Fathers’ dreams for their children often surround what athletics or interests they will share, what college they might attend, the career they will embark upon after graduation, and the happiness they will find later in life. But in the developing world, a father’s dreams for his children are often overshadowed by the struggle to meet his family’s most basic, immediate needs.

Antonio Ramirez and his family have been working with Sustainable Harvest since July 2008.  He is married with 5 children.  Prior to working with SHI, he was only growing  basic crops, like corn, beans, cassava and some coffee.  Now working with his field trainer, Jorge Rodriguez, he has diversified his plot with different vegetables like tomato, cabbage, onion, beets, mustard, pepper and watermelons, as well as coffee and timber-yielding trees.

In the past, a lot of promising organizations came to our village and worked for a little while but most of the time, nothing was done.  It was not until SHI-Belize, which many of us had heard of and had long waited for, accepted the invitation to work with our village of Sunday Wood, that we had hope.  We had heard and seen what SHI accomplished in the other villages, so we did not need to think twice about working with them.

Despite the political unrest that arose in Honduras in recent weeks, our group of Smaller World™ volunteers traveling there safely arrived back in the US as scheduled on Friday, July 3.  The group divided between communities of Subirana (Jicarito, Musiquito, Barrio Abajo) and Rosario (Tecuan, Los Planes) to work on a variety of sustainable agriculture, income generation and appropriate technology projects, such as plantain and cassava plots, coffee tree nurseries, family gardens, chicken coops, and wood-conserving stoves.  They worked with SHI participant families in the countryside and enjoyed the generous hospitality of the Honduran people.

We want to share with you the story of another inspiring SHI participant, Sr. Marcial Urbina:

At a young age, Marcial Urbina moved away from his hometown in the Boaco region of Nicaragua to look for work in the banana plantations and in the extraction of rubber. By working hard as a laborer in these industries, he was able to buy a bit of land in the community of La Pichinga. He dreamed of having a dignified life with his family and his community.

He is now 69 years old and has lived in La Pichinga for forty years. He is married with three children and seven grandchildren. His hope for working with Sustainable Harvest is that his community should improve its standard of living while protecting the environment. He hopes that through this, he can leave a great and selfless legacy to future generations.