Agros Blog

When I started working at Agros in 2003, Agros had just begun to support the 16th and 17th villages and was still only working in three countries (not having started any villages in Honduras or Mexico yet).  This year Agros has hit a milestone with the launching of the 30th Agros village – Espinal Buenavista in Chiapas, Mexico!

Espinal is the third community Agros supports in Chiapas, Mexico. The families of this community have been in the preparation process for over a year and a half, and have steadfastly waited to become an Agros community. We’ve all heard the phrase “patience is a virtue” – to me the families of Espinal Buenavista epitomize this saying. After much work, training, and preparation, so many dreams have come true with the commencement of our partnership with this community.

The families of Espinal will be focusing on animal husbandry projects (particularly cattle and pigs), as well as women’s handicrafts, reforestation, building efficient cook stoves, and a variety of trainings for the community leaders and members.

While Agros is not purchasing land for Espinal (they already own their land through a government program), the goal remains the same: to facilitate a holistic development process where the families create their own sustainable local economy, learn how to best use their land, develop and grow as a community, and realize the dreams they have for their children.

We welcome Espinal Buenavista to the Agros family!

Her gold-rimmed front tooth reflected the midday sun but it was her bright brown-eyes that outshone the gold of both, reflecting instead a heart-shine radiating from a spirit fired with hope and promise.

Gloria is her name, and aptly so. She has but a 3rd grade education yet was recently elected secretary of the all Lenca (a Honduran indigenous group) Agros village. I met her Friday last when gathered with all the leaders of this village. She waited her turn to speak until all the men had their say, although while translating for them I kept catching her out of the corner of my eye, an eager-eyed face and radiant smile nodding in agreement, lips pursed to extol her perspective.

As the conversation continued, Gloria could no longer contain her joy and began raising her hand, waving it for all to see she too wanted to speak, turning her captivating gaze upon me , declaring the following:

“Now I give God all praise, because of your coming here and telling us about people I’ve never met who are praying for us and seeing too that these here with you Don David have come to help others like us receive the promise of land and place for their families. My heart sings. You must tell them (Bethany Presbyterian Church, Seattle, and North Delta Evangelical Free Church, B.C.) and all at Agros how we thank them for this privilege. God, who is the Father of us all, has given us this open door and a father-figure here in Don Cándido, (one of the original family members of this village and the current village committee president), as well as including and adding our family to the families of Carlos and Armando (two of the other original families). We’ve been here for only a few weeks, but already our corn is sprouting and all of us toil daily making the adobe bricks that soon we’ll build our homes with. Only God could do this because we had nothing before, but now look at all we have. Our children will soon be in school and the Agros staff and Don Cándido are helping the adults already to learn to read. I must tell you all we will pray for you Don David, and these you’ve brought with you, asking also that you pray for us because we know there is hard work before us and more families who could join us to help.”

Finished, a giddy Gloria flashed her golden-toothed-grin, while all present applauded.

Formerly known as Agros Uno, this our first village in Honduras has now chosen a new name, as bright as Gloria’s heart-shining eyes…it’s appropriately called: “Nuevo Amanecer”, meaning “New Dawn”… and indeed it is, resplendent with an infusion of 13 new families who have joined with the original families and are forging new ground together by the sweat of their brows as each day dawns.

I returned this past Sunday from a 6 village visit in Nicaragua. Perhaps ‘visit’ is too tame a word. In reality, the trip was more of an expedition. Through videography and still photography, it was 16+ hour work days trying to capture stories, scenes, and experiences of the communities served by Agros Nicaragua. From Managua to Matagalpa to Rivas, we drove through stunning landscape, humble yet dignified communities, and met with a people who are simply some of the hardest working men and women I’ve ever met.

We visited four Agros villages (El Edén, Aduana Dos, Futuro del Manaña, and San Marcos de Belen) and two communities who may one day start their own sustainable Agros village. In each community we interviewed 3-4 people in depth, and then shot a variety of still photos of each person. We are now working on logging the video footage and translating the interviews, and once this is complete we’ll publish it all here on the Agros website in a series of photo essays (stay tuned for this) and short videos in our video gallery.

There is much I want to say about the people we spent time with… to tell of their determination, focus, faith, and commitment to create a new future for their children… but I do believe that there ARE times when the cliché is true: a photo is worth more than words. So to that end, I’ve posted a small sample of these photos here in the Agros Photo Gallery. Please take a look.

(Note: these photos were all shot by Trevor Snapp, professional photographer extraordinaire – be sure to check out Trevor’s website here).

Also, several of you recently and generously contributed to the Agros Nicaragua Truck Appeal letter we sent out (Agros staff were in urgent need of a new truck)… and let me assure you that over countless miles of pavement and gutted dirt roads, the new truck is greatly appreciated by ALL of the Agros staff! Your generosity enables the staff in Nicaragua to continue to serve and reach these communities no matter how remote. Here is a photo of the truck in action:

I’ve just returned from an extended time in the field. Driving through some of the poorest areas of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala I was struck by the faces and stories of so many people without land, without jobs, and without hope. People begging on the roads, fathers abandoning their families to work in another country, single mothers risking everything because they don’t have anything.  There are so many thousands of families with children living in borrowed houses on borrowed land, with no security for tomorrow and often having to migrate to secure even just a little food for their children.

Even though I’ve been working with the rural poor for many years, it is still easy for me to feel overwhelmed, overtaken by the enormity of the sheer human need that exists. These are the questions that keep me up at night – How can Agros possibly make a difference given the scale of suffering that exists? How can we have an impact in the lives of these families? How can this impact go beyond the short term, but create tangible and lasting transformation?

Returning home from this trip I am clear that merely feeling overwhelmed by the needs of the poor is just not good enough. We MUST be willing to be moved by the plight of the poor, but I know that there is a more powerful question to ask:

“The needs that exist are clear – but what do these families hope for and dream about?”

Rather than enumerate a list of the needs that exist for the rural poor, at Agros we’ve learned over the years that it’s more powerful and effective to create tangible plans and development models that are based on the values and dreams of the people we serve. And further – we must also be able to articulate the dreams of Agros.

In the face of so much need, at Agros it is our dream to make a difference in the lives of these families that will last for generations; to enable villagers to obtain the security, permanence, and dignity of land ownership and economic opportunity within strong, healthy communities. We are dreaming about starting new projects so that more families will have security and opportunity. We are working hard so that children will have enough to eat, be able to attend school, and have the opportunity to dream their own dreams, with the tangible resources to fulfill them.

It is our dream that in the years to come thousands more rural families will be able to see their dreams realized with crops harvested, houses built, new businesses launched, food provided for their children, and the brutal cycles of poverty ended for good.

So I am back from this trip feeling the needs of the rural poor like never before – yet knowing that ‘need’ is just one part of the whole. We must be willing to weep over the needs of the poor, and then to go to work driven by the values, ambitions, and dreams of those we serve.

I wanted to say ‘Thank You’ to all of those who responded to the request we made for emergency funds for villagers in El Edén. We met the goal for $1000 and more in a very short time, thanks to your generosity.

Because of your quick response, our staff in Nicaragua has been able to purchase the needed roofing materials for the families to restore their homes. We will also be using part of the funds to help the families rehabilitate their crops from the damage done by the wind. The families continue to be very motivated and are currently working hard to harvest the remaining coffee crop. They aren’t letting the windstorm set them back and are determined more than ever to move forward for the good of their families.

Thank you for your fast and generous support in helping them achieve that dream.

We are seeking to raise $1,000 for the families of El Edén to help with their recovery from the massive wind storm. Our Nicaraguan Director sent me this update:

“There was a loss to the bean production, as part of the plants were still very young and therefore won’t fill with full grains as normal. The cacao lost its leaves – and for us this is the crop that was most affected, along with the plantains. There was also loss to the coffee harvest. The houses have been rebuilt, however we are missing roofs for several of the families.”

The families are continuing forward with their coffee harvest and to recuperate as much of their crops as they can. The Agros staff is walking right alongside them as they do so. They haven’t lost hope and they maintain their vision of a better future for their families.

The most urgent need is for the roofing of their homes. The roofs consist of zinc laminate sheets, which will cost approximately $1,000 total. This will buy 128 zinc laminate sheets to provide the families will new roofs to protect them from the elements.

We are seeking to raise this $1,000 as soon as possible. Would you consider making a donation towards the families in El Edén today? Just go to the Agros Give Now page and specify that this is for the families in El Edén.

Thanks for your generosity, and we’ll keep you posted.

Yesterday morning I received news from our Nicaraguan Director, Mario Gaitan, that on Tuesday there was a severe windstorm in the Agros community of El Edén in Nicaragua.  On Tuesday afternoon, while I had been writing my previous blog post about Olivia in El Edén, the thirty-two families of El Edén were taken by surprise by the massive winds (almost tornado-like) which caused significant damage in the community.

Thanks be to God that no one was injured, but there were heavy material damages.  The roofs of their temporary homes were damaged, as well as a large portion of their crops.  Their new plantain and cacao plants lost most of their leaves, they lost a significant portion of their coffee harvest, and the beans and vegetables were also impacted.  Plus, there were several downed trees.

Our staff in Nicaragua is working with the families now to rescue the cacao and plantain crops with extra irrigation, and the families are busy repairing their roofs of their homes.  Mario spoke with the community on Tuesday, motivating them to continue working hard despite the natural disasters that we cannot control.  It is hard to understand events like this, and I keep thinking of Olivia and her daughter and what they must be feeling.  My prayer is that Olivia and the other families don’t lose their incredible hope and energy.

Please keep the families of El Edén in your prayers.

The power of a mother committed to her child transcends national boundaries. On my recent trip I spent some time talking with Olivia in one of the newest Agros communities of El Edén in Nicaragua. Olivia is a single mom with a three-year old daughter. She proudly showed us her corn fields and her newly built temporary home, where she lives with one of her brothers who helps her work her land. She also has chickens that Agros has provided for her, and was proud to show them off.

In talking with Olivia, all I sensed was pride and hope. No desperation or anxiety at what she was going to do to make ends meet. This was not always the case… Olivia has known real struggle and hardship in the past. However now she has food to feed her daughter and dreams of the upcoming coffee harvest and making yet another payment on her land loan with the proceeds.

I was touched by how her brothers and other community members work alongside her to help make this new life a reality for her, and by her own determination and plans to provide a better life for her daughter. The community of El Edén has chosen a community hymn, with the words “unity” and “love” in the chorus as these are their main values as a community. In meeting Olivia and talking with her, the presence of unity and love and the hope this provides to her was evident to me.

As I sit here in Managua, Nicaragua after spending three days visiting Agros communities, I can’t help but have a smile on my face and feel joy in my spirit. In the past three days I have visited three of the current Agros Nicaragua communities and one of the new groups that we are working with to (hopefully) launch a new Agros community in the near future. What I saw in action and what I heard from the families is what gives me joy. The word that sticks in my mind is “unity”, since that is what was said by the families in each community.

“We have learned to work in unity…”

An age-old lesson – by working together we can accomplish so much more than when we do things individually. I was amazed at how the communities of El Eden and San Marcos are working on so many projects together, from coffee to cattle to plantains. By working together they will produce greater volumes, get a better price, and experience greater incomes from their work.

This is not to say that there aren’t challenges in the communities too, because there always are. Life brings challenges! In the Agros community of Norwich, a village that has experienced a variety of challenges over time, I heard the same message from the families – that by working together they are beginning to see greater results. They’ve planted plantains and are raising sheep together, of which they recently sold 60 and made a significant profit. What has been so consistently inspiring for me is to see all the families in all of these Agros communities (each at very different stages of development) learn the same lesson of unity. This is a lesson for all of us!

Nicaragua is now preparing for their presidential elections this Sunday where they will exercise their rights to choose who their leaders will be. Leadership is important to any community, large or small, and each leader is challenged with the question: will he or she promote unity or discord? In the Nicaraguan Agros communities this week I saw positive leadership in development and in action, promoting unity among the families and leading the way for these groups to achieve their dreams… and I am inspired!

First impressions. Some times they are so important. Some times together with intuition they provide so much information. And then there are times when they don’t even begin to scratch the surface.

Have you ever been to an Agros village? What were your first impressions? Poverty, sickness, people, mud huts, beautiful children, tall corn, dirt, smiles, new smells and sights. Crops, dirt, water, dirt houses, tin roofs. How do you get behind and below?

This week I visited “Brisas del Volcan”, the most recent village in Honduras. Here are my first impressions I would like to share with you.

The white washed houses of the nearby community… the rocky access road… the property manager trying to hand the keys to Victor, the Executive Director for Agros Honduras, and Victor standing aside so that the property manager had to give the keys to the community president… the somber faces of the men in a line… until a woman shared the story of how they, the women organized and then convinced the men that this was possible… walking along a path of freshly cut grass to see a beautiful waterfall and seeing it for the first time with many of the villagers… hiking up to see a breath taking view of the land, of the water flowing down the mountain and the changed faces on the men as they shared their plans for planting corn and beans so that they would have food for their families.

Listening to their excitement was contagious These were new friends eager to share with me their joy and dreams for a different future. It all starts with land… providing hope… to produce, nourish, and sustain life.

That’s the essence of Agros and I hope that your first impressions will continue to surprise and challenge you as you become involved through this blog and entire site.

Along with the lives of men, women and children… in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico and here… join us and venture with us as we move beyond first impressions to understand what is behind, below and beyond.

See more photos of this trip here!