Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Almost three years ago, SHI-Panama began putting this principal into action. They recognized that their effectiveness in preserving tropical rainforests while improving the lives of poor, rural families could be multiplied if they joined forces with other organizations. One of their most successful partnerships is with Peace Corps Panama. Both organizations have benefited tremendously, though the greatest gain has been to the families served.

The rural Nicaraguan communities of Las Breñas and San Sebastian are not easy to access. My recent journey from the SHI-Nicaragua office took nearly six hours and, in transit, everything I passed was either enchanting or disheartening – mangroves, swamps, tropical low-land forests, pastures, the ruins of what was once nature now slashed and burned. As the path took me deeper and deeper into human-induced destruction, ignorance and lack of knowledge, I grew more and more disappointed until, that is, I would arrive at an SHI participant farm, such as Don Esteban’s, Don Santos’ or Don Candido's. In the past, these farmers raised cattle, deforested vast tracts of land and ignored the need to diversify, but now they are changing as they learn from SHI Field Trainer, Don Cipriano, using his farm as an example.

Few times during our life do we have the opportunity to meet an individual who awakens us from our sometimes forlorn dreams and directs us on a new path of hope.  For five days in February 2011, SHI’s field staff were delivered such an awakening at the hands of Jairo Restrepo Rivera - consultant for the Latin American organization COAS, organic visionary, activist, author and scientist.  Jairo preached to us on the basic of conventional agriculture, the agro-industrial complex, farmer-to-farmer communication and organic agriculture as a social movement. His passion and knowledge resonated deeply with many of us, but most importantly, forced us to reflect on organic farming and its future in society, particularly in rural communities throughout Latin America.