Living Roots/Raíces Vivas News from the Field
Spring is always a busy and productive time of year for Living Roots. This year we have several new and exciting projects.
To find out about Semana Santa (Holy Week) activities, including interpretative walks and hikes to rock art, go to our Facebook page.
Growing our Impact through Loreto Farmers’ Market
Living Roots has joined forces with Mariana Urias to launch a new Farmers’ and Artisan Market at the incredible Palmas Altas Property in Loreto. The market has been an immediate success! Rancheros and artisans within a hundred kilometer radius of Loreto are excited to finally have a direct sales outlet for their harvest and crafts.
Participants have begun to band together as a unified group to take the reins of shaping the development of the market with the goal of promoting a healthy and vibrant local community.
School Garden Harvest!
Chard, spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets and radishes livened the Secondary School yard this spring. With the help of Raíz del Fondo, La Paz based non-profit, students planted a small garden and learned the importance of eating home grown vegetables.
To celebrate the harvest, we made salad, dressing and sautéed greens with the students. Over mouthfuls of leaves, we facilitated an interactive nutrition activity. Some kids still aren’t convinced that vegetables are their favorite foods in the world, but we all had a fun day!
San Javier – Through the Eyes of a Local Guide
During the busy months, up to hundreds of visitors make the journey up to San Javier every day. Until recently, the option of being introduced to the history, culture and landscape by a local resident did not exist.
Living Roots in conjunction with the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, La Paz Campus, has begun to empower a group of motivated residents to identify local attractions, organize administration and guide several interpretive trails.
We plan to fully lunch the local guide service during Semana Santa (Holy Week), April 14-20.
San Javier Youth Visit Las Animas and La Paz
The community of La Animas, in the municipality of La Paz, has been working through the challenges of coming together as an organized community for the last four years. Last month, Azucena Higuera, our San Javier Field Coordinator, who was born and raised in Las Animas, facilitated a community exchange for a group of young representatives from San Javier to experience and learn from rancheros from Las Animas. They came away impressed with the pride and optimism of Las Animas to truly unite to solve community challenges, and with a renewed pride themselves of the lushness, and regional significance of their own hometown.
The group got to ride mules through the new interpretive trail Las Animas is opening, see various community operated cabanas in the surrounding area, visit several artisan stores and spent a morning with Raiz del Fondo’s Youth Leaders in their garden Sabores de La Tierra in La Paz.
Upon return to San Javier, the youth presented what they learned from their trip to the public and began an important conversation on the importance of uniting as a community.
The Cultural Center Gets a Facelift
The Cultural Center looks beautiful! Just in time for Semana Santa (Holy Week), a team of volunteers from the community, Loreto, Loreto Bay and Cayote Bay helped spruce up the Cultural Center by white washing the walls, building picture frames, hanging beautiful posters and redesigning displays.
Improvements were made based on recommendations from a Focus Group in February, who provided suggestions on how to continue improving the Cultural Center, artisan products and produce sales.
Behind the Scenes of the Cultural Center – Capturing Participants Stories
To relay the story and history of each Cultural Center participant, their products and their ranches, we have been compiling a catalog of images and anecdotes. The book will introduce visitors to the Cultural Center and Loreto Market to the people and places behind the scenes.
Thanks for your continued interest and support – until next time, onward and upward!