In mid-November, Love & Hope Children’s Home was invited to visit Finca la Providencia, a ministry of Fundación Esteban here in El Salvador. Fundación Esteban has provided Love & Hope with rice, beans, corn and fresh produce for a few years now. Their mission is to help provide food to schools and children’s homes, and they do so by running their 85 acre farm, Finca la Providencia, in the western department of Ahuachapan, El Salvador.
From our home in the city, the farm was about an hour-and-a-half drive away. It’s beautiful drive: mountains and volcanoes everywhere. Arriving at the farm, we were greeted by three dogs and the Love & Hope kids instantly made friends with them. After an introduction to the farm, we were led out to see some of the produce. Finca la Providencia has two acres of maracuya, or, passionfruit. We learned that passionfruit grows on a vine and is ripe when the skin is yellow. The vines were overflowing with fruit.
After seeing a couple of interesting trees, papayas trees, and the farm’s vegetable gardens, we were led to the guayaba, or guava, orchard. Love & Hope Children’s Home loves guavas and Fundación Esteban has obliged us several times with donations. It is common in El Salvador for guavas to be eaten with lime, hot sauce, salt and ground pumpkin seeds (don’t say “ew” until you try it). At the farm, we each got to pick a guava, which were wrapped in newspaper and plastic on the tree to protect them from insects. The guavas were huge! After picking them, the kids were hesitant to put them in a basket to be cleaned; everyone wanted to eat their own guava!
It was a hot day, so everyone was happy to be led back to the hacienda for lunch and shade. We were served chicken, vegetables and rice with corn tortillas made on a comal (a clay griddle which is heated over a fire). To drink we had fresh passionfruit juice. It was delicious. For dessert, we enjoyed the guavas we had picked an hour earlier.
After lunch, the Love & Hope kids were invited to take a tractor ride to the pond. The kids loved riding in the trailer through the corn fields. At the pond, the kids had the opportunity to explore, and a few even tried their hand at fishing. Jacobo caught a tiny, tiny little fish. It was still exciting!
The farm had great views of mountains just over the border in Guatemala. Central America sure is beautiful!
Thank you so very much to our friends at Fundación Esteban for inviting Love & Hope to visit Finca la Providencia. We loved every minute and we are always grateful for your donations. Fundación Esteban has truly been a blessing to Love & Hope Children’s Home!