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At the start of November, we held a TLF team reunion in Pluma Hidalgo to visit families involved in the project, reflect on Phase One, discuss future plans and do some good ol' team building.
TLF team members Courtney Wilson, Robbie Francis, Darren Ward and creative mind Yonel Watene joined TLF field directors Ryan and Jess Sanders and their two children Lorenzo and Ebony in Pluma Hidalgo.
On Darren's first night, Doña Gaby and her two daughters Marisol and ViryLu cooked a delicious Mexican feast to welcome The Lucy Foundation team. Pepe, Doña Gaby's youngest child, has been working with Jess and Ryan for more than a year now helping with workshops, renovating an old coffee mill and assisting on building projects. It was amazing to see how this entire family has welcomed Jess and Ryan and The Lucy Foundation's vision with open arms.
The next day it was planning time! We each wrote down our ideas, no idea was too small, too big, too strange or too normal. It was all about sharing and collaboration. As we move forward with Phase Two, we are also thinking about Phase Three and the future sustainability of the project.
That afternoon, we met with another family working with The Lucy Foundation - Don Epifanio and Doña Serafina. Ryan and Pepe have been working with Don Epifanio and his son Fidel on their family coffee farm prepping coffee for this year's harvest. The family has adopted practices from our agricultural workshops and applied them to their crops. This has resulted in a smaller coffee crop this year, but healthier plants for a high-quality, high-yield crop in the future.
While the team were together, Doña Alicia, one of our beloved family members, passed away. She has worked with The Lucy Foundation since the very beginning and encouraged two of her sons, both with disabilities, to participate in training and employment opportunities offered by The Lucy Foundation. Earlier this year, in a reflection meeting she commented on how happy it made her that her sons were more independent and had purpose outside of the family home. Seeing how much that meant to her is part of the reason we do what we do.
As you walk through the town you can feel the love that there is for Jess, Ryan, the kids and the project, from people offering support to wanting to be a part of our activities, people are open to The Lucy Foundation and empowering people with disabilities in the community.
It is not an easy process, nor is it straight-forward and we couldn't have asked for two better, more committed field directors than Jess and Ryan. They have started to create real change in Pluma Hidalgo through meaningful interactions with the community and their passion for inclusion and equality.
All-in-all a great reunion!
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