I recently visited Luis Acosta. He was born in the remote community of La Elencia where he has lived for 60 years.
During his lifetime he has seen a lot of change. “When I was 6 this was still a mountainous area with lots of animals,” he said. Unfortunately, the big trees were cut, and the wild birds, jaguar and deer left. “I think it was a huge richness we lost,” Luis said with a shake of his head.
Luis and his family began working with Heifer in 2006 when they received a cow, rabbits, fruit trees and training. Through the trainings they learned soil conservation techniques and ways to protect the environment. I was happy to learn that in a few of the areas where they restored the forest, deer and wild pigs have returned.
Beyond protecting the environment for animals, Luis points out that healthy land means healthy people. I was amazed to learn that prior to this project the local church had identified 70% of the children as malnourished, and today all of the children are at or above their normal weight.
Christian DeVries is interviewing project participants in Honduras on behalf of Heifer International. This is the fourth in a series of posts he’s sending from the field. You can read his earlier posts here.