Friday, November 16, 2012

Update from Anna Hushlak in Honduras


It is 4:45 in the morning, still dark out and the sun is just beginning to creep up over Pico Bonito. The ocean is a steady rolling roar and as I reach out my arms to stretch, I can hear the Howler monkeys out the window doing the same. So begins another day in paradise. 

Mira and I are working alongside the Fundación Cuero y Salado (FUCSA) where we live in the Refugio de Vida Silvestre. While our days may begin with a quiet – well noisy if you consider the toucans outside – wake up, they are filled with a healthy bustle of projects and to-dos. So far, I’ve had my hands full with mangrove restoration, seed collection, gathering local knowledge on medicinal plants, sourcing out herbs for planting a demonstrative medicinal garden, employing the philosophies of permaculture to kitchen gardens, juggling environmental education and English classes, and of course making sure Sundays are dedicated to cheering on Salado’s soccer team (and by cheering I mean eating Eda’s pasteles). 

The projects in Salado are especially interesting given the community’s historic, cultural, and economic diversity. Formerly owned by Standard Fruit (now Dole) the surrounding area is being transformed from coconut monoculture to a biological corridor based on the principals of Analog Forestry. As the sun comes up, Mira is already out in the fields working hard, taking measurements, mapping, digging holes, and planting a mix of fruit trees. The legacy of agriculture in the area also drew in various different communities, leaving Salado home to a mix of Garífuna and Latino cultures. Given the isolation of the reserve – a bumpy hour and a half chicken bus ride from La Ceiba, followed by a grumbling 15 minute mototaxi, and ending with a 45 minute ‘train’ ride into the reserve – the community faces substantial economic development challenges. Still, within the community, Doña Irma and Doña Fatima offer tasty lunches of balleadas and fried fish, little pulperías sell eggs and juice, Jairo busily carves jewelry in the joyería, Martiza and Indio put together solar panels and the fishermen head out every morning in their wooden Cayucos.

Upon our arrival, we were treated to an amazing ride up the mangroves into ‘Monkey Channel’ where we shared a tree of viscoyol fruit with a white faced monkey. We then headed back down the estuary and out to sea where we watched the sun set while rocking on the Caribbean. The community has been wonderfully welcoming and have invited us into their gardens and homes, taught us how to make tortillas (shaping them didn’t go so well), showing us how to properly place a fishing hook through the eyes of a fish, and a few of the young girls have even given me lessons on properly combing and pulling back my hair. Looking forward to the month to come, we are getting ready to host the community parcela kitchen garden competition, work with FUCSA to train local guides for improved eco-tourism, and of course eager to welcom Dr. Ranil Senanayake later this month. Enough for now, time to get back to work!

Que le vaya bien!

Anna + Mira  






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