The Roaming Professor : The heartbreaking but strong and hopeful Guatemala

Still on Lake Atitlan, we boarded a ferry and went 20 minutes down the lake to check out a missionary and its projects in San Lucas. Then back on the boat to visit a permaculture educational site.

To tour the missionaries projects, we road in the back of a pick-up truck, but don't worry we were all safe. Our first stop was a center that teaches women how to sew and cook. I think it goes without saying that I bought several things there.

Next stop, a coffee roasters.

The missionary also has a coffee roasting operation. They pay the local farmers a fair rate for coffee beans and make coffee. Here's a picture of some of the workers hand selecting the best beans for roasting. Also, goes without saying that I bought some coffee. I haven't had a chance to taste it yet, but I can't wait!

It was a sunny beautiful day on the lake!

Our next stop was to learn about permaculture and have lunch at IMAP (Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute).

The lunch was delicious. This is when I first learned about the Guatemalan squash, guicoy. The soup above is made with it. I love that squash so much!

Here, we are learning about an alternative cooking stove that uses solar power. The cooking is primarily done in wood burning stoves around the lake, which is brutal to the lungs. Smoke fills the air day and night as people cook their meals. In fact, one of the most common diseases that the missionary hospital treats is asthma.

This is a gray water banana tree circle. They use the water from the kitchen to water these banana trees. There is natural filtration in the soil to filter out the soap and what not. The bananas grow really high up and the tree also filters out any pollutants from the gray water, so the bananas are perfect to eat.

Next up, we visited the seed bank. They exchange seeds and loan seeds to local farmers in return for seeds back. It is a really cool program.

We learned a great deal about permaculture here. Since that is not really my field of expertise, it was especially interesting to me. It is a way of thinking and of seeing the world. It's ecocentric, biocentric, not anthropocentric (human centered). Humans are only one element - not the central element. We make a ton of waste and in nature there is no waste.

For Mayans, corn is everything. Our guide told us, you could give a Mayan a huge steak dinner with potatoes, but if there wasn't a corn tortilla - it wouldn't be considered a full meal.

A good example of how nature designs things to work in harmony is the holy triangle (the three sisters) - corn, beans, and squash. The corn supports the beans, the beans grow up the corn stock, the beans give the corn nitrogen, which it needs to grow, and the squash needs shade, which the corn provides. The squash keeps in water for the corn and beans and helps stop erosion. Also, the squash attracts bees and encourages pollination. These three also make a complete meal! Love love love that the complete meal does not include meat!!!