Las Lomas

We visited a community called Las Lomas where we talked to 6 families that own farms. In 5 of these houses we talked to the male of the family but in one of them we talked to his wife. In all these households the males are the ones who mainly work on the farm and the women generally work at the house. All these families were welcoming and willing to answer our questions.

We learned a lot about this community. The majority of the farmers' main activity is dairy production. However, one of the farmers that we visited grew and processed aloe vera. Some of the fairy producers are attempting to form a cooperative/association. They are being helped by an organization called INFOCOP. This organization basically picked the president of the board of directors without considering the community members' votes. This made many upset and led some to not want to participate in the cooperative. It seems like there was a lack of communication when the cooperative's board of directors was formed; many community workers were not taken into consideration.

The natural capital of the community is truly breathtaking. They have a few waterfalls. Some of these don't have a path to them but there is one that has a trail made by one of the farmers (for the tourism). I was lucky enough to find this beautiful frog sitting on a leaf. 

This is a photo of Rodrigo Ureña, one of the farm owners. We had lunch at their farm after seeing the waterfall. He told us about the disfunctionality of the cooperative's board of directors and why some people are upset with the election of the president. He explained that the president should collaborate with the community but apparently the elected president only works at his own farm and doesn't assist the rest of the community members.