This past May, Oakland University alum Jarret Schlaff traveled to Guatemala to take part in a humanities program that gave others the gift of growth. Schlaff graduated in 2010 with a degree in public policy and public administration and a minor in business with concentration in environmental studies.

Schlaff, who was the former student service director of OU Student Congress, applied for a position in the farmer service and solidarity project, which he heard about through a colleague at OUSC. The primary mission of the nonprofit project was to travel to some of the most destitute areas of the world to teach villagers about farming and what steps to take so they could thrive as a profitable farm.

Out of applicants from all over the nation, Schlaff was selected to be part of the irrigation group. He was selected, he believes, due to his experiences in his studies and his involvement with Urban Farming at OU.

Small village history

The central camp of the group was in the village of Sepa Cai in the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala, which is 200 miles north of Guatemala City. The people in this region of Guatemala spoke the Ixil language of Q’eqchi’. Schlaff, who speaks French and a moderate amount of Spanish, said, “(one of the hardest parts was) trying to get over the language barrier. I speak with my hands, so that helped.”

Luckily for the students, a translator from the area traveled with them to make the communication between groups easier. Also with the group was an ambassador from the CONIC group, which is an organization that works with the South American government to vie for farmers’ rights.

The group was fortunate enough to sleep in an old church that provided them with a roof and a concrete floor. The windows of the church were open for a week and a half, and they lived with bugs. Schlaff said the conditions were not as bad as he expected.

Four students from all across the nation took the trip together, funding the majority of the expenses out of their own pockets, and Schlaff received a $400 travel grant from OU.

The village of Sepa Cai consisted of Mayan campesino farmers who would earn their livings from the land. The villagers in this region had so little and had trouble turning a profit for their families.

The majority of the villagers were rent farmers, meaning they must pay rent for the land since they do not own it. Because of these circumstances, some villagers were homeless.

“(We) went to each individual community to show them composting, the correct way to look at crops and that would be our contribution to the community,” Schlaff said. The project also provided the communities with seeds to help them profit from these new techniques they had learned.

Aside from helping teach the community proper farming techniques, the group also helped construct new stoves in the tiny huts the villagers lived in.

The living conditions may have been rough, according to Schlaff, but the local cuisine was trying as well: the group mainly adhered to a diet of rice, beans and tortillas for the length of their stay. At one village, Schlaff said he tried armadillo and actually enjoyed it.

A scary reality

The mission group had a handful of experiences while in Guatemala, not including the local armadillo cuisine.

According to Schlaff, the weather was humid and rained almost every day and night, which eminently led to difficult conditions considering there was a six-hour truck ride back to Guatemala City.

On the way back to Guatemala City to catch their departing flight, the tire on their transportation truck started to go flat so the driver had stopped in the local village of Tucuru to fill the tire. As they drove back on the treacherous mountainside roads, the driver stopped briefly again to offer a ride to a friend walking on the road.

“Just as we came around the corner, the entire mountain came down before us,” Schlaff said.”There were boulders as big as me.”

According to Schlaff, about 15 of the locals started to dig out their vehicle y picking at the small rocks and pulling the larger boulders with rope. It took them over an hour to dig themselves out.

A landslide was not the only natural disaster the group faced while in Guatemala. A volcanic eruption outside Guatemala City tampered with their plans for flying home.

“We had no communication with the outside world,” Schlaff said. “We had no idea what had happened.”

The volcano and an approaching tropical storm grounded all planes out and into Guatemala so it was either wait a week for the storm to pass, or find an alternative.

While staying in a local hostel, the group met a man who also was on a mission in Guatemala helping farmers thrive. This gentleman suggested they take a bus to the neighboring country El Salvador and fly out from there.

Schlaff said a big part of his trip was interacting with the villagers. He played soccer with the children nightly and spent extra time with dedicated villagers who were eager to learn what Schlaff and the others had to teach. He was so grateful of the experience he taught others in the valley his new techniques, and the villagers gave Schlaff a prized machete and sheath, which out of respect, Schlaff took.

Future plans

Eventually, Schlaff would like to pursue his masters in environmental policy, but for now he is working to make Michigan a safer and more sanitary environment, and is currently working with the DNRE as a by-product synergy coordinator.

If you might be interested in a mission trip similar to Schlaff’s or have further inquires, visit farmersfightback.wordpress.com/guatemala