"In the Earth is Our Life"

Maria and her daughters come together and prepare seedlings for planting in order to restore their surrounding forest. She says, “Each family will take care of their own seedlings and will take these to the field to plant together. How do we involve the young with ecology? We keep it in the family.”

She goes on to say that if they don’t work together, then their efforts do not work at all.

Why do they do this? Part of the reason is proper cultivation of the environment but it’s much more than that too. “Everything we do,” Maria says, “is so much work, but we do it for our survival and our environment.”

Much of what Maria, her husband Jacinto and their children know come from surviving in the mountains. They say the rest has been a learning experience with Heifer International. In addition to the reforestation, they also have learned vegetation techniques to grow their own crops and diversify their income – which means a sustainable future for their family.

Jacinto poses with his son and daughter in the forest that he and his family work so hard to preserve. He describes his hopes in doing this work.

“We wish to prevent the drying of the earth here in Guatemala. I remember so well when I was a little boy it rained most everyday. Today, it hardly ever rains. We plant five trees for every one we take up.”

Through all of Heifer’s work, we promote one our initiatives, Agroecology. This is a sustainable management of natural resources which focuses on achieving sustainable agriculture production. The result is longevity for the earth’s natural resources, an improved environmental atmosphere and healthier living situations for the inhabitants of the land.

Jacinto articulates this same message. “This is why we are planting and planning for the future. Reforestation has become our work and our lives. We want to cooperate with the environment because we are related to nature. Nature will feed us but not unless we feed nature."