Weekend at La Comunidad Alianza
This weekend the school had a field trip to a place called La Comunidad Alianza. There were about eight of us who went on the day and a half trip. A couple students from other schools came as well.
The trip was about 2 hours from Xela. We rode in a mini bus to a certain point and then for the last 9 kilometers we all hopped in the back of this truck that looked like it was from World War II.
La Comunidad Alianza is an organic farm that grows, and sells many different things. It grows coffee, macademia nuts, has a water purification process, and has just started a biodiesel process. The workers of the farm are a collection of 40 families that work together.
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Saturday we were taken to the coffee production area and explained how all the steps worked. It was very interesting. Later we got to take a hike through the grounds where a young boy, Alferto, who worked on the farm told us about some medicinal plants that grew in the area as well. He was very smart and knowledgeable about everything that goes on in the community.
Saturday night one of the individuals on the board of trustees, Olfonzo, told us about the 60 year history of the coffee farm. It almost unravelled like a movie. At one point the boss of the farm refused to pay the workers so the workers and families decided to protest the farm until either the boss quit or he payed them what he owed them. This turned into death threats against the family, but through litigation eventually the boss quit and the families took over the farm and were paid what they were owed.
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They fixed all of our meals (mostly rice and beans) on the veranda of the building where we stayed for the weekend. The view from the veranda was breathtaking. From the entrance of the property you could see a large mountain (Santa Maria) and in the shadow of Santa Maria was an active volcano (Santa Aguito). Every 30 minutes or show Santa Aguito would erupt. This is very normal. You could see the smoke rising from it. We were told that if it doesn’t smoke is when you are in trouble.
Sunday we were told about the water purification, biodiesel, and macademia processes. They too were interesting and the sugared macademias were great. In the afternoon we took a hike through the area to a small waterfall. Since it is the dry season it wasn’t putting out as much water but still it was very cool.
For more information on this coffee farm go to http://www.comunidadnuevaalianza.org/
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One Response to “Weekend at La Comunidad Alianza”
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February 29th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
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