Water from Hurricane Mitch was still standing in some of the fields when Lehman
and Martin went to help people prepare the fields for planting.
Plight Of Honduran
Farmers Not Forgotten
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
ROTHSVILLE (Lancaster Co.)
Six months after Hurricane
Mitch devastated Central Ameri
ca, most Americans have forgotten
the horrific sights shown on televi
sion of mud slides and angry
waters that wiped out whole vil
lages. As many as 9,000 lives were
lost and two million were left
homeless.
Many people probably don’t
know that Hurricane Mitch is con
sidered the worst hurricane in
mote than a century.
At the time, people wanted to
help, but not knowing how to assist
a country so distant from their own
home, most Americans soon
forgot.
But not Carl Lehman. In the
aftermath of the hurricane, Leh
man and Walter Martin, co
workers at Binkley and Hurst,
Rothsville, traveled to San Pedro
Sula, Honduras. Their mission was
to train Hondurans on how to use
three new tractors to prepare land
mice again to produce food for the
villagers.
Mennonite Central Committee
(MCQ purchased the tractors at at
a discount from Binkley and Hurst,
which also equipped the tractors
for Honduras at no extra charge.
Lehman and Martin volunteered to
give up vacation time to accom
pany the tractors and to teach the
tin, co-workers at Binkley and Hurst, Rothsville, traveled to
San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Their mission was to train Hon
durans on how to use three new tractors to prepare land
once again to produce food for the villagers.
Six months after Hurricane Mitch devastated Central
America, most Americans have forgotten the horrific sights
shown on television of mud slides and angry waters that
wiped out whole villages. As many as 9,000 lives were lost
and two million were left homeless. But not Carl Lehman.
appointed recipients on how to
drive and maintain the tractors.
About three months after the
hurricane, Lehman and Martin
traveled to Honduras to set up the
disc harrows and chisel plows and
to train Hondurans on using the
three Case tractors.
Water was still standing in some
of the fields. Fish swam in the
flooded fields as Brahmin catde
wandered about. Lehman and
Martin listened to stories of people
stuck in palm trees for seven days
in order to stay clear of the raging
waters. They heard of whole com
munities that escaped to the hills
where theywere trapped for 21
days. Helicopters dropped food,
water, and supplies to help the dis
placed villagers survive.
“I expected to see a poor coun
try. I did especially areas that
were flooded,’' Lehman said.
But he was unprepared for the
beauty of the countryside as green
ery emerged from barren, mud
caked soil.
He was impressed by the villa
gers eagerness to help with the
rebuilding, by their uncomplaining
attitudes, and the ease he felt in
working side by side with people
of another language.
As flood waters receded, it left
behind hard-crusted soil. Some
areas were covered with heavy
vines that needed to be chopped up
with a disc.
The disc harrows and chisel
plows needed to be put together
piece by piece. A crowd of onlook
eis watched and several Hondu
rans assisted with the assembling.
“With a chisel plow, the soil
worked up nice and looks fertile ”
Lehman said.
Hie climate enables two com
crops to be harvested from the land
annually.
(Turn to Pag* BIS)
&
KWHOLLAM)
DEALER FOR DEPENDABLE
EQUIPMENT & SERVICE
PENNSYLVANIA
Messick
Equipment
RD 1, Box 255 A
717-259-6617
Annvi
BHM Farm
Equipment,
Inc.
RD 1, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
PA
R&W
Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Elizabethtown. P,
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc
Rt. 283 - Rheem’s
Exit
717-367-1319
Greencastle. PA
Meyers
Implements, Inc.
400 North Antrim Way
717-597-2176
Halifax. PA
Sweigard Bros
R.D. 3, Box 13
717-896-3414
MARYLAND
Frederick. MD
Ceresville Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rt. 26 East 301-662-4197
Outside MD, 800-331-9122
Antietam Ford Tractor, Inc.
2027 Leitersburg Pike
800-553-6731
301-791-1200
Rising Sun. MD
Ag Industrial Equipment
Route 1, 50 N. Greenmont Rd.
1-800-442-5043
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton. NJ Washington. NJ
Leslie G. Fogg, Smith Tractor &
Inc. Equip., Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek 15 Hillcrest Ave.
Landing Rd. 908-689-7900
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
HEWHOLLAN)
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PA
Norman D. Clark
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Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
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A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Olev. PA
C.J. Wonsidler
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R.D. 2
610-987-6257
Schreffler
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Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Tamaoua. PA
Charles S.
Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
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S.G.Lewis &
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352 N. Jennersville Rd,
610-869-2214
1-800-869-9029
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Broad Street &
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609-769-0308