Cattle Breeding Project in Costa Rica

The parish of Santiago Apostol, Talamaca in Amubri is located in the Caribbean Zone of Costa Rica. The project management falls to the pastor, Fr. Marvin Gamboa Robles, C.M., and Br. Álvaro Herra, C.M. The provincial business manager, William Chacón, assists with project design and reporting. The cattle breeding project employs the method of “systemic change” for the improvement of the pastoral care of the parishioners at the various mission stations, and the betterment of the lives of the “campesinos,” peasants. In total, ten head of cattle were purchased and located on a pasture near a source of water on land owned by the parish. The project hopes to produce a herd of animals that can be sold at market. This project builds upon a previous successful project that was also sponsored by the VSO at the Parish of Santiago Apostol. Two campesinos are paid to care for the animals. A local veterinarian also provides expert advice when the cows give birth. The secondary beneficiaries of the project are the parish catechists and lay leaders of the Word. These pastoral volunteers connect many distant rural communities to the proclamation of God’s Word at the Sunday Celebrations of the Word in the absence of the priest and the Eucharist. The Vice-Province plans to benefit other poor parishes by introducing similar projects of systemic change.