[LTER-luq] Fwd: Empower ECUADOR Post-Earthquake Cacao and Coffee, from Rocio Fernandez

[Jess Zimmerman]

Hi All,

Please see below.  Rocio was a volunteer at the field station a number of
years ago.  She moved to Ecuador and married Marcos shortly after.  They
have two small children now.

jess

Jess K. Zimmerman
Professor
Lead PI, Luquillo LTER Program
Department Environmental Sciences
University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

Tel: 787-764-0000 ext. 1-XXXX-# where XXXX is:
   LTER Program Office: 88233
   El Verde Field Station: 83467
Mobile: 787-380-3311

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: M Rocio F <mariarociofernandez at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, May 10, 2016 at 2:30 PM
Subject: Empower ECUADOR Post-Earthquake Cacao and Coffee, from Rocio
Fernandez
To: Maria Fernandez <maria.fernandez at maine.edu>


Dear friends and family,
If you receive this message we appreciate it if you can pass it on...

We were in the april 16, 2016 earthquake which hit the Ecuadorian coastline
at nightfall with a magnitude of 7.8.
Fortunately we were home in the rural community of Tabuchila, which like
many agricultural areas didn't face fatalities, but most houses were left
dangerously bent or fallen and landslides blocked paths and rivers.

The closet town to us is Canoa...
it was where our girls were going to daycare and prekindergarten classes,
it was our closest stop for "civilization"/internet/grocery
shopping/dancing,
it was just a beach town for tourists and a rowdy party spot during major
holidays.

Now it is a place where many died.
Where the survivors live with their makeshift shelters in a demolition zone.
Where we would trade it all for the monotony of yesterday.

The surrounding mayor cities north and south of us: Pedernales, Jama,
Bahia, Manta, Portoviejo are facing similar if not worse conditions.

San Vicente however has maintained itself mostly standing and has always
been the agricultural market center. The Federation we are a part of,
FOCAZNOM, did not crumble and as a result we have been able to keep working
together as 34 communities to better our situation. Our family always takes
cacao and coffee orders when we visit my parents in Upstate NY. This time
we have expanded our horizons and asked other FOCAZNOM families, who are
also housing displaced relatives and friends from affected cities, to work
together, harvest all their native organic cacao and coffee, transform it
into it's fermented/dried/peeled state, and therefore get a premium price
for their product. We will be bringing as many cacao balls, cacao nibs and
whole beans, "raw" cacao, green coffee, and roasted coffee as we can pack
with the four of us from the source...processed in Manabi from scratch to
you.
Proceeds will not only pay for the manpower and product, $1 per ball and
pound will go towards longterm projects with FOCAZNOM and direct donations
are always welcome and appreciated.

Please help us post the attached flier in public areas and spread the word.
Thank you so much for helping us keep working, keep living, despite this
disaster.

Sincerely grateful,
Rocio, Marcos, Aurora, Cecibel Figueroa, Eduardo Parraga and family, Alonso
Muñoz and families, Bartolo Moreira and family, Maestro Carlos Delgado and
families, and FOCAZNOM
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