Building bonds of friendship
Those who love God must love their
brothers and sisters also. –
I John 4:21
Cuban
farmer Hernan Hernandez owns 300 mango trees on 20 hectares of land in the
village of San Miguel de los Banos. Last year, a severe drought decimated most
of his crop.
Hernan
says that most years there is plenty of rain, but last year, there was almost
none. MCC partner CCRD (Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue) helped
Hernan purchase new seeds and seedlings this year and MCC provided an
irrigation pump.
There is a
bountiful crop of large, succulent mangos on the trees this year. Unfortunately,
the state mandates that farmers sell most of their crops to the government for
a low price, but this year, the truck that was supposed to pick up the mangos
broke down and wasn’t able to pick up the mangos. Hernan will receive no
income.
After he
showed us his crops. Hernan shared a cup of mango juice with
each of us.
Since
the Cuban government also controls the country-wide system for processing
mangos, there isn’t much that Hernan can do with his mango crop except sell a
few of them if he is able to his neighbors and watch the rest of the crop rot
on the trees. each of us.
Hernan seems resigned to knowing there will be another difficult year ahead.
Just a few
miles away, outside of the city of Cardenas, Hector Correa owns 23 hectares of
land with his three sons. For 31 years, Hector and his family have combined the
work of farming and pottery making. Standing outside his pottery shop, Hector
tells us that when either farming or pottery isn’t going well, he always has
the other to fall back on.
But last
year, the drought was even more than Hector and his family could weather. Like
Hernan, Hector also received similar support from CCRD and MCC.
Hector
feels blessed to have three sons who understand that it is possible to live
well on the land they own. Hector and his sons grow coffee and green beans and
any other product they feel might have a market.
Hector
says he mostly sells his pottery and his produce to the large tourist hotels in
the beach communities. He makes oversized pots which are hard to dry in his
kiln, but these pots are in high demand from the hotels and they will make
arrangements to come pick them up. Recently, Hector began growing green beans because
he discovered that beans are one crop in short supply in the hotel kitchens.
Empowering
rural communities is only one part of CCRD’s work. The Center responds on
behalf of the churches to community emergencies, provides pastoral counseling, trains
leaders in conflict resolution and brings the community together to address a
multitude of social issues.
It is no
small secret, CCRD leaders tell us, that there is a real issue of access to
food in Cuba. Thirty percent of Cubans live in poverty and those in poverty are
disproportionately located in the rural communities. Almost 70% of arable land
is not being used. CCRD believes that training small scale farmers can make a
big difference in peoples’ lives.
Pastor
Samuel of the Second Baptist Church in Cardenas participates in a pastors’
circle coordinated by CCRD each month. He says that before the circle the community
pastors and churches had very little contact with each other. But now, in their
peace working table, Samuel say the pastors pray for each other and talk about
important issues in the community.
Samuel
says the peace working table is a way for the pastors to recognize the work of
God in the community, to work together and to build strong bonds of friendship.
Ron Byler is executive director of MCC
U.S.
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