Additional Notes

While I am not going to expand very much on the two previous posts, there are some clarifications and excerpts I would like to add.

In terms of how most people view the land issue, Che Guevara puts it quite eloquently, summarizing what he feels the people of Cuba and Latin America feel:

"But what is Cuba´s main problem if not the same as of all Latin America, the same as even enormous Brazil with its millions of square kilometers and with its land of marvels that is a whole continent? The one-crop economy. In Cuba, we are slaves to sugarcane...We must diversify our agricultural production, stimulate industry. And we must ensure that our minerals and agricultural products, and -in the near future- our industrial production, go to the markets that are best suied for us and by means of our own transportation lines."

Putting aside the common view of Che as a revoluntionary who subscribe to a system of violence for social change, we can appreciate his political and social insights. The ideas he supported and wrote about can be a valuable tool in the dialectical conversation between "developed and developing." Perhaps through the insights of Che and an agricultural people, we can have a more socially-orientated look with organizations such as USAID, World Bank, IMF, etc. I think this will serve as a good jumping point for the next part of the discussion concerning the current problems facing Agricultural Horticulturalists as well as those desiring Agrarian policy and a more Industrialized nation.

We have had beautiful weather in San Lucas lately. It has not rained for a couple of days and the bright sun really dries the clothes quick. The Aquaculture/Hydroponics project is moving along. The other day an engineering student working for the Parroquia was out and the final measurements were recorded for the plans and layouts. I now have a roommate in Casa Madre and living with a nun. Sister June returned, she has been living here for 6 years, from a trip to the States and the rooms were consolidated. She is a blast and has a quick attitude. She is really giving me a run for my money with the sarcasm. Tomorrow I am waking at 3am to hike Volcan Attitlan. It is supposed to be a 10-plus hour hike. There are some girls from high school going too so I am imagining it to take a bit longer. I took some girls over to CFCA today who were interested in sponsoring a child. As far as I know, CFCA (The Christian Foundation for Children and the Aging) sets donors who are interested in providing financial assistance directly with a child or elderly person in need. I am sure many people reading this already do something of the sort, if not CFCA specifically. I think I am going to go ahead and share my thoughts anyways, in a way to sort them out for myself. I am a justice orientated person, I tend to think and feel more strongly about the hows and whys of injustices. Now I am not saying Charity is wrong, because we are clearly called to love tenderly and act justly (while walking humbly, if I may add that). Charity, to me, often seems to be a band-aid on a wound, possible even a wound that is getting worse. While CFCA and the like clearly are a very charitable and loving organization with an important mission, I think it is necessary to ask ourselves if that is enough? I fully support the work that they are trying to do, but I feel like I am left with the impression that the mission is being left misunderstood. I do not know what the solution is, all I know is that some of the language I hear being used in regards to this ("My kid", "I want to pick out a child", etc.) Some will probably say I am too caught up in linguistics, but I really believe that the language we use reveals our attitudes (and yes Mom, I know I have a dirty mouth but I am not sure what that is revealing about me). I think ideally, I would like the relationship to be more of one based on experience and respect, as opposed to an emphasize on money. Charity done without a true and authentic respect for an individual´s dignity seems, to me, to be done more for the person giving, than a true desire to enable another person to fully realize the self through previously unavailable resources. I think I lost myself in this and probably upset a number of people, which really was not my itention. It was just on my mind and I am trying to find the balance between Charity and Justice and how to do both. So with that, check out CFCA.org (I think that is the website) and think about the possibility of opening an opporunity for another person, not because it makes us feel good about ourselves, but because that person and and justice demand it of us.

Well, as my friend Mary likes to say, Justice Out.