Sonia Maritza Vásquez, Finca Los Planes

Little by little, I became more involved, and now my husband lives in the United States, so I am the one who works the land.

We decided that my husband had to make the long and dangerous journey to the United States to send money home each month. With the money he earns there working in construction or farming, we can buy more land. Our goal is to expand our current 5 hectares so that our children can each inherit enough land for their own future and that of their families.

I miss my husband every day, but it's worth the effort, and my daughters help me a lot. We also hire someone to do the heavy lifting when necessary. And we're used to hardship. I'm a third-generation farmer, and my grandmother had to work even harder than I do. She grew coffee next to our house, but they weren't plants. They were trees, and we had to climb a ladder to pick the beans, which grew five, even six meters high.

On our farm, we have small coffee plants and, of course, we no longer need ladders. We cultivate four varieties: Catuaí, Lempira, Catimor, and Pacas. But we also grow tangerines, oranges, limes, and lemons, both for our own consumption and to generate a little extra income. The trees also provide shade for the coffee plants and add a touch of citrus flavor.

Hopefully, my husband will be able to return home from the United States in a few years, and we will have enough money to buy more land and focus even more on specialty coffees than we do now.