Marcelo Medina ~ Elder

Marcelo Medina was born in the village of Bullet Tree Falls.  At the end of elementary school, Marcelo was unable to continue his education because he needed a way to support himself.  This urgency led him to become a chiclero, joining a group of field workers who harvest chicle, organic chewing gum. Although the pay was not exceptional, Marcelo found the job to be an exciting one.  He worked three months in the wet season, living in camps in the forest for the entire duration.  Marcelo continued to harvest for seven years, during which time the price of chicle gradually rose.

With the money he had saved from chicle production, Marcelo found himself a financially stable man.  This meant that he could indulge in some of the things he had previously denied himself.  At the age of twenty Marcelo was finally able to wed.  He married a beautiful woman named Linda with whom he had ten children: five boys and five girls.

Ten years later, Marcelo began attending workshops conducted by the Department of Agriculture at Central Farm to learn more about farming.  He began focusing his time on planting fruit trees and started to cultivate orange, avocado, mango and coconut trees right on his own property. He reflects on the changes he has seen in his community,

“… around the ‘50s, ’55, all of us used to drink that river water, everybody. Everybody used that water from the river. And those times, we no hear not much [high] blood pressure, we no hear much diabetes. People were stronger than anything…We used to eat chicken, foul, turkey, but they are not grown with concentrate (hormones), with mash, nothing like that. Lone local food. And nowadays, our own people, they no want to kill local chicken because they have to kill it.”

Currently Marcelo is keeping up with the growing produce industry and is willing to work harder to remain competitive.  He is expanding his forest garden with mahogany, cedar, and cericote. One of Marcelo’s sons, Lucas, has followed in his father’s footsteps as a forest gardener.