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Alfonso Tzul, Master Forest Gardener
"I've been practicing agriculture. I've been using the land, the forest, and the animals in such a way that it contributes, not only to me, but to the animals, to the land and to the forest as well. So Anabel came to me one day by accident and we got to know one another and she asked me why I do all those things and that is where the concept came about that you cannot live without the land. The land will remain, but you will go, the trees will go, but the land will stay. So you have to treat it carefully. That was the secret of the Mayas even from ancient days. That was how she began to collect information for this book that I have in my hand. So this book is an account of how the Mayas live many years ago - thousands of year ago and how they still continue to live like that today on their plot of land. One of the big issues in Belize is that lots of us tend to look at the land as a curse. The land should not be looked as a curse, but as a blessing. Something that can make` great improvements in your life. Case in point: the farmer may not have a lot of money, but he will always have something to eat."

Courtney Weatherburne
"We spoke to the Master Gardener and what I am getting from him is that this narrative or this book, it transcend just the Maya narrative. It's about the connection with humans and land and nature."

Dr. Anabel Ford, El Pilar Program
"Very much. Wasn't that an amazing story and to think that he says capture this message and take it forward and what we want to do with this El PIlar Forest Garden Network, is bring every one of you, everyone of your viewers, yourself, the whole community to help us build this. Can you imagine a sun or shade? When you walk outside you want to be in shade and the forest garden is just that; it feeds you, improve the soil, will cool down the planet and will be beautiful."

The book took about 2 to 3 years to complete. Dr. Ford has been working in Belize since 1982. Now this book has even inspired city residents to build a stronger connection to their lands. The residents of Port Loyola and Jane Usher have started a program called urban gardening. One of the coordinators Cynthia Ellis Topsey told us more about the vision for this community initiative.

Cynthia Ellis Topsey, Mentor
"One of the things that happened as I had shared is that leaders from the community of the Jane Usher Boulevard went seeking me out to ask for help, to help themselves. To improve the quality of life in their community. And these mothers said that they were willing to do anything to help themselves and not be begging and these leaders' men and women came together and we recommended along with the University of the West Indies, with Ms. Jane Bennett, to give support to the women and their families. They came up with the idea of urban gardening. The best thing is to build on people helping themselves. So we have had several initiatives within the community where the women are already beginning to plant, have gardens in their yards and where they don't have land, we are using containers. But their vision is to have one central area that they can be able to do the garden. Basically each person has control of their individual environment in the community. The idea is for them to move towards helping themselves, feeding themselves, processing the food and identifying ways in which they could develop products from the garden and from the rainforest."

Adrian Bartley, Jane Usher Resident
"People on the Southside of this city is very resilient and often times you would hear about the poverty and all of the crime and so forth. But I've work with folks from the Jane Usher Boulevard area especially and whenever I hear about an opportunity for food sovereignty for self-reliance, I would go out and see what I could learn and take it back to my community."

Some residents have already begun plating crops in their yards.