July 10, 2013

Today was a reality challenge: working like a local. We were invited into La Canavilla Farm, to experience the life of a farmer. With an early start to the day with a contagious energy, we accepted the challenged with a smile. We were divided into three groups to embark on different tasks. The tasks were fertilizing, working with chickens, and working with cows and goats.

In the fertilizing group, we fertilized yuca, which is a vegetable. The technique Gilberto, the worker, used was putting the fertilizer in a hole according to the slope in order to make the hole according to the slope. He first cleared the area of any other plants then made a ditch to put the fertilizer. He told us that he did this, so when it rains the fertilizer would go into the soil. We deposited two big handfuls of fertilizer in the hole. We learned a lot and it was real labor.

Before we went to the chickens we helped around by cutting dead leaves and vines, so the squash could have more space to grow. After that we took a small break and went to the chicken farm. We went inside and our job was to collect as many eggs as we could. Many of the chickens would peck us, but we still managed to fill buckets of eggs. After we collected eggs we went to the packaging room and cleaned the eggs to be placed in cartons.

The final group was working with cows and goats. Unfortunately, they were unable to milk the cows, because the farmers already milked them at five in the morning. Nevertheless, it was the most enjoyable one because they were challenged in a good way and had memorable memories to cherish forever. In each stage, the order was so intense it challenged them to hold their nose for a really long time. They learned how much a farmer actually earned in a month, which is at least 3,000 cordobas despite their hard work they struggle to  make ends meet at the end of the month. The Glimpsers shoveled and picked cow dung from the cow’s cafeteria 🙂 and stables, and moved on to clean the goats’ stable. And continue assisting Carmelo (farmer) with the daily activities.

At the end of the day, we were tired but astonished at how much a farmer does for us. We learned a lot about the different aspects of farming and collaborating with each other as a team to get the job done. One of the highlights of the trip was holding baby goats. They were adorable. Another highlight that we had was seeing our fellow Glimpsers come out of their comfort zones and take a risk.

Love,

The Leaders of the Day: Simran & Fathima

Ms. Anakarita and Colleen shoveling cow "droppings," to put it lightly!

Ms. Anakarita and Colleen shoveling cow “droppings,” to put it lightly!

Feeding the goats some tasty leaves from the farm

Feeding the goats some tasty leaves from the farm

A family photo!

A Global Glimpse family photo!