The Story of Loss

Written by: Ricardo Leyva, Co-founder of the Sierra Divina Project

It takes guts and humility to admit mistakes. Admitting we´re wrong is courage, not weakness. – Roy T. Bennett

2023 was a year of great learning. Those kinds of learnings that test your will and take you out of the comfort zone of dreaming. Those kinds of learnings show how well you are you established on your purpose and your spiritual quest, because at the foundation, the Sierra Divina Project is a spiritual journey.

Although many activities regarding technical aspects of the plantation were accomplished, like the completion of the instalment of the irrigation system for the first two hectares, the cleaning, fertilisation, and pruning of the cacao trees, the control of shadow inside the forest, and the technical visits of agronomists; I would like to focus this report more on the two situations that confronted us and made us grow as persons and as a project.

The first one, was the loss of all the 1.000 seedlings that were cared with much love for five months in the nursery. All the seedlings were taken to the field by mid-December 2022, unfortunately, they did not survive due to the strong drought that started in January 2023 and also due to problems with the equipment of the irrigation system.

The seedlings were programmed to be taken to the field by the end of September 2022, this is the moment when the rainy season starts and goes through all the months of October until December. Nevertheless, we couldn't take them until mid-December because they were not ready to go to the field. The delay occurred due to the grafting process since the person who was going to do this very technical task didn't show up as agreed. As soon as we realised that we needed to find someone else, we decided to train Chente, the gardener at Sierra Divina, so he could accomplish the job of grafting. Chente learned fast and did a good job. When he started grafting it was already mid-October and we had to wait for the grafted seedlings to be strong and in good condition so they could survive on the field.

The second situation that left great learning was the separation of the two co-founders of the Sierra Divina Project. I believe that relations always have a great purpose, and now with months ahead of the decision and being able to look in retrospect, I also believe that the great purpose of my relationship with Juan Pablo was to give birth to the beautiful Sierra Divina Cacao plantation.

The separation of co-founders does not necessarily mean the end of the project, at the end we as individuals are channels for a living energy, like a project, to manifest. The channels can change but if the project is meant to be, it will always find its way. Juan Pablo and I have very different ways of looking at life, different backgrounds, ways of working and structuring things. It doesn't mean that different people can't work together, but when the differences start to generate conflict, and loss of time and resources it is a good moment to rethink, and that is exactly what we did. We continue to be good friends and Juan Pablo continues to provide technical assistance to the plantation.

I love the saying "What does not kill you makes you stronger", this is the case for the global Cacao market and for the Sierra Divina Project during the year 2023. I look ahead to 2024 with great hope and joy, with the confidence that all the learnings that we have been through will give us clarity on how to keep taking care of the spiritual forest and continue growing it for the benefit of all beings.

THE COMMITMENT

The commitment for this new year is to reforest an area of approximately 1 hectare with Cacao trees that we started as a pilot. In February, we installed a nursery of 300 seedlings that will go into the field by mid June 2024. With these trees, we will fulfil the commitment to the 145 donors of the Cacao Gardener project. The nursery was established by taking seeds from the Cacao trees that were planted at the beginning of the project, this is a special milestone as we are entering into the cycle of abundance of the spiritual forest.

The new Cacao trees will be geo-referenced with the help of a topographer so we can send the coordinates to each one of the donors. The idea was to mark the trees but after considering that any physical mark will be deteriorated with time, We chose to use the geo-referencing technology. This technology also give us the opportunity to share the exact location of the trees with the people that has believe in the project.

Our responsibility is to continue taking care of the trees that were planted during the first pilot and already are more than 2 years old. And to ensure that the new trees that will be planted grow healthy and strong.

Our commitment is to be part of the Cacao wave that is starting to grow in the Sierra Nevada the Santa Marta, to use the energy of this wave to generate peace, prosperity, and spiritual growth. We are in the heart of the world and whatever happens to the heart it has an effect on the whole system.