Inspired by the practices our ancestors, our course begins with sowing and harvesting from autumn to winter and finishes the annual cycle from spring to summer.
Similar to the many people, communities, and organizations that lived before us, our organization learns through our experiences. Voluntario Global has more than 10 years of experience in community development and used this acquired knowledge to found this community gardening project. Pacheco Community aims to create networks and connect organizations and people that fight for diverse causes together. As a testament to the hard work of community volunteers, we can say proudly that in August 2019 we will celebrate our 5th birthday.
Teenagers and adults who are part of the community learn how to work with the land. They learn about agriculture through theoretical and practical methods, as well as gardening and harvesting. Throughout the year their time was divided between working in the greenhouse and the outdoor flowerbeds. The whole community enjoyed seeing the fruit and vegetables grow each week and distributed the harvest among them.
Classes take place inside and outside of the community. The students also learn by visiting other orchards and cooperatives that are dedicated to the sale of organic fruits and vegetables as well as learning about fair trade organizations and the necessity for responsible food consumption. The harvesting and sale of the organic products are carried out in the neighborhood fairs during the last months of the course.
We have selected the first day of the month in August to celebrate our fifth anniversary because it coincides with the celebration of La Fiesta de Pachamanain Latin American and pay homage by thanking Mother Earth.
A reflection from the past year in Pacheco Community:
The natural limits are being pushed to their boundaries. The accumulation of money and capital advances are destroying the planet and humanity, which takes us further away from organic produce and healthy lifestyles. The transnational monopolies are determined to make us sick, to anesthetize us and make us apathetic, which inevitably prevents us to be able to fight for our rights.
Human beings have become blinded to mass production and the consistent demand for capital development, with the desire of maximizing profits. This type of thinking is a trap since it does not develop either humanity or nature and stripes all of the riches from the people.
For theEl PachecoCommunity, the search for ecological alternatives in the economy has already become a necessity. We know we need to promote local production and sales, as well as neighborhood fairs and spaces in the community where awareness is generated about growing organic produce and healthy lifestyles. This mentality is a priority for these types of organizations.
We know that an organized society will fight for transformation and only a community, never an individual can make this change together. We search, we learn, and we fight for the option to live a life with dignity, solidarity and community.
