Fight until the End, Give All You’ve Got — Lessons and Stories from CEA Senior Agroecology Technician Rubén Jesús Cotrina

by | Aug 14, 2024 | Blog | 0 comments

Growing up in a family of farmers, Rubén was often known to live in the “house of agriculture,” where his farming experience was purely empirical — what his father taught him. However, his father made it perfectly clear. His advice? Don’t become a farmer. Farmers were perceived as the lowest class citizens, those who couldn’t read or write and thus had no option but to work in the fields. Facing discrimination and having people look down on this career choice made his father yearn for Rubén not to study anything related to agriculture. Nevertheless, Rubén found himself as an agroecology student at the Eterazama Technological Institute (CEFTE).

CEA (right) and Mano a Mano Internacional warehouse (left)

Rubén remembers clearly when the CEA and the CEFTE formed a compact—the first of its kind with an institute in Bolivia. Watching the upperclassmen travel to the CEA, then first-year Rubén already had his interest piqued for where he could one day do his internship to fulfill his ambition of working in sustainable and organic agriculture. In July 2018, this finally became a reality, getting to spend two weeks at the CEA. Seeking to get at least 380 hours of hands-on practice to fulfill a requirement of his institute, Rubén then returned to the CEA from December 2018 to January 2019 as a part of the third group of CEFTE students to intern at the CEA.

Though the CEA has significantly expanded its offerings since his internship in 2018-2019, Rubén still gained experience preparing organic fertilizers, irrigating crops, and growing various fruits, such as grapes, apples, and peaches. He primarily worked under Maria Alice Borges, an environmentalist who specialized in waste management and vermicomposting. Coming from the tropical region of Chapare where one crop—coca—predominates, his internship at the CEA opened his eyes to a wide variety of crops that could be cultivated.

Maria Alice Borges working with 27 students from the Cuenca Educativa Guardana de Oruro for a workshop at our Center for Ecological Agriculture (CEA) in November 2017. The workshop was Environmental Issues & Principles of Agroecology, and included a theory and practical section.

Though almost all of his fellow classmates pursued their internship in Pojo—a municipality between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz—or pursued poultry farming, Rubén had his eyes set on returning to the CEA and helping communities by teaching farming sustainable practices. After almost 3 months at the CEA, Rubén felt attached. He loved getting to help others through workshops, training them in new approaches—free of chemicals and healthier for the land. With his internship complete, Rubén left the CEA—but he knew this wouldn’t be his last time here. In fact, he left with a clear goal: return here to work as soon as he finished with his degree.

By 2019, Rubén had completed his degree. With his defense complete and degree in hand, Rubén was all set to return, only to be surrounded by immense political uncertainty in Bolivia. Nevertheless, without even knowing if he had a secured job offer, Rubén was so determined to return that he set off to travel back to the CEA to volunteer.

Fortunately, Rubén safely arrived at the CEA, and after radiating passion and drive while volunteering here, he accomplished his dream in December 2019 when he was officially hired. Gradually, the student became the master as he continued learning under Maria as a support technician, soon leading operations in forestry, compost, hydroponic lettuce, and the dry bathroom system. In subsequent years he got to learn about different areas, diversifying between his annual focus on livestock handling, then on waste management and compost, and eventually traveling throughout Bolivia to provide workshops on a variety of sustainable agriculture topics.

Ultimately, Rubén summarized his learning in a simple yet powerful comparison: empirical vs. scientific knowledge. While there is valuable farming knowledge that parents pass on to their children from their direct experiences, there is also much more to sustainable farming that Rubén has mastered — whether it be managing soil health, controlling diseases, diversifying crops, raising animals, understanding complex environmental systems, or countless other pieces of scientific knowledge he has acquired. Without needing a single particle of soil, Rubén can not only produce hydroponic lettuce but can train others to also master this seemingly magical ability. He has already been sharing these organic, sustainable solutions with his dad to replace his agrochemicals and knows that regardless of where the future goes, he is fully prepared through his training at the CEA.

To culminate, Rubén’s parting words succinctly yet profoundly identify the difference he has seen here:

“The majority of farms have a different way of rearing: once an animal gets sick, they abandon it and it dies. But here we fight until the end….One of the things that they’ve taught us here is to be able to fight until the end. We always work towards this end, and this has served me a lot in my professional life as much as in my personal life. To try like this, to try, try, try.”

Regardless of what his future holds, one thing is for sure: Rubén is prepared to take these lessons and continue impacting the lives of others through his newfound knowledge and passion for agricultural sustainable and environmental harmony. We are so grateful to have Rubén as a part of the CEA team.

To see some of Rubén’s work, check out this video on composting:

More From Grace (and Fellow Volunteer Lasse) During Their Time With Mano a Mano in 2023 & 2024

Editor’s note: We were happy to have Grace Jones back for a second summer (summer in the US, winter in Bolivia) volunteering with our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Internacional! There are links to some of Grace’s newsletters and updates during her time with Mano a Mano this year and last year below. Thank you Grace! Mano a Mano is always interested in working with volunteers like Grace that will be spending some time in Bolivia; feel free to contact us. (As a general rule, we are looking for volunteers that will be in Bolivia for a month or more, are independent and have their accommodations mostly figured out, and speak at least some Spanish.)

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