The Human Farm

In November, I attended a workshop on alternative agricultural methods at the farm of Moisés Rodríguez, outside of Gracias, Lempira, with others connected with the Ministerio Social [Social Ministry] of the diocese.

The first day Moisés spoke about the human farm which is based in the person who farms and not in lands or agricultural methods. He noted that “if the mind of the campesino is a desert, his farm will look like a desert.”

Later he mentioned that he owed much to Elías Sánchez, who wrote and taught about the human farm and the importance of a new way of thinking and living as a part of the way to develop one’s land.

I just finshed a book about Don Elías’s work, The Human Farm: A Tale of Changing Lives and Changing Lands, published in 1994 by Kumarian Press. It tells the story of Don Elías and his co-workers and their efforts to promote a new agriculture, a new culture of the land.

He must have been quite a character, often haranguing people when he first met them about personal hygiene – “How often do you change your underwear? How often do you bathe?”

But he really sought to find ways to help people transform their lives and their land – protecting their soil, using organic fertilizers. He worked with people who promoted cover crops, like velvet beans (“frijol de abono”), to enrich depleted soil. He seemed to be a great teacher.

He died in 2000 and so far I haven’t figured if his work has been continued in a “centralized” way or if there are only people like Moisés who have taken on his mantle and continued promoting development which is transformative. I hope to find more in the next few months.

But here are a few provocative quotes from Don Elías Sánchez:

“Human misery is not lack of money; it’s not knowing who you are…. Dissatisfaction is the beginning of change.”

“If the mind of a campesino is a desert, his farm will look like a desert.”

“ ‘Technology transfer’ is an offensive concept; you have to transform people.”

“Development is a process of displacement – good ideas displacing bad ones. We don’t teach., we share information in two directions.”

“International organizations should act a yeast – they should help national efforts rise.… Spark plugs are the only specialists we need in development.”

“Agronomists are pests.”

“Christ didn’t preach religion, he preached equity, liberty, justice, and love. If you don’t love a person, you will never help them.”