Sustainable Harvest International

After leaving Copan, we hit the road and headed into the mountains to begin working with Sustainable Harvest International (SHI). We arrived at the training center after an interesting ride which included a van to pick-up switch that was necessary to combat the mud from 10 days of straight rain (during the dry season). Sleeping arrangements were dormitory style, and after placing our travel gear in our rooms we set out to learn about our surroundings. Acobo, the training center manager, showed us some basic uses of the property including the various foods grown there: passion fruit, avocados, bananas, plantains, beans, pineapple and others. Being 100% organic there were some differences between this farm and the others in the area. Unlike typical farms, this place did not have a monoculture of one crop, but the plants were varied, and often native. Fertilizers came from crop rotation and compost. There weren't any pesticides used, and Acobo said there was a type of plant which could be added to the soil as a form of pest control when needed. One of my favourite discoveries from the trip (and now the first of many we have seen) was a biodigester. Essentially this very simple technology uses the pig waste to produce methane gas which is then piped directly to the kitchen to fuel the cooking stove. This helps to prevent deforestation by providing an alternative to a wood burning stove. We finished our day with a presentation by Mercedes, another member of the SHI staff, explaining to us the overall goals of SHI, their local partner FUCOHSO, and how both organizations were helping to educate local communities and school groups on ways to sustainably farm the land. This was one of my favourite stops on our trip and one that will stay with me for years to come.

~Amanda

Nobody is speaking now. Aside from the light banging by the cabin, I can enjoy the sounds of the forest undisturbed. Each sound is discernible yet unimposing. I think the tranquility comes from the fact that you can hear the wind before you feel it. Beneath the trees blowing in the wind, I can hear several birds and insects making the forest sing. A lower rhythmic bird chirps in the incessant snaps from the further trees, while different higher pitches deliver little melodies closer by. Every so often, I hear a sudden caw in the distance

We take the cricket for granted; its chirp is so consistent, it might as well be part of the wind. As the sun sets to my right, the other bugs subdue their purrs, possibly asking us to recognize the infrequent solo artists that approach.To my left, I see an illuminated mountain serve as the backdrop to the nearer shadowed forest. The sunlight, barely breaking through the trees to my right, shines across the valley, providing one last glimpse of daylight as the evening approaches.

At this moment, I’m not bothered by anything. I watched a small fly walk along these pages and felt no need to swat it away. I even offered it a seat on my pen, but it respectfully declined. Nothing is sudden. The forest moves at a pace conducive to each plant and animal’s living situation. I think nature recognizes there are twenty-four plentiful hours in a day. If it moved any faster, it might get bored.

The moths are as lovely as the butterflies. One perched upon a gray tree trunk next to me shows just his silhouette. It says, “Recognize me for my simple, unobtrusive shape—not my vibrant wings, or lack there of. Besides, colors don’t need to shine to be beautiful.”

I understood John Muir, even believed him, when I read his adventures through nature. Here, I can feel him. I feel why he was not afraid to sit in a tree through a violent windstorm, why he was not afraid to stare a bear down, why he was not afraid to chart unknown lands with nothing but the clothes on his back and his faith in God. There’s no reason to be afraid of anything.

I stare here at the paradox of proximity. The grass I’m physically sitting on; the tree beside me; the hills less than a football field’s length away to my right; the mountains to my left so far they blend into the clouds, the sky thousands of miles above me. I can see how God can be ubiquitous. A skeptic asks how a being can be everywhere at once. Well, come here and see—it’s as plain as the very land I’m looking at.

~Jonathan

Class in the Trees

We all enjoyed our time in Copan, attending spanish classes and getting to know our host families. Although it took me a while to figure out my family dynamics, I soon recognized a golden opportunity for our group. Every night Fernando parked his zebra print pickup in our driveway. The side of his truck read "Copan Canopy Tours". 

What better way to learn a little forest ecology than to have class in the trees? Everyone immediately loved the idea, but for me there was just one thing standing in the way; I am terrified of heights. My mind flashed back to our first day of class where we talked about how we wanted to live together as a community. We all agreed we would seek out opportunities to stretch our individual comfort zones  and that the rest of the group would provide the support system needed. "Ok", I thought, "I'm up". Before I knew it we were in the back of the zebra truck on the way to the base camp. While being strapped into our proper safety equipment we learned that there were 14 cables we would be crossing, three of which were 1KM long, and that the final stretch crossed The River Copan. We also learned that there were places in the tour where we would be as much as 400 feet above the forest floor.  After crossing the first cable, I realized that this wasn't so bad. By the time I crossed the third (the first of the 1KM cables) it was officially the most amazing thing I had ever done!

Flying through the air with nothing but a harness, a helmet, and my brake glove on the cable we as a group moved from one platform to the next, stretching 60KM around the mountain. We studied the canopy structure, wildlife, a variety of trees, and at one point were eye level with the hawks soaring around the mountains. I was far too impressed to be afraid. 

~Meg (Program Instructor)

What a day we had here in the Mayan ruins here in Copan! Our original plans for hiring a guide fell threw, but every thing happens for a reason; we found Yobani. He started his career studying to be a guide then changed to a focus in eco-tourism. Only a few years later, he started his own company here in Copan. In working more closely with the local people, he has found that some forms of eco-tourism can disrupt and even destroy a culture. He now devotes his time to redefining eco-tourism in the area to make it more of a partnership with the local indigenous communities.
To give you an example, most eco-tourists say "don´t cut the trees for firewood!" If the villagers in this area do not cut trees for their fires a signifigant piece of their cosmology and tradition will be lost. In the spiritual sense, the smoke from their fires is a means of connecting with Spirit. No smoke means the connection with the upper world is lost. That first smoke from their morning fires is also a sing to their Spirit saying "we are here, we are still alive". Also, the smoke from the traditional open-pit fire coats their celing with black soot and in the ight, this becomes their ¨sky", a close and visible sign of the Spirit within their own homes.
Yobani's future plans include introducing a more efficient lorena-type wood stove that would reduce the amount of trees being harvested, yet also honor the local traditions. What an amazing example for us as we search for sustainability in action!
- Steve (Resident Counselor)

Home Away from Home

The cobble stone roads of Copan add to the authenticity of this home away from home. This being my first homestay experience, I was anxious to learn the typical dynamics of a local honduran family. My mother here is Orfilia, who is widow with no children of her own, but she lives with her mother, father, her sister, three nieces, and one nephew. Her sister lives in New York, and sends money home to the family here in Copan. Orfilia is the ultimate caretaker; on top of feeding her family, myself and the various relatives that wander in for a meal, she cares for four dogs, two cats, and one hampster. Over the two weeks I discovered a new pet almost daily. I have come to realize that the family dynamic is nothing shor of what I have left behind in the US. I am learning that the ultimate wealth is a community of loving people, people who help their neighbor, not because they owe someone, but simply because that is how it is; that is what they know. I feel blessed to have already become familiar with this style of kinship. It is something I hope everyone has the opportunity to see and feel in their lifetime.
-Amber

Wow 10 days in Copan and what a whirl wind tour we've had! Currently I'm sitting at a cafe eating a cookie which strongly reminds me of a childhood cereal, "cookie crisp". It is raining and I am refelcting back to on our visit to the Mayan ruins, or ruinas Maya as they say here. Our guide, Yobani, was an amazing interpreter and explained to us all about the ruins that once marked one of the greatest Mayan cities in it's prime. We were greated at the begining of the tour by several wild macaws, the national bird of Honduras, and a very simbolic bird in the Mayan culture. We learned how the Mayans respected the earth and used animal as symbols for each ruler. Their buildings were built to mimic the mountians, but also had a complex tunnel system below the earth. From sacred ball ceremonies to the discovery that one ruler was a queen, the history and belief structures were undeniably foriegn and beautiful. Visiting this rich historic place has enhanced my current understanding of the modernday town of Copan, and overall enriched our experience here in Honduras.
-Amanda

Homestay Thoughts

I have been learning a lot about myself in the first few days of this trip, and about habits I have had on and off for most of my life that I have only become really aware of now. My host family is incredibly great, but on the first night here I offended my host father Cesar, by putting my own views out there too much, and feeling that I should correct some of his. For most of my life I have been surrounded by many like-minded people - in the town I grew up in, and for the past few years at the school I’ve gone to. But now I see that I have also been surrounded by people who share my views because many times when someone expressed a view I thought was wrong or offensive, I felt that I should correct them. And through that I alienated friends who had a different view on one particular thing. I wonder now why I have ever felt that I need everyone to share the same high minded, inoffensive upturned-nosed, bland views that I hold? What do I need to “correct” someone else’s views or statements for? Even if I feel someone is really wrong and they should think differently, telling them so will rarely change thinking, it will just make them feel resentful towards me, and towards the ideas I tried to force them to accept. To anyone I have ever done this to in my life, please let me know, if you would. I'm learning should let differences in opinion and statements that make me uncomfortable pass, because they're not important. And I’m recognizing the great amount of truth in the old rules of being a good guest. My host mother Lupe is the most gracious host you could ever find, and Cesar has done his best to be gracious in spite of the fact that I have not. I’m here to be a guest, to listen and to learn, and to talk about myself and my views when people ask. I'm not here to try to change anything. If I do change anything it will be by just being myself, being interested in what I'm interested in, and being respectful.
-Dan