Terry and Mary Hubers, along with their daughter, son-in-law, and three granddaughters, traveled to Nicaragua recently, in part to see a project run by a Farmer-to-Farmer program.
Mombachito coffee farmers with the Hubers family.
Farmer-to-Farmer (Nicaragua) began in 2002 to help landless Nicaraguan farmers in the areas around Matagalpa and Boaco. The partnership now includes over 80 farmers operating on six shared land banks. North American partners with experience in agricultural production offer mentoring and encouragement.
“Some of them are growing faster than others,” Hubers said. “We’re trying to get them to work as a group and to unify among themselves.”
Farmer-to-Farmer loans the money as part of its mission. “We go there with the love of Christ to hopefully raise their income for medical purposes and so they can send their kids to school. And we’re seeing that,” Hubers said.
When the farm begins to make money, the Nicaraguan farmers begin to pay back the loan. Some of them are in the repayment process already.
The Hubers, who attend Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Sioux Center, Iowa, spent about three days of their trip visiting with farmers, checking up on the land and a roaster and a grinder the farmers had recently received money for.
The family’s trip is the second of three separate trips scheduled from Northwest Iowa to Nicaragua. A third trip with a group from Oskaloosa, Iowa, will focus more on the farming aspect of the mission. “We try to focus on different areas, overall,” Hubers said.
About the Author
Kate Padilla is a staff writer at the Spencer Daily Reporter in Spencer, Iowa, where she is a member of Hope Church.
