potential

Posted by Nicolaas on 19 March 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Nicaragua, onions, organic

At the end of the last century, I was doing some volunteer work in Nicaragua for a local Christian organisation. One day, the big boss asked me to visit a farmer up north to find out about his organic production. The only question I basically had to answer was how he managed to save costs on sending products to market - : United States. Airfreight costs were very high (at that time the local airlines of Central America tended to charge a fortune for anything on which they had a monopoly). Two days later, I took an early bus up north. The farm I was visiting was around five hours north of Managua. It was run by a dude from the US together with his his stunning Central American wife. I had no idea what to expect. After the long bus ride, I finally arrived in the small Nicaraguan village, in a more mountainous part of the country. For those who have been to Central America - you can probably imagine the beauty and charm. It is small, but full of people and fresh produce everywhere. I was picked up by Rodrigo in his pick-up. He took me straight to his farm. To my great disappointment, it was nothing more than a barren soccer field, perhaps two or three, but nothing else. It was a tiny farm in a this large country. However, the story that Rodrigo shared with me painted different picture. He told me how a tiny little seed here in the ground would one day grow up to be a beautiful onion. How these onions would be harvested one day and be packed in 45 minutes and then how two days later, someone in Manhattan would be pay $2.00 for each onion. It was the precision, organisation, commitment and teamwork, all working together to market this small natural wonder. What you have to understand is that Nicaragua was (and certainly still is) very poor. Even Rodrigo, the rich foreign land owner, was actually very poor. The year before, his crop had been wiped out by Hurricane Mitch. He was close to bankruptcy. We went back to his tiny little house. It was empty. I was surprised there was even little to eat. Just Rodrigo, his wife and the vision they shared. They were dirt poor, but a few years later they were a success story. Everything about my visit that day was about potential. You could read potential in everything Rodrigo said and did. His committment, the beautiful land, the people. Here is his story: http://www.iadb.org/idbamerica/index.cfm?thisid=661.