Growth in a Pandemic

Written by Antonio Mejia, Manager of Campus Garden “DEMOSFÉ”

Translated from Spanish by Lavinia Becker

Student intern, Doris, cleans the containers used to fertilize (natural of course!) and water the garden. Even with the restrictions, there is still so much to do in the campus garden!

The recent growth of the CO-VID 19 pandemic, which has brought the entire world to its knees, has revealed, in many places, people’s true character. It has brought out panic, hatred, racism, selfishness and other negative feelings. Whereas these feelings are usually asleep, they wait for the “right” moment to come out. This further impoverishes people’s souls in a time when they need as much positivity and hope as possible.

Billions in the world are without work and aren’t receiving any payment , and one of, or perhaps the greatest, fear in not knowing how long this pandemic will last is not having the necessary food to feed themselves and their families. Having adequate food means having the nutritional elements our body needs. The mentality of eating "what you can get” in the middle of this situation means that people are not able to get what they need, but instead are led by a natural survival instinct and will eat whatever they can get.

This is also the case for many people who are going hungry simply due to the lack of guidance and adequate resources to learn how to grow their own food, despite living in a place (El Salvador) where fertile land abounds.

In response to this food crisis and to the uncertainty that is being experienced here in El Salvador, we have taken on the task in our small DEMOSFÉ garden of cultivating a contingency crop, which is not normal at this time of the year due to the high temperatures. Within our community of faith as we deal with this pandemic, we are achieving incredible results in the development of our crops, and seeing the growth of all of our crops. Our cucumbers, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, beans, corn, squash, eggplants, carrots, beets, and lettuce are healthy and growing.

This harvest will provide healthy food with the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need for their proper functioning. We are not depending on the local market and are saving money in our budget, which will allow us to redirect funds to other needs in our community.

The composting efforts are still going strong. This is another way that Antonio has kept the campus garden from being dependent on outside sources for its materials.

We are a blessing for many people: close neighbors, relatives, and people from other communities whom we have helped by providing vegetables that we have produced. We have blessed them by selling healthy products at fair and reasonable prices, helping them to be healthier.

We will continue to do this in the future because we believe that God is with us at all times and we believe that fear should not hinder someone’s food availability, which is so lacking at this moment in history.

Having faith has led us to respond to the pandemic restrictions with growth instead of fear. This time has produced a lot of growth in us because we also believe we can be a light. Not a light that is static in one place to illuminate a certain sector but one that moves in various directions so that many more can see and know that brightness of the Word of the Lord.

All of this work requires effort and personal sacrifice, but we know that growth comes on the other side of facing these real situations and needs.

It is at that opportune moment where we must put into practice what we are actually learning from the Word of God, knowing that this effort will not only help us but will help many more. We will serve as an example of what the justice the Lord wants for all people.

Antonio has planted two types of squash among the fruit trees to take advantage of space! This is an efficient way to apply permaculture principles.