I spent the summer of 2014 in Chiapas Mexico volunteering with the group Caritas de San Cristobal de Las Casas, where I provided soil and cropping advice and learned a great deal about traditional farming practices, cultural complexities of the region and the inner workings of this small NGO. Caritas de San Cristobal de Las Casas was founded in 1994 by Bishop Samuel Ruiz to address the pressing needs of the impoverished people of the region. The organization is associated with the Catholic Church and works within the existing networks of the diocese. This relationship provides great opportunities by opening doors into rural communities and guaranteeing a level of respect by affiliation with the church. This also allowed us to use church buildings as spaces for meetings and workshops. The organization (which is based in San Cristobal) works in communities south of San Cristobal in the hills and valley region of central Chiapas. The work of the organization mainly consists of economic and business organizing on a community level, using the ideas promoted by Solidarity Economics theory. This roughly entails taking advantage of regional and international markets (associated with capitalism) while depending on community strength and cooperative business models rather than individual competition (associated with socialism). The organization also provides some agricultural education such as pest management techniques. Materially they provide tools and useful items such as shovels, hoes, wheel barrows, rope and HAM radios for communication.
When I arrived at Caritas, I found that they did not have an internship plan set out for me. In fact they seemed surprised to see me. There was some confusion about when I was coming and I was unsure if this was even the correct organization due to the fact that it was not at the address posted online and did not have a proper sign on the building. But after the brief confusion they sorted me out with my own desk and I set about familiarizing myself with the office and resources they had there. Based on what I read from their publications of handbooks and what I had heard about the area, I anticipated that the primary problem would be erosion control on the steep hillsides of the region. When I inquired about this, I was surprised when my coworkers did not list erosion and soil retention as a great concern in the communities that they work in. When it came time to discuss my role for the summer with my supervisor, Balthazar (the agriculture expert), Carlos (the member who spoke the most English) they expressed interest in soil testing for the farms in the communities they work with. I told them that they could easily have soils sent to a university or agricultural extension agency to have a professional test done.
After discussing the mission of Caritas as well as my interests and intentions for the summer, we decided that we should visit several of the communities in the area, that Caritas collaborates with. My assignment for the summer was to collect soil samples from the parcels of land in the four communities and carry out soil analysis to assist the farmers.
They expressed an interest in having soil testing done so I told them that I only had limited experience working with soil and was better looking at crops and farm systems. However they were set on having soil analysis conducted because that is what farmers expressed interest in and that is what an intern from the previous year had done. I began doing research on what was needed for field analysis of soils and what types of tools and equipment was needed. At Caritas there were very few items and getting instruments was difficult and limited in places to purchase the types of things I would need. With these problems in mind I devised strategies to get the most information as possible given the limitations.
On July 1 we visited our first community. It was located in the central valley of Chiapas, in the dry flat savanna region. The farmers there used basic hand tools and traditional methods that I would find to be typical of the people we would work with. Maize is cultivated in the traditional milpa and in monoculture. Although soil quality seemed to be good I could immediately identify many limitations and difficulties in their work. All work was done by hand without the assistance of animals or machinery and I quickly observed issues with plant health in the field that would limit the return on their hard work. After collecting samples, we shared a meal with a local family in their home. This ritual would happen at every visit. The man of the house would invite us in to his home where a pot of chicken soup and vegetables would be waiting. The women would bring a fresh stack of tortillas and leave again to kitchen. The women never sat with the men. After a few attempts of eating soup with only tortillas, I would politely ask for a spoon. After eating our fill of tough ranchero chicken and green potatoes we would thank the man of the house for his hospitality, and then make our way to the kitchen to thank the women for the meal. Firm handshakes all around were a must at every visit.
The farmers which the organization work with are from small communities located south of San Cristobal de Las Casas. Most are mestizo (mixed racial background), although a few are indigenous Tzeltal. Spanish was spoken by all of the community members I worked with. All of the communities we worked with were Catholic. Their livelihoods were based primarily on growing traditional crops for subsistence, with the sale of some cash crops for income. Community members also look for work in local urban centers as well as migrate to the US for work. The agricultural practices are very resource limited.
As a conclusion for my work in the area, both the observations and research done on the subject of soil health and management, we decided that I should give a presentation to the farmers I had worked with during the summer. A two day workshop was being held to do trainings on community organization, so my presentation was tacked on to the morning of the second day. So I set about making a power point presentation covering the subjects of soil texture, nitrogen fixation, erosion control and importance of organic matter. I found several videos online that covered similar subjects in agriculture that could help fill in anything I missed with my spotty Spanish. Also were several demonstrations to physically show some of the key concepts; simple pH tests, water infiltration through sand, silt and clay, and erosion control models using paint trays. Having this excess of activity, I felt well prepared despite my nervousness of speaking in front of others in a second language. The day before I was going over the last details with Baltazar and Carlos (who would be helping me as I presented). It was then that Carlos said to me “So we are thinking you will start at 7 in morning break for breakfast and finish around 11.” I was shocked. That would mean nearly three hours of information. Clearly there were some details that I had missed in communication.
There was nothing else for it however so when the time came I took my place in front of the gathering, pulled up my slide show and without really realizing what I was doing, my mouth began spouting the information that I had practiced. The discussions were shy at first, then one elderly woman piped up and told us all about how she saved her urine to use in her garden. I had to lean over to Carlos to get a translation of some of the details. I was grateful for my over planning with the informational videos which gave me time to set up the demonstrations. These too were a success and helped make the points more tangible. After the flurry of activity and heightened state I was in, I was reminded that we were nearly out of time. Amazed and exhausted I concluded the talk, having neatly covered everything I had hoped to. There was an enthusiastic round of applause and many thanks and handshakes. Several people lined up with USB drives, requesting a copy of the presentation, which I happily shared along with many follow up questions. After the commotion died down, I found a quiet corner and drifted off. Some time later I was woken for the concluding ceremony of the work shop. After many speeches and pledges we formed a human chain that formed into a spiral. To my surprise, I was the point in the center. Some fifty human bodies pressed around me and on the count of three, they embraced me in a huge hug. I had never felt so much gratitude and I could not thank them enough for the experience.