuries by coastal communites as a source of food; as a base material for cosmetics, jewelry, and art crafts; and, more recently, as a major ecotourism attraction.

The Leatherbacks are truly impressive. These gentle giants can weigh over a ton and lay over 150 eggs in each nest. They nest at night in the black sand just beyond the high tide mark. Part of our volunteer duties at Gandoca is to participate in four hour evening beach patrols. We have two patrol shifts - one from 8 to 12 p.m. and one from 12 to 4 a.m. The ten kilometer beach is divided into three sectors, and each patrol is responsible for patroling one section of beach during their shift. There are three to four members per patrol with an experienced team leader. There is also a six hour egg hatchery shift that rotates around the clock (eggs that have been layed in vulnerable spots on the beach are relocated to the safety of the hatchery). Shifts alternate from day-to-day, so if you have the "grave yard" patrol shift from 12 to 4 a.m. (or the 12 to 6 a.m. hatchery shift), you get an earlier shift the next day/night.

For work projects during the daytime, we build sea turtle nesting cages and learn how to build proper-sized egg chambers in the hatchery to relocate eggs that are layed in precarious locations. (Note: Relocating the eggs has increased hatchery success from 40% on the beach to over 80% in the hatchery). In the afternoons, we clear heavy logs and other debris off the beach, help build new hatchery sites (shoveling a ton of sand during a several hour work session), etc. So, when it comes time for our evening shift, we are pretty tired. During our night patrols, we walk back and fourth single file along a two to three kilometer section of beach looking for nesting female sea turtles. We walk tired and in darkness as lights can scare off the nesting females. But when you come across a 2,000 pound sea turtle at 2 a.m. crawling out of the sea and beginning to build her nest, your exhaustion immediately evaporates in the excitement of being so close to this magnificent endangered creature and knowing that you are playing a vital role in her (and her offspring's) survival.

Once we discover a female nesting, we stealthily approach her from the backside and wait while she digs her egg chamber with her two back flippers - over one meter deep in the sand. Just before she lays her eggs, we position a plastic bag under her tail to collect the batch (takes about 20 minutes for her to lay 130 or more eggs). While one or two people hold the plastic bag, two others gather data on her size, overall physical condition, tag number, etc. and then record the information on the data sheet. Once she starts to lay her eggs, she goes into a

semi-transe state and is oblivious to the work we are doing around her. Once she is done laying her eggs, she fills in the chamber with sand and then returns to the sea. We then relocate the eggs to the closest hatchery. (Note: some eggs that are layed in safe positions are left where she lays them). It's really exciting to be a part of the work to save these beautiful animals from extinction. When I see how one plastic bag eaten by a sea turtle can kill it, I am more determined to use my reusable cloth bags when grocery shopping so I can play a small role in reducing the billions of these bags that discarded annually, some of which end up in places like our oceans. There are so many small things we can all do that, collectively, have such a huge positive impact on our planet.

The sea turtle conservation program at Gandoca has been incredibly successful. In the late l980s, 99% of the eggs layed on this beach were illegally stolen. Last year (2007) only 2% were poached. In addition to helping save an endangered keystone species, we are also learning about a very successful program that gives villagers a tangible reason to conserve sea turtles. Here's the story...

Gandoca is a poor, rural village along the Caribbean Coast. Most families here have struggled to achieve a sustainable income. In the late l980s village residents stole sea turtle eggs and sold them illegally generating $3,000 U.S. dollars per year for the entire community. Association ANAI, a Costa Rican community sustainability organization, approached the community and asked: "What if we help you to conserve sea turtles and you can make a lot more money conserving them than poaching their eggs?" This captured the community's interest! ANAI recognized that they needed to provide a viable economic alternative to poaching sea turtle eggs - an alternative that would be attractive financially to the community. So, ANAI helped the community to develop rustic chalets where volunteers come to Gandoca and pay $17 dollars per day to live with community families, receive three hot meals, and volunteer in the sea turtle conservation program. "If you build it, they will come." And they came! Today, several thousand volunteers come to Gandoca from around the world to help save the turtles. The volunteer's inscription fee goes to supporting the conservation program and the $17/person/day fee goes directly to the families they are staying with. How successful has this model been? As mentioned previously, the village made $3,000 poaching sea turtle eggs over ten years ago. Last year, the village made over $225,000 conserving sea turtles. The villagers today are the biggest supporters of sea turtle conservation.

This volunteer conservation model has been incredibly successful, and it came about through a simple, yet profound recognition that it's about sustainability through community. If we want to effectively protect a resource, we need to find imaginative ways for people to recognize the benefits of doing so... I am so grateful for what I am learning about community sustainability and for what I am learning about what I can do to make a difference!

Costa Rica: Reflections about Community Sustainability

2008-04-17T13:22:00.004-04:00

After an amazing adventure in the rain forest of Kekoldi, we spent a day snorkling around a coral reef - exploring an underwater jungle of tropical fish and sea life and enjoying the warm water and beautiful surf of Cahuita, a funky tropical village along the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. The next day we traveled deeper into the Talamanca rain forest to the homeland of the BriBri indigenous people. We stayed at Finca Educativa, a community sustainability organization working with 26 different indigenous communities - helping local people develop micro-businesses and ecotourism ventures that enable them to become economically self-sustaining while also conserving their environment and culture.

One of the sites we visited was a remote village called Yorkin ("Your-keen). To get there, we traveled with guides by dugout canoe 10 kilometers upstream along the Yorkin River on the Costa Rica/Panama border. It was an amazing experience with lush tropical vegetation along the river banks and hills, an incredible diversity of bird species, and banana and cocoa plantations in the river valleys. We arrived at the "Casa de Mujeres," an ecotourism lodge where we learned about their organic agricultural practices, their use of medicinal plants, how they build their homes with materials borrowed from the forest, and their delicious organic cocoa (chocolate) business. We got to see the whole chocolate production process from picking the bean pods off the trees to drying them; from crushing the beans to grinding them into a thick, rich dark chocolate paste; and, finally, to adding sugar to form a gooey chocolate candy that melted in our mouths as we oooed and awed. It was the freshest and most delicious chocolate we had ever tasted and an important income producer for this remote community.

We learned how this ecotourism venture is enabling the BriBri to generate a sustainable income and to continue living in their river community nestled between the beautiful Talamanca mountains. Like so many of the sustainable communities we have visited, it is the women who are organizing to form partnerships to produce sustainable income for their families and villages while also protecting their environment and preserving their culture. We have seen so many inspiring examples of sustainability through community during this semester program - examples that give us hope for the possibility of achieving global sustainability. We have seen so many examples of what one person, one women's group, and one village can do to inspire a whole community's commitment to live sustainably.

When we look at the problems the world faces, I think we are starting to feel like we will never be deeply discouraged again because we have see the power of people working together to solve local problems. And, in a very real way, all global problems are local problems that have creative solutions through community. I think we are all feeling inspired to return home and to work with our communities to explore ways that we can live more respectfully and sustainably. We are learning how hope is a renewable resource.

Sustainability Through Community: Costa Rica

2008-04-05T12:21:00.002-04:00

We left Tegucigalpa, Honduras on a whirlwind 13 hour bus ride to Managua, Nicaragua on March 29th. A quick night's sleep, and we were off on another 10 hour bus ride to San Jose, Costa Rica. After a day of talks in San Jose on environmental issues facing Costa Rica with an Emphasis on successful programs linking conservation and development, we headed to the beautiful, mountainous, rain forest region of Talamanca on the east coast bordering Panama and Costa Rica.

During our first 10 days in Talamanca, we are working with Association Wak Ka Koneke, a community development organization within the Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve. The Indigeneious BriBri people have lived in these mountains for many generations. In the words of the BriBri:

We have seen many changes and know that more will come in the future. We would like to ensure a sustainable future for our children by protecting our natural resources and our cultural heritage. Our bird and iguana conservation and ecotourism programs are some of the ways that we are able to do this.

Through partnering with Kekoldi, CELL is learning how the BriBri are conserving one of the most biologically diverse land areas in the world while at the same time providing a sustainable economic benefit to their families. The BriBri are a beautiful, culturally proud, hardworking indigenous tribe. They formed the preserve and the Wak Ka Koneke non profit organization so that they could do biological research, run ecotourism and educational programs, and generate revenue that will enable them to expand their reserve by purchasing additional land for conservation. As Sebastian, a BriBri leader and founder of Wak Ka Koneke says, "Our goal is to conserve our land so that future generations can enjoy what we have now."

We spent five days in Kekoldi learning about their conservation and education programs. On the second day, we visited the Iguana Conservation program. Green Iguanas are an endangered species in Costa Rica as they are hunted for meat, oil, and skins to make drums. Only one-in-one-hundred iguanas in the wild survive to adulthood, and most of these have been hunted. However, at the Kekoldi Iguana Conservation Farm, 95% of the iguanas grow to maturity (in two years) and are then released into the wild. This program has been very successful in helping to restore this endangered species to the Talamanca region.

For the next two days, we participated in two bird conservation programs: 1) mist netting song birds, and 2) monitoring raptor migration. Birds are an important indicator species of the health of local ecosystems and, in the case of migratory species, an indicator of the health of populations and ecosystems globally. The loss of wild habitat to development; toxic pesticides; and air, land, and water pollution, are causing the decline of bird species worldwide. Preserves like Kekoldi not only provide vital habitat for birds, they also help ensure the survival of song birds and many other species with whom they share their habitat.

Mist netting: This was really cool. We set up three - 12 meter long by 3 meter high fine-meshed black nets that are virtually invisible in the forest. Then we waited. It was like going downstairs Christmas morning... We caught a variety of birds: long-billed and strip-throated hermit humming birds, ochre-belly fly catchers, white-collored manakins, etc. There are over 50 species of humming birds alone in Costa Rica. This place is a birders paradise. The humming birds are my favorite - darting around like a 2 inch helicopters on steroids.

Once we capture the birds, we then record information: age, sex, physical condition, resident or migratory status, and weight. A tiny band with serial number is usually placed on their right leg, and they are then released into the rain forest no worse for wear. This research not only generates scientific knowledge on the biodiversity of the Kekoldi Reserve, the data on the migratory species becomes part of an international data base providing valuable information on migratory patterns, physical characteristics, and ecosystem management.

Raptors: Kekoldi is the world's second largest raptor migration site with 3.5 million birds flying over the reserve's observation tower annually. Seventeen species of raptors migrate across the skies of the reserve and three species (Turkey Vulture, Swainson's Hawk, and Broadwing Hawk) account for 98% of all birds counted. Raptors are also important environmental indicators. An extreme example of this is from Argentina where a farmer found 5,000 birds poisoned to death by pesticides a few years ago. With this information and data collected from bird migrations, conservationists in Argentina were able to successfully lobby for the prohibition of harmful agricultural pesticides (dangerous chemicals supplied by the United States and harmful to not only birds, but to other species - including humans).

We also had a chance to hike deep into the rain forest to a remote waterfall. It was amazing - a steady stream of water cascading down a sheer rock face into a deep, fresh water pool 70 feet below. The waterfall and surrounding cliff formed an amphitheater with lush, dense, mist-soaked vegetation covering a steep 280 degree bowl around us. We jumped off a rock cliff into the deep, cool water and swam over to the waterfall to soak in the mist and shower of plummetting water and the magic of this tropical paradise.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here in Central America. We're learning so much about "sustainability through community"
- learning that it's not simply about preserving rain forests, or protecting animal and plant species. It's also about people; and it's about community. If we want to preserve rain forests (or any other habitat), we have to find ways for people to meet their economic needs without destroying the natural environment where they live. Kekoldi is on a sustainable path to do just that; and these beautiful people are teaching us how "It is possible."

For more information on Kekoldi, you can check out their website at: www.kekoldi.org and for more information on CELL, you can check our our website at: http://www.cellonline.org/.

CELL Service-Learning with Sustainable Harvest Honduras

2008-03-26T10:57:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-22T13:21:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-09T16:26:00.002-04:00

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.¨

CELL Nicaragua - Sustainability Through Community

2008-02-21T16:52:00.001-05:00

During the last two weeks in February, CELL is partnerning with Grupo Fenix, a non profit community based organization in Nicaragua building the capacity of local people to help themselves: to become economically, socially, and environmentally self-sustaining. We are working with the beautiful community of Sabana Grande nestled in the mountains of the Totagalpa region near the Honduras border. People in Sabana Grande are learning how to start their own businesses, install simple solar systems to light their homes, build solar cookers, install solar pumps to water their crops with drip irrigation systems, etc. We are learning how a poor, rural village is striving to achieve ¨sustainability through community,¨ to support each other in overcoming their many challenges, and to free themselves from the need for external support.

Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere, and Grupo Fenix is assisting poor rural communities in developing sustainable lifestyles fueled by renewable energy technologies. Their guiding principles are community participation, respect for the environment, and human dignity.

Grupo Fenix is working to achieve its mission through the creation of a center for research, innovation and sustainability and through facilitating a knowledge cycle between universities and the rural community. Through a dynamic exchange of ideas, sustainable practices are brought from the university to the community where the ideas are applied and tested against the reality of daily life. The ideas and processes of the university are perfected in the community by local people in conjunction with outside researchers and volunteers. Once the ideas and processes are improved, they return from the community to the university where they interact with other ideas to form new understandings. These new understandings return to the community once more to be tested and continue along the knowledge cycle – improving the lives of people and increasing their commitment to sustainability. A key emphasis is on renewable energy.

CELL is working with Grupo Fenix in Sabana Grande for two weeks on the following activities:

· Building solar ovens that will enable local families to cook meals using clean renewable solar energy and reduce their dependence on wood resources. Cutting trees for fuel for cooking is resulting in severe erosion problems in the Totagalpa region of Nicaragua. So the work we are doing building solar cookers is having a direct impact on preventing soil erosion and reducing the negative health impacts of rural women breathing harmful smoke from open-flame wood fires in poorly ventilated kitchens.
· Installing a photovoltaic solar power system for a rural family that has never had electricity.
· Making adobe bricks that will be used in the construction of a water pump house powered by a solar photovoltaic system.
· Building solar powered battery chargers.
· Living in homestays with local families.
· Learning about the rich culture and history of this beautiful region of Nicaragua.

Below are some student reflections on the land, environment, and people of Sabana Grande.

Carmen: Sabana Grande is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It is very inspiring to see all that is going on here to help the people of this community. The well at my house was just put in 6 years ago as part of an aid effort. My host-dad´s brother lives just up the hill, and his house was built by aid groups that have also built other houses for families in the community. They do it on a need basis, so that families struggling with inadequate shelter get the help first. The interesting thing about bringing about change in the U.S. compared to Nicaragua is that in the ¨first world,¨ the need isn´t (always) as obvious to people as it is here. When you are working with people in rural communities like Sabana Grande, you are working with people who have to live with the effects they have on the environment on a more intimate level. If they cut too many trees, they have to live with the effects of erosion. They are breathing in the smoke of the open-flame fires in their kitchens. Yet still, it can be very difficult to get the people to change their practices because one of the greatest challenges is to change people´s mindsets.

Living with a host family here has definitely gotten me out of my comfort zone because of the challenges of communication and interaction. But there is something about getting out of my comfort zone that I love because I can feel how it is making me a stronger person. Also, you can´t beat where my family live – up on a hill: I get to eat breakfast and dinner looking out over the hills and valley of Sabana Grande. At night, cool fresh breezes come through the hills. My family doesn´t have a TV, but they listen to a lot of radio, so there is almost always music on the porch. If I didn´t stick out as such a foreigner, and if there wasn´t still danger of land mines (supplied by the U.S. during the 1980s Contra War), I might consider moving here someday!

Sarah: First day - We all piled off the sardine-packed yellow school bus into the desert-like surroundings of Sabana Grande. As the bus roared its engine and pulled away, I looked across the road to a white adobe building and my attention was immediately drawn to the ubiquitous vibrant blue painted solar cookers sitting outside the Solar Center building. As our feet crunched the gravel in the pathway, sun rays glistened off the shiny glass of the solar cookers. When we reached the building and turned around, the beautiful mountains of Sabana Grande greeted us. It was not lush and green (this is the dry season in Nicaragua), but it was a distinct beauty of its own.

It was a contrast meeting the people of Sabana Grande after traveling through the bigger cities of Managua, Granada, and Leon. I have found the people here in the country to be quieter and more reserved. At first I was having trouble communicating with my host family – finding them very quiet and shy. Tonight, however, I was able to penetrate through my host sister´s shyness with lots of hand motions and universal card games. No matter where we go, laughs and smiles and the love we have in our hearts can communicate. Most people here have family members or friends that are land mine victims – land mines that were funded by the U.S. government during Nicaragua´s civil war in the 1980s. Marco, a Grupo Fenix employee, lost his leg to a U.S. funded land mine and struggled for many years feeling useless and unable to work or help others. Through the work of Grupo Fenix, Marco has become interested in solar power installation and is now the community´s solar technician earning a regular salary and helping others. When Marco first met us, he smiled and greeted us warmly, not caring that we were from the U.S., a country that had funded the land mine that had caused him so much pain. I love how the people of Sabana Grande are not biased against the U.S. even though the U.S. has done so many awful things to the people and country of Nicaragua. I have found people so loving and accepting which has moved and inspired me to be aware of how I accept and judge others. When approaching people in life it is so important to love and accept them for who they are as individuals and leave behind social, cultural, and geographical baggage that can get in the way…

Max: The first reflection I can make about Sabana Grande is the stark contrast between the landscape here and any other place we have been. The sharp bluffs contrasting with the smooth hills. The pine trees seem to pierce the wet, heavy clouds giving this place a unique charm and presence. The diversity of all life, and the ways in which they survive are truly a testament to the name ¨Sabana Grande.¨ I have seen plants hold on in blistering heat. I have experienced the black smoke pour into my lungs and eyes that my (homestay) mother cooks with every day. I have experienced smells and textures that my body has been yearning for. The ability for all life to exist in this place makes me think a little more critically about my own. The sun shines the same all over the universe, the intensity may change, but fundamentally it is the same. And what I have seen the sun produce has been nothing short of amazing. The same sun that shines in the U.S. has given people here in Nicaragua hope. It has given them a reason to organize and take charge of their lives. The Solar Center is a testament to the ingenuity and faith of humankind. Here I have seen more people smile than anywhere else I have been in Nicaragua, yet the hardships they face surpass those of others. It is time for people of the world to reexamine their role in the daily processes of our dynamic planet. We need to see the possibilities, live simply, know our neighbors, learn the flowers, and respect all life.

Dave T: My first thought of being here in this community is: This is how most of the people live in Nicaragua. I no longer feel like a tourist seeing the historical and cultural sites of the cities, national preserves, beaches, etc. I am now living as real Nicaraguans do. My barnyard of a front yard exemplifies this perfectly. Jonas and I have a flock of chickens, 2 ducks and ducklings, a pig, a cow, a donkey, and turkeys. Not to mention 3 dogs and maybe a cat (not sure who it belongs to). I have been welcomed in and have already built trust… The people here are strong in a way we as Americans don´t even know: little girls carrying 40 pound buckets of water on their heads, and everyone is able to do so much on so little. This area is so beautiful. I really enjoy the pines, they remind me of home. Not to mention there are mountains to climb in my backyard. Yesterday, I climbed to the top and sat on a rock out-cropping overlooking the pines in the valley and listened to the birds sing and fly about. It really showed me how unique this area really is and all it has to offer, like the bat cave. While running, I´ve noticed how friendly everyone is, saying ¨adios¨ with that farm town feel. And tonight how people were outside watching the lunar eclipse. I just felt like there was a connection still found here between the natural world and society. The natural curiosity of humans with the great unknown. Even though this process (eclipse) is understood now, it still has a lure of exotic and strange (here in Nicaragua). The community of people at the Solar Center are so nice and so welcoming. I´m so glad to be a part of Grupo Fenix. I feel like we are really making a sincere difference in the world by being down here.

Jonas: I´m very glad to be in Sabana Grande because the people are so friendly. People seem genuinely happy to be saying ¨adios,¨ a greeting everyone says when passing each other on the dirt roads and paths that weave their way through this village. Many people here are quite shy like I am, but some seem glad to have a chance to talk with us. I love seeing the different ways of living. Everyone wakes up very early in the morning which makes so much sense – taking advantage of the natural light. You can get so much more accomplished and feel better about it. I also love how people come and go (spending time just sitting and chatting). I definitely feel that we have lost too much of our sense of community in the U.S. Another thing I have noticed while here is the difficulties faced by organizations trying to help these communities. Changing the ideas, beliefs, and customs of people is difficult. (This is what needs to change, however, if people are going to learn to live sustainably). I am very glad to be here because it makes me feel like this is the type of path I would like to choose when I graduate from college. I love being able to help people; it gives me so much pleasure!

Dana: The people of Sabana Grande are completely amazing. Some of the men that I have observed do much less than the women. The women seem to hold this whole community together (with an exception of a few men like Marco and Maulro who are actively involved with the women´s solar cooperative and with other sustainable initiatives). It seems to me that the women do most of the work. My home stay mother is the first one to awake in the morning to make everyone food and the last one up at night chopping firewood. Through self-reflection, I see a lot of what I used to be in the people here, and a lot of what I would like to become. I used to lean on people all the time and expect them to do things for me, especially by family. I now see the full error of my past. The people here in Sabana Grande, having little, look to the future with anticipation and hope. No matter what the conditions are of the past or present, these people seem to be running uphill at full-speed (with hope and expectation). If I take anything away from this place, or these people, I hope it is this example!

CELL Sustainability Through Community

2008-02-16T15:24:00.001-05:00

Dave O: CELL´s semester program in Central America focuses on a theme of sustainability through community. During the course of the semester, we visit a variety of communities striving to become more sustainable. Yesterday, we visited one of the world´s unique sustainable communities - Selva Negra - a sustainable farm, resort, and organic coffee estate nestled in a virgin cloud forest in the mountains of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. This ecologically focused farm is an inspriring example of how people can live sustainably with ecological, social, and economic balance. In 2007, Selva Negra was voted the most sustainable farm in the world by the SCAA, an association of sustainable farms and ecologically focused communities.

Selva Negra has been run by the same family for four generations. They own 400 hectares of cloud forest at an elevation between 4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level. They have committed to preserving over 130 hectares of virgin forest, some of the most biologically diverse land in the world. To illustrate the richness of this land, one hectare in the cloud forest of Selva Negra contains more biodiversity than all the land in any one country in Europe.

What makes this eco-farm/village so unique? The short answer is their commitment to sustainablity. They are committed to maintaining the farm and the estate in as ecologically pure way as possible. They grow organic coffee under the canopy of a section of the cloud forest that is not in the preserve. They use only organically produced fertilizers composted onsite, no toxic chemicals, pesticides, or fertilizers. They grow 100 percent of their own food organically: including all vegetables, poultry, eggs, pork, etc. They raise organic flowers for sale. They raise bees that polinate their crops and produce honey for the farm workers and for sale in their onsite tienda. They raise organically fed cows that produce all dairy products, including a variety of world-class cheese also available for sale in the tienda. They generate electricy from their own hydro power plant. They compost all waste and use the compost as organic fertilizer in their gardens and on their coffee plants. They produce biogas from the coffee pulp waste. They treat their workers with love and respect and provide schooling, clean housing, and health care for their families.

As Eddy and Mausi Kuhl, the husband and wife team who run the eco-village, say: We maintain a an ecological and social balance so that in 100 years this farm will be the way it is today. We allow the virgin forest to remain the way it is and it creates a micro climate, giving us the water of life necessary for our farm operation. This wouldn´t work, however, if we were just to protect the environment for itself. The land has to produce an income. It has to be productive in harmony with the environment. There are two basic ways that we produce income: 1) through exporting our coffee and other organically grown products, and 2) importing eco-tourism. It all works together to help us sustain ourselves: ecologically, socially, economically. We sell our coffee to Whole Foods in the U.S., and they pay a higher price for our product because it is grown organically and sustainably. But none of this would be sustainable if we didn´t produce a high quality product. You students come from the U.S. You can go home and teach your country how to live sustainably. (Eddy): I think the mission of the U.S. should be to live in peace with its neighbors.

We agree with Eddy and Mausi!

CELL Sustainability Through Community

2008-02-14T21:39:00.001-05:00

The Center for Ecological Living and Learning´s (CELL) Central America study abroad program is a life-changing experience for students who believe that they can make a difference in the world and who aren't afraid to try! During this CELL program, you will explore sustainability through community in three of the most diverse countries in the world: Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica. You will get muddy hiking to the top of a volcano. You will help in the conservation of endangered sea turtles. You will learn about the human and ecological issues facing this region of the world. You will live in homestays with local families. You will visit many communities striving to become more sustainable. You will roll up your shirt sleeves and learn experientially and through service to others. You will learn about imaginative solutions to global problems and what is being done today to solve these problems. You will join a team of committed people who are changing the world.

If you would like more information on our programs, you can visit our website a: (http://www.cellonline.org/), you can e-mail us at: info@cellonline.org, or you can call us at: (207) 230-4025. Below are student reflections about our Spring 2008 Central America study abroad program:

Dana: Before arriving in Nicaragua, I thought I knew about this country. But now that I have actually experienced Nicaragua, I know that I really knew very little. This is a perfect example of the power of experience. Nicaragua, in my mind, before this trip was a place of danger... I had an impression of Nicaragua that was formed through my government, the media, etc. I now know this image is false. I now see exactly how necessary experience is and how screwed one´s view can be without it. What harm can come from questioning everything except a greater truth? Many times in my life I have avoided doing things or going places because I was afraid of what I imagined might happen. My experiences in Nicaragua have put truth to the saying, ¨the only thing to fear, is fear itself.¨ I hope that in the future I hold this particular experience close so as not to perpetuate false truths.

Sarah: Prior to coming to Nicaragua, I really did not know much about the country. I knew Nicaragua was a very poor country and was suffering economically. I was a little worried about coming here because of the way the U.S. portrays this country. After being in Nicaragua for a week, my perception of this country and its people has totally changed. Often I feel ashamed to tell people I am from the U.S. because of what our government is doing and has done to the Nicaraguan people. However, everyone I have talked to has welcmed me warmly and separated me as a person from my government. I have found people to be very friendly and loving. Being in Nicaragua has reminded me of the importance of loving people for who they are and not for where they are from. what their religion is, what their government is doing, etc. I find it very humbling that my homestay father, and other Nicaraguans I have talked to, can forgive the U.S. after all the terrible things we have done and said about Nicaraguans. It is an important, humbling lesson of forgiveness I have learned from the people of Nicaragua. Not only has my perception changed about the people, but also about the land. The hikes we have taken on three volcanos have been absolutely gorgeous and Leon and Granada were beautiful historic cities. I am excited to see what else I can learn from these amazing people and from the land they call home.

Dave T: Before this trip started, I thought that Nicaragua was going to be a scary place. But once I arrived, I realized how wrong all of my preconceived percpetions were. At every place we have stayed, I´ve been treated with with so much respect and open arms... The country is beautiful with so much diversity in the landscape, plants, animals, people... Everyone in this country can afford food, and it is real food. In the States people often eat processed food and here people are eating real food and a variety of foods. People have lunch hours where they go home and eat a real meal: where they sit down and can enjoy it. In that way they are better off than us... They are so much farther along than we are back in the States...

Max: I guess I didn´t know too much specifically about Nicaragua (before I came on this study abroad). I feel the Nicaraguans are a very nice, generous, and spiritual people with a strong cultural look. They are resilient and resourceful. Overall, I have learned to experience a people, culture, and country, not just read about them and judge them. We have to experience more to know more. (There is a saying): ¨A person who knows but one culture, knows none.¨

Jonas: Before I went on this trip, I knew that Nicaragua was poorer than Honduras and Costa Rica. This made me believe that it would be the most dangerous of the three. However, since being on the trip I have learned that Nicaragua is one of the safest countries in Central America. I thought being a poorer nation would result in higher crime rates. However, now I know that I should not have placed that label on this country. Another thought I have about Nicaragua is how much potential it has. It is such a beautiful place, but things such as wasteful practices (not recycling pop bottles, for example) is destroying many beautiful areas. Hopefully, Nicaraguans will see their potential and begin to make some changes.

Carmen: At first, I did not know what to expect of this country... In some ways, maybe it was a good thing because I came here with a blank slate, ready to absorb everything I would be exposed to. One thing I never expected was how beautiful the land is here. Especially coming into the mountains of Matagalpa, I was overwhelmed by the views. This is truly a diverse land in termsof ecology and types of ecosystems. I also never realized there were so many volcanoes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I recognized a lot of plants from Mexico and St. Croix. Coming here, I was prepared to feel like an alien until I better learned my surroundings, but thankfully I was able to bypass that awkward alien stage, proceeding instead to the young child stage. Overall, I feel my perception of Nicaragua is still in the forming stage, and it probably always will be. But I feel that the perceptions I am forming are legitimate now that I am basing them on personal experiences. Having learned some of Nicaragua´s history and talking with people who have lived it, I have a much greater appreciation for all this country has been through. My perception of the Nicaraguan people is certainly a good one. They are friendly and I have enjoyed talking with everyone I have spoken with so far. However, one of the biggest qualms is all the trash everywhere. I realize that if they grow up seeing it, they don´t realize how horrible it really is. Solving that problem is going to take a change in perceptions on the part of the Nicaraguan people.