The Fruits of their Labour

This last week we have got to spend some quality time in the fields with the campecinos (peasant farmers), and at their homes or in their churches with them. We had lunch at one of the houses where a lorena stove was being put in by the other Canadian group and sauntered through the fields with the families. The next day we went up to a different part of the project in the back of a truck, walking through maiz fields higher than our heads and 'taste-testing' the 'gardens of Eden' as we called it. They were growing everything from garlic to pineapple to cucumbers. Sunday they had a “welcome” service for the Canadians that had 200 people from the community out. And today, we walked into a packed hall of clapping campecinos, single moms and the “3rd age” (which is the old age generation here, the seniors, who have absolutely no pensions or security). 

These people are the heartbeat of this country. They walk and work the fields by hand...hoping that this year they'll have the chance to grow enough to feed their family properly and to sell a little for school supplies and other basic necessities. They have weather beaten faces and often little education and yet (some of them) seem to know what really matters in life. A little food, a lot of laughs and family and friends. They are incredible beings.

frutas stands, what a wonderful
way to start a road trip

The best naranja I've ever had. 

coffee beans!

a young boy in the midst of the coffee farms on the
side of the mountain

coffee coffee coffee farms

Sonsonate nearby town mural

I'll never forget how fresh this morning drives are..

the women cooking on their new stove

And to the fields we go..

Three of the eight kids of one of the families....
amidst all the green.
Verde es el color de la vida y la esparanza
"Green is the colour of life and hope"

We took a walk through the river community.
Three hundred forgotten families live here where our
friend Ramon does some sponsor and education programs.
I may get a chance yet to work here.

The man to my left captured my heart. He has a
parasite that makes him likely to die and no medicine
can help. Yet, bone thin and weak from no food, he
was charismatic and full of life. 

Felix's people's part of the project

I loved the sunshine that came into this pic,
just as I took it. It epitomizes the beauty
of the campecinos.

The farmers explaining progress to us.

Frutas...

Claudia & kids in their plot.
The one in yellow is Christian and is about as 

Monkey paradise.

Banana treees

Rice

Beans!

Peppers

Chillies

Garlic

More magical frutas

Cashew nuts & fruit...together!

Walking together with them, they have a pulse that I can feel in my veins. And each time we've seen them, they offer blessings and hugs and kisses for us all. I feel so blessed to be in their presence.

This trip has me thinking about all of the important things in life...for there is a lot of tragedy and death here. And I received an email today from "The Daily Love" that helped me put this into perspective:

No longer do I have the belief from my youth that I will live forever and cannot be destroyed. I am aware of the fragility, the temporary nature of my life.

I feel a sense of urgency. There are no promised moments. This is NOT a dress rehearsal. I feel inspired, motivated and pushed to say, "I love you" to those I love as much as I can. I feel inspired to take risks. I feel pushed to look at my fear and step INTO it, rather then shy away from it. I am feeling time passing more and more and with it, it is whispering to me, "Do what you are afraid of, you won't regret it. Love out loud, you won't forget it. Live in the now, it is your present. The future is bright if you let it... be." 

In this newfound sensitivity I am in awe of Life. It feels like in every moment I am waking up to something brand new, something marvellous and something mysterious. What really matters comes to the forefront...and everything else drops away.

I hope today we are all living out loud for ourselves and those we love. LOVE!