ECHO FIELD TRIP

One of the field trips we went on  was to ECHO. ECHO stands for the Educational Concerns of Hunger Organizations. It is a Christian organization that focuses on helping people in third world countries better their lives by showing them how to produce food for themselves according to their environment. They have different ecosystems right on their farm that they use to grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables and see what grows best under what conditions or what will withstand harsh weather conditions so they can teach these families and communities overseas. I fell in love with the farm! The different ecosystems they have are just amazing and bountiful! There is a rice paddy, animals, and all sorts of fruits and vegetables which I love! We were introduced to the Moringa tree which blows my mind! It sounds like a Walmart or one-stop-shop. I am surprised that it is not more readily available. Our tour guide spoke about her stay with an indigenous family and how she helped them grow different species of avocados so they could support their family year round not only during one farming season. This particular family/community depending on one type of avocado so when it was time to sell them they got bottom prices for all their hard work because everyone else in the community was selling at the same time. They were then left to live off of these earnings for the whole year which was only a few bucks. By introducing different species of avocado they were able to produce avocado year round and get top dollar when other families/communities didn't have anything to sell.
   Her story reminded me about my trip to Guatemala. I was able to see first hand what real poverty was and how they lived. Me and my best friend went backpacking through these little towns in the middle of country away from the city and it was just an unforgettable experience. I learned to appreciate my family and life SO much. I wanted to help them so bad but I just don't know how. I have ideas but I don't know where to start . ECHO does what I had envisioned in my head but didn't know how to do. I think the fact they exist and are so close to home is AWESOME! I would love to volunteer and be able to go to other countries and help people soon!