My second day in Guate (every name here is shortened. Huehuetenango becomes Huehue. Quetzaltenango becomes Xela–Shelah, for you gringos) began very early in the morning so that I could go out into the campo and explore the corn program that Helps has implemented. The corn program manager is a very intelligent man, about 25, named Jose Luis and he picked me up at the hotel in one of the Hilux’s the organization maintains. Jose Luis and I drove off to Sumpango to see some corn and talk to some villagers that were in the program.
Sumpango was about 45 minutes from Guate and was an adventure in itself to get to. Lane lines might as well not exist. Warning signs of construction were nonexistent. Old buses belched black diesel exhaust. People ran through traffic. Motorcycles doeged trucks. I mean, even people from Mexico City won’t drive here. But, the landscape was stunning. Lush mountains woven with cornfields rose starkly in every direction and skies brushed with thick white-blue clouds hung in the bosoms of hills.
Sumpango was as I expected. Cobblestone streets. Markets and stores selling everything from chickens, sand and tools to the Indians selling woven dresses, fruits that I never heard of and little kids staring with curious eyes making kites.
We drove through town and turned down a dirt track. Had we not been in the Hilux we’d have been screwed. A few kilometers down we met up with the technical director for the corn program who meets directly with the local growers. We met a farmer who was kind enough to show us his plot that had been fertilized through the program. His corn was tall and full and ready to be harvested. We tried some kernels. Talked about fertilizer. While we were walking I noticed that the corn was planted in bunches of two or three or even five. So five plants sprouted from one hole. Perplexed, I asked about this. Apparently this was the way, all over Guatemala, that planting had been done for centuries. In the way of thinking of the Indians and locals, to compensate for the possible loss of corn plants, they planted several to account for the losses. However, with the fertilizer and advances over the years, this was unneccessary and depleted the corn of nutrients because of such concetrated competition. It is also very difficult to make them understand the concepts of competition, fertilizer and nutrients. Alas, this is the aim of the program, to educate and implement.
We inspected a few more plots with a different farmer who also grew blackberries. Blackberries off the vine are amazingly sweet and full. We were gifted with an entire crate as well as some corn as thanks for helping with their crop. Jokingly we said we did not want to take half their harvest and the wife of the farmer responded with something I will never forget and epitomizes the enormity of their humility and heart. She said, “Mas que regalamos, mas nos regala el Senor.” The more we give, the more the Lord gives us. I could not believe it. This family, so grateful for their harvest, gave what they could, though they had very little. This was very far from any way of thinking I ever saw in the States.
After we met with the farmers I had to be in Antigua for a banquet for the medical team that had just finished their week-long mission. Antigua is a simple, colorful and Colonial town filled with ancient churches, fountains, hidden courtyards, and handicrafts. As the old capital of Guate it is a natural destination for tourists and feels a lot like Tlaquepaque in Mexico. The banquet was held inside a very old church built in the 1700′s. The banquet was candle-lit and the experience very moving as the team recounted their trip. I looked forward to learning more.
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