Today was the first day with CITTI Group in Huambalo, Ecuador. The year before one of our projects was to develop and build a “green house”, a planter work station that would be accessible for children with disabilities that would allow them to take a more active role in the life of their community. When we arrived we had concern as to whether the green house had met their particular expectations and if not, what did they do.
Susan and I met with Arcadio, who was instrumental in designing and building the planter work station last year. The station, made from some available pallets, was empty with spare lumber stacked around it. My first concern was that they did not find it useful. We all know about making assumptions and this proved to be an example of “wait until you know the whole story”. As it turned out the station was being used all the time where children could help make seedling planters. However the planting season did not require a continuous supply. We arrived in between the active periods. Corn is in early growth, maybe seven to nine inches in groups of 3. Initially about five to six seeds are planted together. When they have grown to about six inches they are reduced to three. Rows are laid out by tractor and the corn is planted in the troughs, not the raised part of the row. They use both organic and commercial chemical fertilizers. Tomorrow I will ask him about growing beans with corn as is found in many present day and pre-Columbian indigenous communities. We learned other things about how they grew potatoes, beans, tomate de arbol, etc.
One of the satisfying things that came out of this part of our role here was the inclusion of all the children somewhere in the process of producing food for their families and community. There is a strong sense of a natural dignity in these people who face many challenges. I am looking forward to tomorrow to share and learn what I can.
Hasta luego,
Dennis Martin
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