Family Profiles

Aidé Méndez Ramírez and Misael Alvarado Méndez

Aidé and Misael´s grandchildren José (May 14, 1992) and María Paola (August 27, 1998) visit them often, in their house at the end of a road tucked away in the woods just below Finca La Bella. They hope soon to be able to build a house on their parcel in order to be closer to their work. Aidé is known for her flock of chickens, which she enjoys taking care of when she’s not working in the parcel. Their parcel is a ten-minute walk from their house, along the footpaths that connect all the parcels of the finca through a bit of pasture, across a small creek, and through the woods. Once in their parcel, Misael, who very much enjoys working the land and planting trees, will gladly give a tour of the coffee, bananas, and plantains that the family produces. They also have a dairy cow, a pig, and plenty of vegetables, including lettuce, corn, beans, cilantro, squash, cucumbers, and radishes. In their parcel, Aidé and Misael have various fruit trees as well, from which they gather oranges, lemons, mangos, and avocados. They sell what they grow to local families, the neighborhood grocery store, and to the Eco-lodge. Generally, they like to work in the parcel from about 8:00 each morning to around 1:00 in the afternoon.

Álvaro Vega Anchía and Elizabeth Mata Leitón

Álvaro and Elizabeth, along with their children Adriana (November 20, 1993) and Jason (May 3, 1995), are one of the newest families on Finca La Bella, pictured here with Katie Walker, a student they hosted this summer. They have always enjoyed hosting students and volunteers because of what they learn from them. In addition to coffee, their main crop, which they sell to the Santa Elena Cooperative (producer of Café Monteverde), they grow plantains, bananas, lettuce, and corn for their own family. Álvaro plays soccer in San Luis with a team each Wednesday, while Elizabeth is involved with the local artisan craft cooperative CASEM (Cooperativa Artesanos de Santa Elena y Monteverde).

Amalia Rodríguez Delgado and Gilberth Lobo Navarro

Along the lane from the top entrance to Finca La Bella sits the several-story house where Amalia and Gilberth live. They have three children—Christian (August 21, 1985), Susan (July 31, 1993), and Josué (December 25, 1994). They built their home so that there are actually four levels, with a half-story between each one. The upper part of the farm where they live used to be abandoned coffee plantation, but they have planted windbreak trees, fruit trees, bananas, and various vegetables. They also have expanded the coffee on their farm, which is their principal crop and which they sell to the Santa Elena Cooperative for Café Monteverde. In their free time, Gilberth loves running and usually participates in the annual San Luis Marathon. Amalia is part of Grupo de Amistad, a local group that plants in a greenhouse together. She also enjoys cooking for the family, something Susan likes to help with too, while Josué spends his time playing soccer and reading. Amalia says it’s important to have volunteers and students visit and learn to know the campo culture and typical foods and how to work the land. Her hope for the future of her family’s parcel and of Finca La Bella as a whole is “to always manage and cultivate our parcels and care for the forest land.”

Blanca Fuentes and Mario Castro

Marlo and Blanca live in the upper portion of Finca La Bella, where they grow lettuce, radishes, cilantro, squashes, and onions. They spend Mondays and Wednesdays selling their produce at markets in Guacimal and Santa Elena, working most of the day on the parcel the rest of the week. Aside from their farming, Blanca loves to cook and visit with friends, while Mario builds furniture from bamboo to sell. They also frequently go down to lower San Luis to watch the soccer games there. Mario’s brother Elierses Castro also lives with the family, as well as their grown son Mario Enrique and their youngest son Francisco (February 12, 1989). Their middle son, Huberth, lives outside of their home. .

Damaris Salazar Picado and William Leitón Méndez

When Damaris and William started to work on their parcel, they planted trees to break the strong winds that come through the San Luis valley. Three or four years after they moved into their home on Finca La Bella with their three children Wilfredi (February 9, 1992), Freisel (August 5, 1997) and Kimberli (September 21, 1999), the trees they had planted were large enough to allow them to begin planting. Now they grow corn, bananas, plantains, green beans, chili peppers, and taro root. They don’t use organic fertilizers yet, but like most families on the Finca, they farm organically without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. The family enjoys planting their garden together and helping with projects in the community. For example, Damaris helped form with two other women of the Finca the women’s artisan cooperative called Artesanas de Finca La Bella. She also is a part of the school foundation and kindergarten committee. Wilfredi takes music classes and plays guitar and flute, hoping to learn piano as well. Damaris says the family enjoys learning about culture through hosting students and volunteers. “It’s important to me that our children learn that there shouldn’t be differentiation between each person because of color or culture.”

Edith Salazar Picado and Milton Brenes Mendez

When asked how his family’s parcel has changed since they began to work on it, Milton, who loves to talk, says there is “muchisima diferencia! Before, we didn’t have a specific place to produce agriculture, and now we have a place to produce organically.” The family has also helped with the reforestation project on the farm. The kids Jonathan (March 15, 1991) and Jusette (June 13, 994) had an idea for a peaceful park on their parcel where they could study and play, and they have planted rows of trees that are now several years old. Their goals for the farm are that their children are a part of the project and that they continue maintaining the combination of protecting the forest and reforestation with agriculture. For example, the windbreaks that many families have planted on their parcels help conserve the soil while also reforesting. They sell their coffee to groups of tourists and students that visit the farm, chicken meat to neighbors and the Monteverde Quaker community, and occasionally their vegetables to the Eco-Lodge. Having students and volunteers allows them to share the vision of the farm with them to take back to their own parts of the world. “I like to learn what their customs are,” Edith adds.

Erci Leitón Cuvero and Oldemar Salazar Picado

On Erci’s and Oldemar’s parcel, which is just inside the upper gate to Finca La Bella, they grow mainly coffee, which they sell in Santa Elena, to other families, and to the nearby Eco-Lodge. They also grow tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cilantro. Their hope for the future of the parcel is to make it more economically efficient. When they have volunteers and students in their home, they enjoy spending time talking with them, developing relationships and understanding about other cultures. Their kids Juan Manuel (April 6, 1986), Gloriana (August 7, 1992), and Melani (January 13, 2000) like playing cards and otherwise hanging out with them (Melani loves to have her picture taken!). When he’s not working on the parcel, Oldemar gives tours of the finca to groups of students and tourists. As a family, they all take part in activities with the church and school.

Hugo Picado Céspedes and Odilie Mora Burgos

One must walk along paths through the parcel, divided like rooms by the trees planted to break the wind, before getting to Odilie’s and Hugo’s house, where they live with their grandson Jeison (August 4, 1986). They have a well-cultivated plot with a lot of crop diversity—principally coffee, but also lettuce, celeriac, cabbage, radishes, sweet potato, carrots, manioc, taro root, corn, plantains, and bananas. They sell a lot of their produce to the nearby Eco-Lodge, where Odilie works. Hugo works all day in his parcel, but also cuts wood for furniture building and gives tours of the farm to student and tourist groups.

José Cruz Salazar and Mavis Trejos Garro

José and Mavis just moved into their new home on Finca La Bella in May of 2004 and are in the process of adding a room in order to be able to host students and volunteers. Mabis hopes to work with visitors soon because she enjoys tapping into other cultures and especially learning about foods from other parts of the world. The family has one daughter (Emily, October 22, 1992) and two lively sons (Alonzo, June 8, 1996, and Andres, August 14, 1998). Presently, they grow black beans on their parcel and plan to plant more in the future after they have finished working on their recently built home. For now, they work mostly on the weekends in their parcel. As a family, they like working together on their house and parcel and playing soccer. Mavis is part of Artesanas Finca La Bella. Emily is also a talented beginning embroiderer and baker, while the boys like to play outside, draw, and color.

José Daniel Chavarría González and Victoria Campos Sivaja

Approaching José Daniel’s and Victoria’s house from the path near the school in San Luis, one might hear the sounds of music coming from their open door. When they’re not working, José Daniel picks up his 1948 classical guitar and strums a few tunes while Victoria sings. Occasionally, they pull out their maracas and harmonica, too. “We feel very peaceful in our house,” Victoria says, and their contentment there is apparent. They work in their parcel whenever the sun is out. They have coffee, bananas, cilantro, scallions, spinach, and eggs, all of which they sell in San Luis and the neighboring towns of Santa Elena, Monteverde, and Cerro Plano. “We like to host volunteers and students because of the friendships we build with them,” Victoria says. José Daniel adds that he enjoys sharing music and working with them.

Juan Fuentes Ramirez and Xenia Cruz Rodríguez

Juan, Xenia, and their four daughters Lidieth (June 19, 1987), Karen (May 14, 1992), Melissa (December 9, 1993), and Erica (October 7, 1996) live in the neighborhood below the lower end of the farm, near Aideé and Misael. Xenia works at the Eco-Lodge and is part of the women’s artisan cooperative on the farm. The kids take part in community activities when they’re not in school, such as the recent English classes given by a volunteer this summer. Juan works on the parcel during the mornings and early afternoons, where he cultivates coffee, plantains, chayote squash, and taro root. They will soon have lettuce, radish, and chili peppers as well. The family hopes in the future to be able to build a home on their parcel to be nearer to their work and closer to the rest of the Finca La Bella community.

Xenia says they’ve enjoyed being able to provide themselves with food from their own garden. She enjoys practicing English when they host visitors, and having the chance to help them with their Spanish.

Lorena Leitón Mendez and Marcos Marín Murillo

Lorena and Marcos live in the upper part of Finca La Bella with their son Jorge Luis (October 26, 1984), twin sons Arnaldo André and Marco Vinisio (September 14, 1998), and daughter Neybi Karina (October 18, 1994). During the week, the kids spend much of their time studying or working, but on the weekends, the family works together in their parcel and takes part in various activities at the school and with the Finca community. They principally grow legumes, but also have corn and plantains, which are all for the family’s own use. Since they have been on their parcel, they have put a lot of work into making the land more suitable for planting. Hosting students and volunteers in their home allows them to learn about different cultures from around the globe.

Marielos Cruz Rodríguez and Olivier Garro Murillo

Marielos and Olivier just moved in February of 2004 onto the parcel they’ve been working on for several years with their children Martha (17), Kevin (13) and Keylor (June 19, 1995). Their new house is on the lower end of the farm, which used to be mainly pasture. They’ve done a lot of work to transform it into cultivatable land with windbreaks. Marielos says her hopes for the future are to be able to work entirely on the parcel without depending on other sources of income “and to teach the children how to work the land.” They also will probably sell their coffee in the future, but as for now, they grow this and various vegetables including beans, corn, bananas, plantains, yucca, and ñampí for their own consumption. On the weekends, the whole family enjoys working together, since the kids aren’t in school. Olivier is on the board for the parceleros’ association and does some construction work in Monteverde. Marielos spends a lot of her time embroidering and painting for the finca women’s artesan group, which she helped form, and teaching catechism classes. The kids are most helpful in helping the students and volunteers that they host improve their Spanish. Marielos says, “The student forms part of the family, and when he or she has to leave my house, the family doesn’t want them to leave.”

Miriam Salazar Solórzano

Miriam’s family spends much of their time working with wood, building furniture and other projects out of local timber for a living. The interior of their home is all their own work. Miriam lives with her grown son, Carlos, in the middle section of Finca La Bella, where a driveway off the main road leads to many of the parceleros’ homes. Son Ronald lives nearby, and he spends his days in his woodshop is in the parcel. For Miriam, working in the soil with volunteers and students is very rewarding—It gives her the opportunity to learn from them and to share her experience with them as well. She spends many of her mornings working in the parcel, where the family grows cilantro, taro root, plantains, coffee, and various greens. She also spends much of her time making a variety of crafts to sell in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

Virginia Leitón V.

Two paths leading from the neighborhood school and a lower part on the road through San Luis meet at a yellow house high above the road where Virginia and her two sons Jonathan (January 15, 1987) and Pablo (April 13, 1991) live. On their steep parcel, they mainly grow corn and beans, which they use for their family meals and give to other families. Besides going to school and working on their parcel, Pablo plays soccer, taking part in the popular games on the field in Lower San Luis. Virginia’s skill and love for working with her hands is apparent to everyone around her—when she’s not working in her garden, she not only enjoys giving massages, but also makes crafts for Artesanas Finca La Bella and is well-known for her homemade donuts and tamales, which she sells and gives to friends. Virginia likes having the company of volunteers and students in her home, especially when her sons are working or at school. The work from volunteers on the parcel is great help for the family. “It’s a way to learn about other cultures,” she adds.

Margarita Torres Salazar and Noé Vargas Leitón

Noé, Margarita, and their three children Paola (October 10, 1995), Sebastian (September 21, 1998), and Karen Noélia (September 12, 2001) live along a lane across from the upper entrance of Finca La Bella. Their parcel lies in the lower end of the farm, about a fifteen minute walk from their home, where they have planted windbreaks to protect the coffee, fruit trees, corn, plantains, bananas, squash, and potatoes they grow. When they host volunteers and students, they like working with them in the parcel and the kids love to hang out with them. Paola likes to play, go walking, and go to school and play soccer. Sebastian enjoys to run, play soccer, and sometimes going to the Kinder. They are both very involved with the San Luis community. Noé is the president of the San Luis Development Association, and Margarita takes part in Artesanas Finca La Bella.

Ivannia Arguedas Cruz and Lidier Alvarado Méndez

Lidier (May 11, 1973) and Ivannia (January 24, 1977) live on their parcel just off of the long lane that leads to Casa de la Finca and Casa Maple. They reside with their two sons, Manfred David (June 7, 1997) and Frayser Josué (November 12, 1999), who goes by Josué, along with parents, Ramona Mendez Ramirez (October 31, 1938) and Benedicto Alvarado Carranza (February 24, 1941). Ramona, who is affectionately called Monchita, always dreamed of moving back to San Luis, where she spent her childhood. When the family first arrived on their parcel it was nearly all pasture grass, with a few existing windbreaks and some established coffee. The household now sells their coffee to CoopeSanta Elena, and produces plantains which they give away to neighbors. They also grow avocados, oranges, lemons, papayas, mango trees, and many guayabas. In their garden, cilantro, pepper, corn, radishes, green beans, cabbage, onions, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and yucca (manioc), are planted. They enjoy eggs from Monchita’s many chickens, and Bonita the goat should soon be producing milk. Manfred says not to forget to include their two dogs in the count. In the future the family hopes to have a milk cow, and plant the whole parcel with vegetables and fruit trees. Josuéé, who is also known as “Macho,” plans to focus on papaya and cabbage.

Ivannia and Monchita work in their parcel mainly in the morning, while Lidier’s schedule depends on his hours as a waiter in a local hotel. Benedicto is the manager of a farm in the south of the country, but works dawn to dusk in the parcel when he is home. In her spare time, Ramona enjoys crocheting, watching the news, reading the Bible, planting in the parcel and her flower garden, and caring for her flock of chickens. Ivannia’s leisure pastimes are jogging in the afternoons, embroidering with the Artesanas Finca La Bella, and baking desserts. Lidier’s hobbies include participating in a night indoor-soccer league, playing daytime soccer with his sons, and working in the parcel. Manfred loves to plant everything in the garden, play soccer, ride his bike, play, draw and color, and go to school. Macho (Josuéé) also likes to work in the garden, draw, color, help his dad, do carpentry, and ride his bike.

Ivannia is active in the community through Artesanas Finca La Bella, and is the school treasurer; Lidier is treasurer of the Kinder Committee, while Ramona is active in the church. Ivannia takes pleasure in sharing across cultures with volunteers and students, while Manfred plans to take visitors to meet the neighbors, plant in the garden, and to learn how to milk the hoped-for cow. Macho will play, color, and read books with you. The family has plenty of work for volunteers and at the time of writing were beginning construction of a room for guests.•

<< Back to Projects page • In-home Visitation • Project Overview • Project Background • Report of the AKSL/San Luis Committee