Experience and Initiative to the Rescue
While many program activities have been canceled because of the pandemic, practices that participants have already adopted are helping to keep them afloat during these most challenging times.
In June 2020, local partner INESIN paid a masked and socially-distanced visit to Manuela’s village. Manuela invited them to see how her greenhouse is working for her. Despite her age, she has a great deal of energy, and says she’s getting good harvests from both her little orchard and her greenhouse.
She even took the initiative of saving and planting seeds from tomatoes she’d bought on the market, and is already harvesting from these plants. She’s also growing jalapeño peppers and watermelon. Manuela is proud of her work, and happy because she and her family have enough to eat. She is also able to sell some of her surplus for income, with people coming to her house to buy from her.
In a culture that respects its elders, her example as a vital older woman is deeply inspiring. The challenge is how to convey the experience and knowledge of the aged to the new generations. Her greenhouse has become a place where these gifts can be passed down to the younger community members.
Mexico Chiapas Ocosingo Program
Led by Mennonite Central Committee and Local Partner INESIN