Page 14 - ARUBA TODAY

A14 LOCAL
Friday 3 November 2017
Social Entrepreneur James Ocalia in Cooperation with HopeAruba Movement:

‘Sustainable Agriculture for Healthier Locals and Rehabilitated Drug Addicts’

In the future we would like make a difference.”
to sell to supermarkets and
hotels.” Make a Difference
James works every day on To make a difference is
the land with his men, from where both connect.
1 to 5pm. “Two of them “I myself want to make a
are above 50 years old. It difference for my island
is intensive as for me as it is from my passion: sustain-
the first time I work with ad- able agriculture.
dicts. My goal is to have locals
I started with this crew two eating the typical Aruban
weeks ago and already veggies and be healthier.”
learned that I need to be He has a thing for Aruba’s
strict and clear. They are traditional veggies and
different in their approach fruits, since he was a kid.
of life, this is like teaching “I wrote a book, ‘My favor-
life again as you do the ite Curacaos and Aruban
same to children.” Dishes’, and found myself
asking my granny how to
Cultural Dishes prepare traditional dishes
HopeAruba is a national with local veggies.
platform for Civic Syn- We need to implement
ergy that began this proj- them into modern cooking
The four students together with their teacher James (second of left). ect two months ago. The to preserve this diamond of
professional caregivers, culture.
ALTO VISTA - Somewhere life, for me it is exercising indeed. On the 7,000m2 the couple Shannon and Italians may have their zuc-
uphill in Alto Vista you will my job and doing some- land only local crops are Shawn Blankenship from chini and tomatoes, but
find a beautiful piece of thing good for my island at grown: concomber chiki- the United States, live on Aruba has her concomber
land with an old, white, tra- the same time.” to (cucumber), yambo the premises with their chil- chikito and yambo.
ditional cunucu house on (okra), bonchi (beans) and dren and work according Our generation does not
it, dating from 1923. Noth- Fair Harvest pica (hot peppers) form to the program Teen Chal- know how to cook with our
ing remarkable about that, While we are walking on the main production. lenge. James: “They are own veggies, we often are
you might think, as there the land the students are But one can also find patia here to set up the program kings in preparing meals
are many of these old aun- enthusiastically showing (watermelon) and dragon for a year and also screen coming from the Italian or
ties scattered around the their plants, inviting Aruba fruit as well as moringa. the participants. other foreign gastronomy,
island. But this one has an but what about our own
amazing background sto- culture?”
ry. Aruba Today visited the His drive is contagious and
place on a warm, sticky creates a curiosity towards
afternoon where James the real taste of local gas-
Ocalia was working on the tronomy.
land with a handful of other “In my opinion three in-
men. gredients are necessary to
develop social enterprise:
‘Cas Speransa Nobo’ is the the social aspect, the envi-
name on the sign of the ronmental aspect and sup-
old cunucu house. It re- port of economic pillars, in
fers to the new hope that Aruba’s case, tourism.”
is there for the students of If you wish to see Cas Spe-
the rehabilitation program ransa Nobo for yourself
that is run here. and buy some real local
“We call them students crops, you are welcome
rather than drug addicts or at Alto Vista 52 between 1
clients because they have and 4pm daily, except for
chosen to learn another the weekends.
life. Their addict life is their Facebook: Goshen Sus-
past, the goal is to learn tainable Development
and graduate in a new Corporation VBA.
life.”
The Aruban James explains James Ocalia in the nursery green house.
Like
that he runs his company – Today’s journalist to taste “But these are not for com- Hope is a movement, a col- Like
Goshen, which means ‘in- a concomber chikito. The mercial use yet,” they laboration of foundations,
undated land’ - with the pride in their smiling faces share. companies and volunteers
us on
help of the men that are is moving and there is defi- The plants are seeded and that sets up social projects us on
part of the rehabilitation nitely something magical in grown in the nursery, built where there is need in so-
program. the air. Maybe it is best de- by the students, and when ciety.
Facebook
“They learn to cultivate lo- scribed as pure: the land, strong enough they are nal social problems and Facebook
People here tend to sig-
cal crops and it works in the taste of the veggies, transferred to the land. “So
two ways. the drive of the students far we sell only to individu- point towards the govern-
For them it is a subject they and the sincerity of James als that come to the house. ment, but Hope wants to Bon Dia 24 Aruba
learn and a daily goal in - all together it is ‘Hope’ That goes amazingly well. act upon themselves and facebook.com/bondianoticia