Well, it´s Junta season here in the Sweaty Isthmus. ¿What´s a Junta? you ask. 

In many subsistence farming societies, the only way to harvest and plant your land in a timely fashion is to employ your local neighbors. Without money this can be tricky. So, in turn, they supply a banana leaf sized portion of grub, that has adopted the name ¨lunche¨...

and bathe their workers in a most pungent refreshment...we¨ll call it ¨corn punch¨ ... which I help haul to the fields.

 And, by God, they´ve given me what some might say to be the most important job of the day

Nearing the end of the work day, our pile of freshly harvested rice. Almost time to tap that jug ó punch whattaya say Javier...

Javierrrrr... you ole sneaky dog you! Get back to work....

They also recipricate the work on their fellow farmer´s land whatever their needs may be.

In this photo we are planting corn for the summer season (Jan - April). Rain or shine, corn punch or not, the work must get done on hundreds of acres.

I try to be helpful and not get in the way. Throughout the day, I ask as many questions as I can to better understand their lives and needs. 

In a land where most people live far away from their neighbors in their own part of the woods, successful organization and follow-through can be tough. But the Junta works well...

On our way to fight back the unrelenting jungle in hopes of clearing enough to plant before the dry season sets in.

Man VS jungle

At the end of the day when our thirst has been quenched, I do my best to encourage this organized working style into other aspects of their life

However they do it, these farmers work tremendously hard and for long hours everyday to stay afloat. Recently I´ve been exploring the idea that only increasing one´s income will help them get out of poverty. Seems logical right? Why then do most aid organizations and governments just give away money and supplies.

If these farmers´ fields produced more with the help of irrigation and fertilizer, they may have enough to sell in  the markets and thus begin an upward spiral of sustaining them and their families. Like us, with a secure flow of income we can focus our energy on getting a good education, getting health care when we need it, and... concerning my task here...practice good hygiene and spend the time it takes to organize and solve problems on a community level. These are hard things to do when you are struggling to stay afloat.

Not a day goes by where I don´t just want to throw money at their problems to solve it right then and there and move on to the next one. This approach has failed over and over. If you give a hand-out, they don´t own it, they just take it and wait for the next one. My objective is to put the power into their hands. It´s difficult and I´m not very good at it. But I´ve got a few years to learn and get better and hopefully they will grow with me. Vamos a ver. We´ll see.

Whilst bathing after a dirty day in the fields, I got a visit from a BP rep. We had our own little conversation about Syria and Iran and of course the rebounding automobile industry. He too felt the urge to Google ´horses and bayonets´. He was also just as surprised as me to find out that Morman Mitt was born in Detroit. 

Till next time...