i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

Es un buen ejemplo del Güegüense en nuestra cultura. Es esta falta de cultura de
cooperativismo. Todos se animan para el inicio de un proyecto o una iniciativa
cooperativa, pero al fin, no cumplen con su deber porque no le da la gana. Es
falta de confianza. Los productores se ponen nerviosos. Quieren ver la plata en la
mano, no quieren esperar el desembolso. Es falta de educarlos al sistema nuestro,
pero tambien les ha ido mal en el pasado con los bancos, las financieras y las
cooperativas. (This is a good example of the Güegüense in our culture. It is the
lack of a culture of cooperativism. Everyone gets excited at the beginning of a
project, but in the end, they don’t live up to their promise because they don’t feel
like it. It’s a lack of trust. The farmers get nervous. They want to see money in
their hand, not wait for their disbursements. It is a lack of teaching them the
system, but it has also gone bad for them working with banks, financiers, and
cooperatives in the past.)
The historical resilience of these communities is based in fierce self-preservation and
self-reliance. Historically, it has been difficult to get the people of these regions to work
together. As a farmer told Javier, “Los gastos que tienen hoy son para hoy, no para
pagarlos en el futuro. (Today’s expenses are for today, not for paying tomorrow).” Javier
interpreted this by stating, “El productor piensa en si mismo, no piensa en la
organización, ni en mañana. (The farmer thinks of himself, not the organization, not
tomorrow).”
We pondered broad concerns. Javier and I discussed cooperativism at greater
length a few days after our drive. We thought of how to incentivize to farmers to sell their
product through the UCA. We talked about providing items to the growers as reminders
of their allegiance to the UCA, however superficial that seemed. Javier and I agreed that
a just and balanced cooperative must be honest and transparent. It could work to increase
farmer allegiance or participation if it could market itself with gifts and propaganda, a
tangible expression of their involvement in and ownership of their co-op. Other, larger
co-ops, such as Prodeco-op and Cecocafen, give out backpacks and t-shirts. This
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