Honoring "The Blue Green Hills of Earth": Earth Day 2006

Congregational Action Focus: The Unitarian Universalist Church in Peterborough, NH, and Sustainable Harvest International

As we all know by now, the rainforests of the world are at grave risk. These 'lungs of the world' are disappearing at the rate of one acre per second or more. More and more UUs, however, are taking action to reverse this dangerous trend. They are doing so under the auspices of a nonprofit organization founded by a woman who is a long-time UU herself.

Sustainable Harvest International  (SHI) has welcomed UU congregations and families as some of the first participants in its new Smaller World programs. Through the Smaller World Partners program, UU congregations and other community groups in the US are forming relationships with communities in Central America where SHI works. The US groups provide moral and financial support for the work that Central American families are doing in their partner communities.

The Unitarian Universalist Church in Peterborough , NH, became SHI's first Smaller World congregation when they partnered with the Honduran community of Montelimar two years ago. Since then members of the congregation have provided funding for the technical assistance and materials provided to Montelimar, while receiving periodic updates on the results of that support.

Sustainable Harvest International works with local farmers, cooperatives, and indigenous groups that invite them into their communities.  SHI provides these groups with long-term assistance adopting sustainable land-use practices such as reforestation, agro-forestry and organic farming. SHI hires and trains qualified local people as sustainable land-use extensionists who in turn work with participating communities and families. The techniques and practices allow rural people to raise their standard of living without clearing more forest.  As one extensionist said, "We are saving trees by saving families."

SHI has been in operation for nine years and has made remarkable progress. Working in 71 communities with 729 families, SHI has:

• Planted 1,700,000 trees to date.
• Saved more than 25,000 acres of tropical forest from slash and burn farming.
• Converted more than 5,000 acres of degraded land to sustainable uses.
• Started 23 community loan funds with $10,000 seed capital, that now self manage $20,000 capital.

Together with or separate from its Smaller World Partnerships, SHI offers Smaller World trips in which participants not only experience the unique beauty of one of the four countries (Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Panama) where SHI works but spend some time as volunteers on the farms as well. Several UU members have gone on trips, including Anne and Ward Stoops, who went as emissaries from the Peterborough Unitarian Church to visit their church's partners in Montelimar, Honduras. Anne said, "...the leaders of the community, all standing in a curve, used over and over the word "gratitude" to "iglesia" (Spanish for 'church'), and we in turn through our translator said our words of gratitude for the opportunity to be there. We headed downhill to one farmer's pineapple crop... and then the bonding really happened. Iri, age 10, a beautiful child and daughter of the farmer, followed me closely, giggling, smiling, and pointing to different objects and giving the Spanish word for each. She also observed the difficulty I was having maneuvering the steep slope and occasional wet slippery red mud on the windy path down, and went and found me a walking stick which she had her Dad cut to proper length for me with his handy machete. The frosting on the cake was when she, on our tromp back up the steep return, spontaneously gave me a push from behind (which Ward caught in a photo) – kindly, with lots of giggles, and real heart. We hugged at the top of the hill.  Never such a day!!"

Tom and Karen Barker from the Unitarian Universalist Society of Laconia , NH, went on one of SHI's Smaller World trips and said, "The trip was really a wonderful experience. Seeing such beautiful country and being in a different culture was great. The visit to Flor de Campo was extremely powerful for me. Seeing what had been done by hard work and co-operation in such a short time and the absolute love in the air brought me to tears. What was common to both those experiences was the feeling of ONENESS. There was no separation. No "helper or helpee" – there was just US! That is real, that is heaven. That is the spirit brought by the families, extensionists, and SHI."

SHI welcomes UU churches' involvement with the Smaller World programs. For more info rmation call SHI at 207-669-8254 or visit the website at www.sustainableharvest.org 

Honoring "The Blue Green Hills of Earth": Earth Day 2006

Unitarian Universalist Association
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