Just beyond the beaches and resorts of Montego Bay, Jamaica, people are struggling to maintain a basic living in the small rural town of Catadupa. Experience Mission has been bringing volunteer teams to Catadupa for the past 6 years, and Executive Director Chris Clum first visited the community about 15 years ago. EM staff member Josh Gray spent two summers in Catadupa while in college and is currently EM’s primary contact for Catadupa leaders. During their time in Jamaica, Clum and Gray began to see that lasting change in the community was not going to be achieved just by bringing mission teams. A more strategic approach was needed.

The Catadupa Community Development Committee (CCDC) was formed in 2008 consisting of a team of Catadupa residents, and it exists to confront the needs of the community. It focuses on improving the community in various areas including health, education, and business. The current priority of CCDC members is developing agriculture, but without any significant resources or even a functioning office, they have been able to make little tangible progress.

In the fall of 2009, Gray and Leroy Gordon, local pastor and CCDC president, began discussing the community vision for economic development through agriculture, and since then EM has been partnering with the CCDC to assist in raising funds. The CCDC members are driving the vision, and they possess an in depth knowledge of local agriculture, but EM has a network of connections with people and organizations from the US who have resources. EM is committed to leveraging its time and resources to assist the community of Catadupa, and the CCDC will continue with the necessary on the ground research and planning.

The CCDC’s strategy for agricultural development is all about collaboration. There are many capable farmers in the community, but they lack the knowledge and resources to market their products. Even if they find a market, such as a hotel in Montego Bay, they lack any means for transporting their crops, and in most cases do not produce a sufficient quantity for the hotels to take notice. The CCDC intends to unite local farmers so that they can together produce sufficient quantities, and then provide a mechanism for contracting with hotels and transporting products. The farmers will sell to the CCDC, and it will in turn fulfill its contracts and transport the products to Montego Bay. CCDC profits will be used to sustain the program, provide supplies for the farmers, and fund other community initiatives.

The goal is to create opportunity. Gordon states, “One of the things about farming is that if you’re gonna plant you need market, so the CDC, we come together as a group, and what we want to do is to create the kind of a vehicle or the opportunity where we can provide the market for the farmers, and identify the market so when they plant their product they know exactly where, who they’ll be selling it to, and the price they will be getting from that.” Gordon explains that many farmers only sell to an occasional friend or neighbor, so he hopes that they can plant on a larger scale. He states, “There are more persons who will go into farming if bringing their product from point A to point B and getting a high return was possible.”

It’s been a long road for the people of Catadupa. Originally settled by runaway slaves, Catadupa was traditionally a farming community, but in the late 1800s the island’s main railway was extended to Montego Bay, and the resulting railroad line passed right through the center of the town. It became a primary source of employment and provided a consistent influx of tourists who were ready to purchase handmade clothing and crafts from local artisans. The train became the life of the town, and it provided a much needed connection to the outside world for nearly a hundred years. This all changed in the early 1990’s when the train was unexpectedly shutdown. The town was devastated; its economy and way of life had been destroyed overnight.

Today, the train station is dilapidated, the railroad tracks are covered in weeds, and the only local businesses area are a few poorly stocked shops. Without a market for their products, farmers struggle just to maintain basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothing. Most people live a life of abject poverty. While EM and other NGO’s have accomplished many projects, these fail to address the root cause of the poverty in Catadupa. A grassroots movement that will provide economic opportunity may be the only hope for Catadupa. This is why the locally led agricultural program is so important.

Both EM staff and CCDC members agree that the first step is to build a community resource center. This will serve as a platform for community collaboration, and it will include a functioning modern office for the CCDC. Noel Atkinson, a member of the committee, sees the establishment of a resource center with agricultural development as the number one priority for the community. He explains, “The potential is there for development, but as I said the whole thing is to get the resource center working, and alongside of that, we want to encourage the farmers now to get back into farming so that, you know, we can have some economic activity in the area. That would improve the standard of living.” Atkinson is a retired farmer who lives in Catadupa, and he has years of civic and industrial experience with a US corporation.

EM hopes to raise $40,000 for the construction of the resource center, and $50,000 for the development of agriculture by spring of 2011.

As our bus clanked up an old dirt road through the mountains of Honduras, Steve and I had no idea what to expect.  We were crowded so tightly into this big yellow school bus (Many of the public buses in Honduras are old school buses from the States.) that we could scarcely shift our feet. Nonetheless, we were anxious to arrive at our destination, which was a ranch in a small village called Junquillo. This ranch was owned by an American friend of Steve’s who was actually back in the States. We were to be greeted by his ranch manager Juan Lili. When we got off the bus, we were met by an eager gentleman in a baseball cap–it was Juan. Throughout the week, we would be our guide, confidently strutting around in similar attire with a handgun in his jeans and a slingshot in his pocket.  As Juan brought us through the gate, we were further greeted by six guard dogs, a yard full of chickens, and some pigs. I anxiously passed through this entourage and we arrived at the primary living quarters of the ranch, a small concrete house. This would be our new home for the next few days; our nights were to be filled with squealing, barking, and clucking. It wasn’t exactly the Ponderosa, but it was all we needed.

Over the next few days our goal was to investigate the needs of the community in hopes of finding future projects for mission teams. As it turned out there was no lack of needs. Initially, Juan discussed some community projects. The people of Junquillo and the nearby community of Ocotal are very religious, but there are not adequate meeting places for churches. One local evangelical church does not even have pews, and a whole side of the building consists of nothing but a blue tarp. The efforts to construct a new building have not been able to reach beyond a pile of stones. There is also a need for a kindergarten. The education of the children is very important to the community, but thus far they have not even been able to start this project. The resources for these projects simply are not available.

The gravest concern for the people of Junquillo is personal poverty–food and water are their top concerns. In Ocotal, they lack an adequate water supply. There is drinking water, but because there is no water system people are forced to walk a long way to draw water. Further, they are faced with the reality that the cost of living often exceeds their income. The average person will only make 100 lempira a day, which to put in perspective converts to approximately $5.25 in the US. It takes an entire day’s wages for a Honduran family to purchase 5 lbs. of beans. With these wages, it is a real struggle for the people of Junquillo to keep themselves fed. When you barely have enough money to buy food, you will be hard-pressed to find money for other important needs such as clothing or housing–forget about trying to save for the future. In Junquillo, there is little room for any ambition that extends beyond your next meal.

I compare this to my life in the States and I cannot help but be thankful. There are so many opportunities here. Not only do I have a job that provides ample financial stability, but I have the luxury of choosing between multiple career opportunities. In the US, we often take these privileges for granted. I have the ability to shape my future because I know that I will be rewarded for hard work. In Junquillo, a hard day’s work may not be enough.

As the days progressed, we found that everyone was both friendly and hospitable. Juan and his wife faithfully provided meals and plenty of coffee for us. The food was delicious, and they gave us generous portions. They told us that gringos (as white people are called) were always welcome in Junquillo. Because I don’t speak Spanish, there was a limit to how well I could get to know the Lili’s, but nonetheless I was treated as an honored guest.

The climax of our stay was a community meeting with representatives from Junquillo and Ocotal. A group of community members gathered into a concrete building that serves as a community center. Steve and I grabbed a couple of nearby chairs, which turned out to be children’s size and opened the floor for anyone to ask questions and make requests. We found that the construction of local churches and a kindergarten were very important to people; however, the clear consensus was that the most urgent needs were running water and food. One lady summed it up, by posing the question, “What good is a church if we’re starving to death, and we can’t walk there!” We were then informed that there are actually homeless families living out in the woods. Obviously, all of the projects are important, but we want to be sensitive to the immediate need to improve quality of life.

As we said our goodbyes and headed out to catch the bus from Junquillo, I was utterly convinced that we need to do what we can to help revitalize the community. The people are honest, hard-working folks, but they’ve been weighed down by poor economic conditions and low wages. They need a boost. It is my hope that we can provide the resources to make a new water system a reality. Further, we want to think of creative ways to help the food situation. Perhaps, as we accomplish these goals, the community will be energized so that we can partner with them with renewed strength. Most of all, I hope that through this process God’s love will be evident in our interaction and that he will work in people’s hearts and lives.

-  Josh Gray

There are many short term mission trips with Experience Mission (www.experiencemission.org ) Go to our website and select from one of our Honduras mission trips for this upcoming year.