AFSC - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Making the Desert Bloom
"Beautiful cultural traditions surround farming,"says Sayrah Namaste, a staff member at AFSC-New Mexico. "At one of the farms, Azteca dancers bless the fields with their feet and their voices. The acequias are filled with flower petals once a year, a ritual passed down for generations to bless the source of life."
But
when the Sanchez family gave up the ground it
had farmed for more than 300 years, developers
wanted the rich land. Community members
approached La Plazita Institute, a grassroots
community organization, which agreed to lease
the ground and turn it into a community
farm.
Just one problem loomed: No one at the institute knew how to farm.
Enter AFSC New Mexico. "Our program is very
life giving," she says. "We work alongside New
Mexican farmers, tending to the plants that
nourish the communities we work in. Many of the
farming practices have been used in this desert
for centuries while other practices are new,
yet appropriate, technologies." The staff work
alongside small farmers to protect land and
water rights, as well as traditional cultural
practices.
"Imagine the people we work
with," Namaste says, "dedicated, outspoken
farmers who know their rights and their
traditions and are committed to protecting
them. One of the well-known phrases down here
is Tierra o Muerte, meaning they would die to
protect their land."
Albino Garcia, a ceremonial Sundance chief, leads La Plazita Institute. He's known nationally for his work in getting young people out of gangs. For two years, AFSC staff, Garcia, and other community members planned their vision-a place to produce fresh, organic food for the community and to give at-risk youth a chance to learn to farm.
"The average age of farmers here is 60," Namaste says. Getting young people involved in farming is one of AFSC - New Mexico's goals.
In January, Garcia and his son blessed the tools and seeds. In March, "Albuquerque's annual Cesar Chavez Day celebration was held for the first time at a farm-our farm," Namaste says.
Former gang members from La Plazita-Thugs Making A Change and Sisters Making A Change-staffed the celebration. Some used their graffiti skills to paint murals of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers on the walls around the farm, covering up gang graffiti.
Members of ARCA, a vocational organization for developmentally disabled adults, provide farm labor weekly.
[Editor’s note: Sayrah Namaste, AFSC New Mexico director Don Bustos, and AFSC Pacific Southwest Associate Regional Director Eisha Mason participated in the January ceremonies to open the farm.]
New Mexico Area Program
Since
1976, the New Mexico Program has identified
with the struggles of local people to empower
themselves, with particular attention to water
and land use and the need to support
traditional ways of life. This community
depends upon the ability of youth and other
residents to make efficient use of and protect
the natural resource base.
Background
Issues addressed:
 |
| NM Youth Service Project |
The Hispanic population of north-central New Mexico is challenged on a broad set of issues of cultural survival in areas such as economic oppression and lack of self-determination. Protection of traditional land and water rights has been a central concern for the Program.
To this end, AFSC has assisted local people and organizations in regaining control over traditionally utilized water resources and determining their future use. The survival of these communities is highly dependent upon the next generation's ability to learn to manage and make use of these resources.
Goals and proposed activities:
(1) Facilitate the empowerment of people to protect their land and water rights;
(2) Help protect the environment and improve water quality;
(3) Improve the socioeconomic welfare of traditional communities and help them to gain and sustain access to decision-making processes;
(4) Put youth back in touch with traditional and sustainable means of managing the land and water resources of their communities through initiatives in education, public health, economic development, the arts and historic preservation