Loving La Joya: Niña Juana’s Story

La Joya is a small community of thirteen families in the municipality of El Paisnal. The majority of the families are originally from the area, repopulating the community in 1993 after the demobilization of guerrilla combatants that came with the signing of the Peace Accords.  The road into La Joya is full of butterflies this time of year, attracted to the community by the seemingly endless, brightly colored blooms of the flowers most families have in their front yards. It is a joyful welcome to this organized, rural community. 

 La Joya is blessed by its small size. Each family has a big-enough plot of land for their home and sufficient land to plant their fields, while the community has land for the community center and communal coffee farms.  Niña Juana jokes that they only drink coffee grown in the community; since they grow, roast and grind it themselves, it tastes just the way they like it, not bitter like the store-bought instant coffee you find in many rural communities.  “I love La Joya,” Niña Juana shares.  “It’s organized, it’s small, and we all get along.  It’s safe, and quiet.”

 The community is located near a natural spring.  Through a community-built water system, mostly constructed with PVC pipes and rather ancient looking wire, they and five other communities in the area have safe drinking water. Along the northern edge of the community runs the Rio Sucio, a river unfortunately true to its name: highly contaminated with industrial waste, the water is unsuitable for humans, cattle and crops alike. This community will be key in UCRES’ organizing about environmental protection and advocacy efforts to clean up this river.

 While she loves her community, Niña Juana laments that, like most rural communities in El Salvador, “there’s no work here.  People have to leave the community to find paid work.” 

 Niña Juana is the single mother of three sons and one daughter, the oldest of whom is studying nursing at the National University.  Her only income is a very modest pension paid to former combatants injured during the war.  Niña Juana has a long, deep scar down the length of her left arm, received during her years as a radista, a radio and communications person with the guerrilla forces. 

 Through the SHARE-UCRES Women and the Environment project, Niña Juana was selected by the women’s committee in La Joya to participate in the community vegetable garden initiative. Along with three other women in her community, she has planted a beautiful garden. They planted in early August and are eagerly awaiting the blooms that will lead to tomatoes, green peppers, radishes, onions, squash, and herbs.                                         

“I like the garden because you work for something, you invest time and effort and the plants give back to you.  You see the fruits of your labor.”

 Niña Juana also has a milpa, a small plot of land where she plants the corn and beans necessary to feed her family for the entire year. She also keeps hens around the house for eggs; and, she laughs, for when she wants chicken soup for dinner! 

 “Through organization, we have achieved everything we have today.  Our homes, the bridge that crosses the river to our fields… if we weren’t organized, we wouldn’t have these things.”