Self-sustainability        By N.E.M. Edgar Estuardo Larios

Hello, I am Levi Estuardo de Leon, student of the NUFED Centre n°14.
Because of the lack of employment in our community and a land with poor productivity due to water shortages, my father, like many, had to migrate to the United States.
As a consequence, it has been 10 years that my siblings and I haven’t seen our father.

My sister was the first one to integrate into the Educational Centre. After her, my older brother Byron did too.
I am taking the last year of lower secondary school in the Centre.

My younger brother is in the first year in the same Centre.
The NUFED Centre provides us with the basic knowledge of the common-core curriculum and most importantly, teaches us how to manage our land and our productive projects such as the
family vegetable gardens: cucumber, radish, coriander, chard, chili, and others.
Breeding of broiler, laying hens, Tilapia fish, snails, clams…
Considering the necessities of our household, and the fact that we do not have a father who could teach us production techniques - such as corn and bean production, to support our household needs - we produce pineapples in between hedgerows, we raise laying hens and turkeys, as well as other small animals.

The most important cash crop in my family is sugar cane. Out of it, we make local sugar cake (“dulce de panela”), which is a good source of income for us.
We can also rely on the family vegetable garden
And as the saying goes, “when there are fruits in your garden, there are friends at your door”.

Translation: Laure Rogès