Val's take on Moringa

::January 17, 2011::

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but nobody in Honduras cares. We had beautiful sunny weather for the 20-70 minute ---20min according to Ricardo, 70 min by some estimates... the actual time is still unknown, but at this point I'm pretty sure Honduran minutes do not equal U.S.A. minutes--- ride out to Zamarano. First we met up with an American gentleman named Tom Currin, who married a strong-willed Honduran woman many years ago and moved to Honduras three years ago. The plan to show us his moringa tree (known as the "miracle tree" and widely used for its health benefits in India as Greeshma elaborated) plantation was almost foiled by hungry cows. But we went out to the fields to see the trees anyway. A few of our group ate the seeds from one of the few pods that the cows left after they ravaged his crops. The seeds were crisp and juicy with a spicy finish.

We left the moringa field to visit with a professor at the Zamarano agricultural college. He spoke with us about the school's achievements and its place in the global ag scene. His talk about the school was followed by an indoor presentation by U.S.A. Tom. Tom expects his moringa tree pet project to demonstrate the moringa tree's potential to become the future waste-free, grow-anywhere crop to be used as fuel, food, vitamin supplement, erosion prevention tool and more. Lofty goals for a pet project.

Next we visited Keeny's house for lunch and animals and a walk around campus. It was nice to get out of the city for a relaxed afternoon in Zamarano. We had plenty of time to reflect about our trip so far on the 40ish minute drive home. Dinner back in Tegulcigalpa, then showers and a S.W.O.T. analysis of CREA.

After our fourth day out, the group has gotten a hearty slice of Honduran life. This evening Adrian reflected that we have seen a diverse selection of Honduran poverty, sustainability efforts, social issues, traffic, charity... I could go on. Of course we've also enjoyed eachother's company in deep conversation, laughs and uncomfortably close seating in our Honduran charriot (see picture). Looking forward to tomorrow, aka "Fancy Tuesday" when we will all dress to the nines to meet either the Cardinal or someone else important or both or neither!