Support Nicaragua’s sustainable agriculture at Ibra Farm School
Today the Ibra Farm School is a thriving educational institution, organic farm and community center.
But Ibra facilities—school and farm buildings, 10 acres of cultivated fields, sustainable close-loop energy generator—bear little resemblance to the untilled plot of land that lay in the mountains above the village of Somatillo 15 years ago.
Country folk around Ibra consider the school a near-miracle. And indeed, Ibra’s genesis—as recollected by Connecticut Quest for Peace (CT Quest) founders Randy and Linda Klein—assumes the magically realistic air of a Garcia Marquez story or Old Testament narrative.
Ibra school: Three campesinos dream for their children
Like Abraham’s parley with three angels under the oak at Mamre, the Kleins learned of Ibra from three campesinos—farmers—at a meeting under a tree growing in a field above Somatilo. The meeting had been arranged by Sister Joan Petrik, a Maryknoll nun.
In a pickup truck driven by Sister Joan, the Kleins forded two rivers and drove for a long hour across “some of the worst roads we have ever traveled,” says Randy. Then Sister Joan stopped and deposited the couple under a large tree.
After a wait, three campesinos appeared. The farmers spoke passionately to the Kleins of their dream: a school that would give their children a good education in their own rural community. Randy and Linda rested in the shaded heat, listened to the farmers and eyed the beautiful, empty countryside.
Four hours later the couple had agreed to everything the farmers suggested. Ibra school was born, “and we’ve never regretted it,” says Randy emphatically.
Organic farming and natural “close-loop” technology teaches students reverence for earth
With facilities built by Fe y Alegria (Faith and Happiness), the social justice organization founded by Spanish Jesuits, Ibra provides a holistic education to 104 boys and girls. The curriculum balances rigorous academics with hands-on sustainable agricultural training.
Organic produce grown by students feeds the school community. Ibra uses experimental “closed loop technology.” The students recycle animal waste to produce methane used to fuel the school’s stove and run lighting. Remaining waste is combined with organic matter in worm farms to make soil-enriching humus that “produces some of the best crops you have ever seen!” according to CT Quest coordinator, Randy Klein.
The children’s lessons in sustainable farming extend to the greater community. Students are assigned plots of land for family use and agricultural lessons are reinforced and practiced with support of parents and siblings.
Ibra students’ test scores highest in region
Equally engaged in academics as practical training, the students perform outstandingly on national standardized tests: Out of the regions 8,500 school children, IBRA’s 104 students consistently score highest in both math and Spanish in regional exams.
Help campesinos educate their kids—and sustain the earth
For the price of a month’s worth of organic produce for your family, you can provide a year’s education to a Nicaraguan farm child—and support sustainable agriculture. Please make a secure online donation of $55 to Ibra Farm School today.
Learn more about San Ignacio Di Loyola, Colegio Enrique D’Ossó and Projecto Generando di Vida, schools funded by CT Quest for urban children.
Check out additional CT Quest humanitarian aid programs in Nicaragua.