Today we visited several of the small villages in the Las Segovias rural area. It has a population of 320,424 and has an economy dependent on agricultural activities. 54% of population in Las Segovias live in extreme poverty whilst migration causes a human resource loss to national urban areas, US, Costa Rica and El Salvador. This is clearly visible in the lack of economic activity in the region, the shortage of local products and the lack of jobs/employment opportunities. One of the small local shops had onions from, brace yourself, Kerkrade, the Netherlands!
The stories told in by the locals reflect this. We arrived at a village at 10am to a shop where 3 local men were sitting having some beers, Toña (the local beer), which I really love, but preferably after 17:00. Most of the local farmers are smallholders or rent lands from one big land owner where they grow beans and maize. There are also coffee producers and several of the farmers cultivate other horticulture products, such as tomatoes. However, the competition and low prices from international producers are immense, making it hard for the farmers to sell their products, which is also mirrored in the products in the local shops. The women in these rural communities often work many hours and enduring many hardships, without this “work” being recognised by the community as a whole. A young man crouching in the corner tells us about his own experience with discovering the naked truth:
“I was always complaining about my wife not working hard enough on our farm. So we decided to swop roles for a while…I had to get up at 3am to prepare tortillas for her to go to the farm and my children to go to school, housework, more cooking, taking care of the smallest children, washing, cleaning, some farm work, collecting water … at the end of the day I was exhausted and we all were hungry, because I messed up the tortillas. Our “ swop” lasted for only one day…. never, never will I do that again, and never will I complain about women not really working during the day at home. “
A component of the STRO project design for Quilali is based on STRO's "Appreciate what is ours" tools, a method that introduces tools to reinforce community sense and mobilize these for the transition process, through the challenge of local entrepreneurial qualities based on community support. This methodology makes people recognise their local resources by identifying dreams, resources, abilities and contacts supported by coaching of those who start new businesses in/related to their country of origin. It creates awareness at migrants about how the development of entrepreneurial qualities and of community based businesses could provide the diversity and the jobs to create income opportunities in the local economy.
