During the summer of 2001, I worked with one (out of the 1,000) local organizations that produce organic bananas on the southeastern coast of Costa Rica. I lived with a Costa Rican woman who is the president of the group with which I worked, and her family. This internship was organized in part through The Institute for Central American Development Studies (ICADS), a center that focuses on the many social and environmental issues within Central America. Specifically, it draws attention to the roles of women's issues, economic development, environmental studies, public health, education, human rights, and wildlife conservation.

I chose to work with The Association of Family Producers "El Yüe" Carbón 1, Talamanca (La Asociación de Familias Productoras El Yüe Carbón 1, Talamanca), which began as a group of women seeking a way to better their quality of life and economic situation. As a Gender and Women Studies major at Connecticut College, I hoped to broaden my knowledge about the struggles that women face in another country. I was interested in how these women initiated such a project and what sort of obstacles they might have encountered. I learned, for example, that the cultural male machismo was one of the most difficult obstacles for the women to overcome on an individual level. However, the power of these women becomes obvious upon learning that they have been successful on many levels. Today they have about 600 banana plants on a half-hectare of land. Their farm is certified organic, which means that they use no chemicals during any process of the cultivation of this fruit. Continuing to seek better economic gains, they are investigating the addition of chickens, pigs, medicinal plants, and/or tropical fruits and flowers to their farm. In September 2001, they plan to initiate the experimental phase of exporting some of their organic bananas to Germany. This is part of their effort to share and encourage what they believe to be a healthy and sustainable method of production.

Despite the progress and growth of this organization, their financial situation has not improved much: each bunch of bananas sells for less than $0.30. Thus, upon my arrival in the small town of Hone Creek, where the plantation is located, I was greeted by feelings of pride, but also frustration. The maintenance of the plantation, cultivation of the bananas, and organization of the group is a lot of work for the small profit that is gained. The women expressed interest in the possibility of tourists visiting their plantation for a small fee. Visitors would be able to learn about the harsh differences between organic and conventional bananas, as well as about the uses of various tropical fruits, flowers, and native medicinal plants. In an effort to initiate this activity, I suggested that their group would benefit from a brochure that could be used to advertise their association and its goals. I compiled many pictures, became educated about the processes of cultivating bananas and maintaining the plantation, and learned more about the organization in order to create the brochure. During the final part of my internship I went to various places, including several hotels and travel groups, to discuss the possibility of tourists visiting this plantation. The women and I began building a path for the tourists to walk along and made bilingual signs to describe each plant. By the time I left, I felt a new sense of energy and drive coming from the women (and men) of this organization. They seemed to have a renewed hope for the future and success of their goals.

These people also shared with me their intense knowledge of their land and its uses. I watched one of the women, for example, pick a particular stalk of a certain palm tree and split it apart, revealing strands that she showed me how to boil and weave into baskets. She later showed me various plants that were used to color such material. I was impressed with her vast knowledge of the uses of every plant that we found in this region of Costa Rica. Modern luxuries such as refrigerators, ovens, stoves, telephones, medical clinics, cars, and store-bought foods, are all still new to this area, some having been introduced only a few years ago. Thus, the importance of the preservation and sustainability of their natural resources is well understood. There is an intimate connection between using chemicals on banana plantations and the health-effects upon the people, their domestic animals, and their everyday life. The understanding of this relationship is what is lacking with the conventional banana plantations owned mostly by corporations such as Chiquita, Dole, and The Standard Fruit Company. The owners of these plantations, who condone the use of numerous potent chemicals for the production of their bananas, do not directly suffer the consequences. It is the plantation workers who become sterile, whose wives become sick, who suffer from various respiratory problems, and who receive no workers' rights or benefits.

It was an incredible experience to learn about the intense and growing controversy regarding the production of bananas by foreign labor. My work raised many questions about the issues surrounding human labor rights, the use of chemicals for food production, and the lack of U.S. citizens' knowledge of the consequences of the artificial and unnatural big, yellow banana they buy. For my senior integrative project, I am going to do a photographic essay in which I hope to show part of the process involved in the production of organic bananas. My photos will focus mostly on the association with which I worked closely and I will supplement other parts of the story with writing. I want to explore the culture against which these women struggled in order to initiate such a project, as well as the differences between organic and conventional production in terms of environmental sustainability.