This is a success story that must be told. It involves the determination of one man and his wife, some seed money, and the abundance of God's creation. It is the transfer of ideas from one southern country (Nicaragua) to another (El Salvador) with the help of our church in Canada. And the most thrilling thing is that this idea can continue to grow and develop in other directions because it involves plants and animals, which naturally reproduce. The economists call it sustainable development. But to those of us who have been involved, it is the result of the spirit of God working in the hearts of people in all three countries.
The story begins with Jim and Brenda Patterson, who were working through International Ministries in the early part of this decade (they're now back in Canada) in El Salvador. A mission and outreach team from the Presbyterian church in Dunnville, Ont., was there in 2001 helping to build houses for families who had lost their homes in the latest earthquake. Pastor Felix Lino of the Iglesia Dios Compasivo, the Church of the Compassionate God, Ahuachapan, El Salvador, had developed the housing project with the Pattersons.
The Dunnville mission team returned to Central America over the years. One of those visits was with Denise van Wissen, then in Nicaragua (currently in Guatemala), where she was working on one of her Soynica agriculture and nutrition projects. Lino and his wife Gloria joined the Dunnville team on that visit. They took copious notes and when they returned to El Salvador they got to work.
The next year saw a small stony piece of land transformed into a productive farm, giving forth many vegetables as well as fruit from young trees. This land surrounds a medical clinic which Patterson and other Canadians have been supporting and where Lino's other activities can take place: nutrition and sewing workshops for women and Saturday classes for local children, some of whom can't afford to go to regular school. The nutrition classes are important because although people do eat, they fill up on tortillas, a corn bread, so they lack a well-rounded diet. Because of yearly sunshine and rain (no winters there!) several crops of corn and other vegetables can be grown in 12 months. Radishes were the big crop when we were there in July 2007. Fruit trees would soon be producing too. The community members had been able to bring loads of good soil and also put up a fence to keep out unwanted creatures. A fine old gentleman spends his days scrupulously guarding, weeding and
watering this precious plot. The produce is used by the families in the community and some is sold so that new seeds can be bought for the next crops.
The next project is a movable chicken coop on a neighbouring plot of land. This can be operated like a microproject where after six weeks, a group of chicks can be sold as grown chickens, and the profit used to do it again. Gloria has introduced the women to the variety of good economical foods that should be eaten each day, containing all the food nutrients. We added to these ideas in our workshops last summer. Some of the local families also want to grow food on their own small pieces of land so the idea is growing and enabling more people to benefit from the original plan.
El Salvador is a very poor country still suffering from the legacy of a brutal civil war. Wages are low and the cost of living is high. The government's first priorities do not include ensuring good hospital services or affordable schools. Therefore, anything that can help the people live healthier lives is a bonus. And leaders like Felix Lino, with his love of God and the people in his community, can make their land flow with papayas and radishes.
