A Future Beyond the Cartel: How Rodi Is Growing His Dream.

From fish tanks to fertile land, one young man is transforming his life with hope and sustainability.

Meet Rodi. At the age of 25, he is a prime target for the cartel in his little village in Mexico. The young men find it difficult to make a living and are often wooed by the prospect of pesos in their pockets and promises of power and prestige.

Rodi standing in water filled with iron ore from volcanic rock

But we believe this will not be Rodi’s story.

When he was only 5, his mother (who was without a husband at the time) was given the gift of a beautiful fish farm with 8 huge concrete tanks and a giant water filter at its heart. The government was running a program to introduce farming fish and the locals who had property and qualified were granted this amazing gift. But only 6 months later, the farm was destroyed by a hurricane.

It sat silent for 20 years.

Rodi grew up. His mother struggled to feed her family, and he stayed home to try and help her, planting a small field of corn and beans, raising a few chickens, and trying to eke out a living by selling eggs and what few vegetables they could bring to harvest. They didn’t have the money to fix the leaking roof or to cover the open spaces in the wall in the kitchen.

That’s when my partner, Roman and I (Hi, I’m Laura) stepped in.

Roman is a veterinarian who specializes in fish and farm animals, and I have a non-profit called Maya Harmony designed to work with struggling Mayan families. Together we made the perfect team to revive the fish farm. Roman redesigned the filter, creating a sustainable, low energy eco system that would not only provide healthy water for the fish, but also fertilize the land so they could grow chaya (a native plant like spinach) that they could make into fish food.

It’s been six months of hard work restoring the cracked tanks, digging deep into the rocky earth to find the leaks, and working with the family to guide the process.

But it has also been a tremendous joy.

Roman and Rodi filling buckets with volcanic rock for the filter

Rodi deeply loves the land his family owns, the animals that live in the jungle there, and the plants which provide shade, food, and homes for wildlife. He has always wanted to be an ecologist, but has not been able to go to college. His heart was to study sustainable farming and create a beautiful synergy between nature and family on his land. But that dream seemed so out of reach… and the cartel offered a way out of poverty.

Yesterday I watched Rodi soaking up the information that Roman was teaching him, information about the nitrogen cycle, breaking the surface tension of the water to create oxygen, and using volcanic rock to both filter the water and add nutrients to the ground.

His attention was riveted. His mind focused. He understood that, even though he couldn’t go to the University, the University had come to him.

Roman is an excellent teacher and has a huge heart for the indigenous people in his country. He is Mexican himself and studied at UNAM, one the premiere schools in the country. For Roman, to give the gift of knowledge to young Rodi was a delight. For me, it was simply sunshine to watch the two of them, heads together, studying the eco system they were creating, looking not only into the water of an aquaculture project, but into the future, a future that would not include the cartel, but rather would provide not only food and pesos for this small family, but a heart’s dream profession for a young man who was willing to work hard and step into that dream.

🌞 When we invest in people, we help rewrite their stories. Join Maya Harmony in giving young men like Rodi a reason to hope, work, and dream.

The next step is to do research to decide what type of fish to grow here. The future is waiting. And you can help. Please visit us or GIVE BACK PAGE to learn more. A young man’s dream depends on it.

hugs and butterflies,

laura