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                                                                                                           LOCAL Saturday 5 auguSt 2017













            Social Entrepreneur James Ocalia in Cooperation with HopeAruba Movement:

            ‘Sustainable Agriculture for Healthier Locals and Rehabilitated Drug Addicts’




































                                                                                   The four students together with their teacher James (second of left).

                                                                      The Aruban James explains  Fair Harvest                   - all together it is ‘Hope’ in-
                                                                      that  he  runs  his  company  While  we  are  walking  on   deed. On the 7,000m2 land
                                                                      –Goshen, which means ‘in-    the  land  the  students  are   only local crops are grown:
                                                                      undated  land’  -  with  the  enthusiastically   showing   concomber  chikito  (cu-
                                                                      help  of  the  men  that  are  their  plants,  inviting  Aruba   cumber),  yambo  (okra),
                                                                      part  of  the  rehabilitation  Today’s  journalist  to  taste   bonchi  (beans)  and  pica
                                                                      program.  “They  learn  to  a  concomber  chikito.  The   (hot  peppers)  form  the
                                                                      cultivate  local  crops  and  pride  in  their  smiling  faces   main  production.  But  one
                     One of the students proudly shows ‘his crop.’    it  works  in  two  ways.  For  is moving and there is defi-  can also find patia (water-
                                                                      them  it  is  a  subject  they  nitely something magical in   melon) and dragon fruit as
             ALTO  VISTA  -  Somewhere  chosen  to  learn  another    learn  and  a  daily  goal  in  the air. Maybe it is best de-  well as moringa. “But these
             uphill in Alto Vista you will  life.                     life,  for  me  it  is  exercising  scribed  as  pure:  the  land,   are not for commercial use
             find  a  beautiful  piece  of  Their addict life is their past,   my  job  and  doing  some-  the  taste  of  the  veggies,   yet,” they share.
             land with an old, white, tra-  the  goal  is  to  learn  and   thing good for my island at  the  drive  of  the  students   The plants are seeded and
             ditional  cunucu  house  on  graduate  in  a  new  life.”   the same time.”           and the sincerity of James   grown  in  the  nursery,  built
             it, dating from 1923. Noth-                                                                                        by the students, and when
             ing remarkable about that,                                                                                         strong  enough  they  are
             you  might  think,  as  there                                                                                      transferred to the land. “So
             are many of these old aun-                                                                                         far we sell only to individu-
             ties  scattered  around  the                                                                                       als that come to the house.
             island.                                                                                                            That  goes  amazingly  well.
                                                                                                                                In the future we would like
             But this one has an amazing                                                                                        to sell to supermarkets and
             background  story.  Aruba                                                                                          hotels.” James works every
             Today visited the place on                                                                                         day  on  the  land  with  his
             a  warm,  sticky  afternoon                                                                                        men, from 1 to 5pm. “Two
             where  James  Ocalia  was                                                                                          of them are above 50 years
             working on the land with a                                                                                         old. It is intensive as for me
             handful of other men.                                                                                              as  it  is  the  first  time  I  work
             ‘Cas Speransa Nobo’ is the                                                                                         with addicts. I started with
             name  on  the  sign  of  the                                                                                       this  crew  two  weeks  ago
             old  cunucu  house.  It  re-                                                                                       and already learned that I
             fers  to  the  new  hope  that                                                                                     need to be strict and clear.
             is there for the students of                                                                                       They  are  different  in  their
             the  rehabilitation  program                                                                                       approach of life, this is like
             that is run here.                                                                                                  teaching life again as you
             “We  call  them  students                                                                                          do the same to children.”
             rather than drug addicts or
             clients because they have                           James Ocalia in the nursery green house.                          Continued on Page 16
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