El Salvador famers get connected in England and Wales
Fidel and Erasmo from El Salvador with volunteers from Twickenham in their parish garden
This March, four farmers from a tiny village in El Salvador are visiting Catholic parishes across England and Wales to share experiences and learn from each other.
Erasmo Valiente, Sandra García, Julia Laguán de Ramos and her husband Fidel Ramos Gonzaléz are from the community of Puentecitos, which features in CAFOD’s Connect2 scheme. Catholic parishes have built a relationship with this community over the past three years through exchanging messages and pictures and by raising money. This is the first opportunity for community members from Puentecitos to visit the UK.
A warm welcome
Julia and Fidel have six children. Through their success raising pigs and chickens they have been able to afford the mortgage on their home. Julia is part of a women’s cooperative bakery.
She said: “Knowing that people so far away are thinking of us and our community gives us energy and strength to keep working in our groups. But I never imagined that the people I’d meet here would feel like my own family. I’ve felt deeply the warmth of welcome we’ve received.”
Between the four of them, they will visit 12 dioceses. This will include visits to fair trade initiatives, food banks and farms, to help them explore the similarities and differences between life in the UK and in El Salvador.
Our efforts bear results
They began their journey in St Margaret of Scotland parish in Twickenham, where they spoke at Mass and visited the parish garden where volunteers grow leeks, cabbages, potatoes and other vegetables which are sold to raise money for our work in El Salvador.
Parish priest Father Jeremy Trood said: “Meeting Fidel and Erasmo here in the parish, we were struck by their commitment and their enthusiasm. Seeing how much they have achieved in such a short time really galvanises us and renews our commitment. It brings home that however small our efforts seem to be, they do bear results.”
Campaign on hunger
Sandra, 19, lives with her mother and sister and six brothers and is still in high school. Like Julia, she belongs to one of the women’s cooperative groups trained and supported by our partners.
Erasmo, 50, works for the Jesuit Development Service (JDS), a CAFOD partner since 1992, teaching organic farming methods to help farmers diversify their crops, improve their families’ health, boost their income and protect their land for future generations.
Erasmo said: “The lack of land means many people have nowhere to grow their own food so they have to buy everything. For us it’s the main cause of poverty – not having access to water or our own land to cultivate.
Sarah Smith-Pearse from CAFOD's Latin American team said: “We live in a world which produces enough food for everyone, yet one in eight people go hungry. This visit from El Salvador reminds us of the reality facing many of our brothers and sisters overseas, and how we can learn from each other in order to make the world a fairer place.
"During this visit, we’re encouraging people to join our campaigns to call on the Prime Minister to take action towards a world free from hunger.”
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