Tales From The Crib: Mr. Bruno and Mr. Teo

Bruno, right with hat, long shirt, talks about his farm.

Teo and our tour guide, elsa.


Farmer Teo talks about his avocados.

People mingle at city building.

enjoying pesco with the family.

Bruno Mendoza proudly stood in his field of near-ripe avocados on a small plot in south central Peru.

This is his land, after all, the grandson of a slave who educated himself about the parcel he inherited. He started working the land in 1986 growing corn and cotton near Chincha. A few years ago, a Catholic non-governmental agency, knowing of his community leadership skills, asked him if he wanted to farm another hectare with avocados. With high land prices in the region, he jumped at the chance.

Today, Mendoza farms five hectares, or about 18 acres, growing both organic and conventional avocados, as well as corn. He lives on a narrow paved roadway, bicycling the bumpy dirt roadway outlined sparsely in banana trees, to his farm. He dreams of his own equipment. He dreams of expansion.

Most Americans would consider him and others in and around El Carmen to be living in poverty. Their homes, seemingly left unfinished, are made of sun-dried bricks they made themselves. A tank on the roof supplies their water.

Bruno and his family are content and happy. He has passion for family and his land. He talks with pride of the classes he took through the nearby government research station – and yearns to learn more – all documented on the papers he proudly displays as our group of 30-plus Kansans tour his small farm.

We then head to his friend Teo’s small plantation, as he calls it, giving us the same tour with pride. Afterward, the two and their families offer us drinks of pesco wine they made themselves, passing around small glasses as everyone gathers at the community square of the town.

Not many make the trip to see what they do here, the family says excitedly to a translator. This, it seems, is a special celebration. They want us to come back. They want to learn more about how to do a better job.

My Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership class toured the farm on day two of our time in Peru. We are learning about the country’s agriculture production, as well as how it affects Kansas.

Just like a Kansas farmer, both want to better the land they are producing. Bruno helped form an irrigation district to help water his avocado tree – roughly 416 plants per hectare.

And just like a Kansas farmer, Teo too hopes to pass on his farm to the next generation. One is in college earning an agricultural degree, he says proudly.

It was a moving experience as we enjoyed these families’ company. One little girl played in the street clutching her new toy tractor. They posed with their John Deere implement hats.
Their lifestyle is simple, and yet they couldn’t ask for more.