Almost winter-time to go South

-left- the first veggie garden which we planted in between the coffee plants on the fertile slope of loma Esperanza in 2002 with brother Asiclo and family.. I have an immense amount of respect for one the the most humble and trusted individuals I have ever met.

Well, the family business had a good summer and we are finishing some fall cleanup work for another 3 weeks.. we have always tried to stick to a no-debt household and only grow the business with retained earnings, period and not buy too many toys. Thanks to God and alot of hard work I was able to finish the house with very little debt, so I can continue the important work in Oaxaca. Which I am excited to do, the organic coffee farmers cooperative has took some major trials the last 8 years, but the continue to pursue and want to continue the cooperative structure, but to increase diversity, accountability, and increased transparency in a way in which anyone looking at the books will have confidence in a well run cooperative, completely by indigenous farmers and a couple of trustworthy professionals to serve on a board of directors.

I am very proud with there perserverance in learning new leadership skills and hopefully being fully self-sustaining without the needs of outsiders to help that much, just in advisory roles and helping the them find micro-credit.. I'm exploring the idea of a 2 week hiking/backcountry snowboarding trip somewhere in the west. weather depending.

Well, Hopefully I can get down there soon..

Here is the list of things I will try and do this winter in Oaxaca.

Assist in leadership training with a democratic governing structure.

Increase diversity of crops-cash crops and consumption crops.

Feasability study of Coffee by-product for use as bio-fuels.

Health, education, and nutrition training to better their health and future opportunities.

Improvement of quality of coffee--which is the most sustainable thing.