The January, 2012 Adams County agriculture delegation had the opportunity to witness first-hand in the village of Talolinga the progress being made in the project recently initiated by the Young Grower Association with the support of Project Gettysburg/León, St. James Lutheran Church, and individual contributors.
The delegation observed the training that Javier Espinoza, who was selected to be the extensionist for Talolinga, is receiving through Nuevas Esperansas. Then the delegation spent two days in Talolinga participating in workshops Javier gave on compost building, integrated pest management, and site preparation for family gardens. Tara Baugher, of the YGA and a member of the delegation, reports, "Javier already is having an impact as an extensionist . . ." In addition to the training with Nuevas Esperansas Javier is using part of the funding from Adams County to take agriculture-related courses on the weekends at the university in León. The delegation reports that Javier has the natural qualities of a good teacher.
The delegation consisted of Maggie Reid, Alana Anderson, Katy Lesser Clowney, Mark Clowney, Eddie Rankin, and Tara Baugher. As a follow-up to the visit to Talolinga Alana, Katy and Maggie gave a presentation during a session for Spanish-speakers at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention just days after returning from Nicaragua.
The Talolinga Agriculture Extension Project was approved by PGL in June of 2011, with funding beginning immediately. The anticipated two-year cost is $15,000. As of early February $3,100 toward this goal had been received from individual donors. The first stage of the program and its expenses is related to the six-month training of Javier.