Augusta Gómez remembers when her mother began to work with Soynica — a partner of Presbyterian World Service & Development committed to helping communities in Nicaragua improve nutrition — more than seven years ago. She watched over the next five years as her mother transformed her one-and-a-half acres of land into a kaleidoscope of fruit and vegetables destined for the local market and family dinner table. Not bad, Augusta thought, but she was sure she could do even better with the plot of land right next to her mother's. And so began a bit of friendly competition that benefited both families.
Augusta started listening to the Soynica radio show for an hour in the early morning. Each show explained a different technique for growing plants.
Like many in the area, she thought coffee and other plants would not grow on her land. “I thought coffee needed the very wet areas on the mountains,” she explains. But she followed Soynica's advice and was pleased to see that her land could sustain a wide variety of crops, including coffee.
She also learned to grind yucca leaves and other plants into an extract containing high levels of iron and vitamin A. Augusta's daughter, Tatiana, drinks the extract mixed with juice each morning. Boosted by this extra nutritional kick every day, Tatiana has shown a marked improvement in her grades at school as well as her overall health and energy levels.
It has taken Augusta two years to transform her plot of land and see it produce a variety of fruits and vegetables, even during times of drought. She has begun to realize the benefits, not only in her family's health and well-being but also in the income it generates.
Asked who's winning the family battle, Augusta smiles and rocks gently in her chair, “Both my mother and I are winning, but she had a five-year head start. I'll catch her sooner or later.”
