Meet Celia
Carlos: Hello and welcome to this new space, to this new podcast that we are going to start today. Hopefully it will be of great benefit to you. We call this project Cosecha Conversations and the idea is to open up this space to give the opportunity to the voices that make a big difference in our community. Before we can get into this podcast, I also want to tell you about what Cosecha. Cosecha is a non-profit organization here in the Woodbine neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, and one of the projects we started two years ago, working hard to different help the community in different ways. But for us we believe that our work beyond just giving charity is that we want to build community. Because we believe that when the community comes together, when the community walks together among themselves and they support each other. Cosecha's mission is to gather neighbors together to foster community. That also gives us a great opportunity to do great projects and that can be for the benefit of the people, for the benefit of, of our, of our environment, here in the Woodbine neighborhood. And if you want to know more about this organization, you can go to our website, cosecha.community . And you can find more details of what we've done and what we're going to do. Also, any way in which you can get involved will be a great blessing to the community. So this Cosecha. And I also want to introduce you this morning to Jael Fuentes. She is one of our collaborators on this team and, she is also going to tell us a little bit about Cosecha this morning.
Jael: Thank you, Pastor Carlos. So glad to be here this morning. My name is Jael Fuentes and I am collaborating as associate director in this beautiful organization called Cosecha that the pastor just described. So we are very happy on this cloudy September morning. We're here at Woodbine Church, just off the busiest street here, right? Nolensville Rd, so if you suddenly hear the sirens, we're near a fire station and a lot of traffic. But that's what it's like on this beautiful, rainy morning.
Carlos: Exactly, and well, today we started this podcast. We have a special guest on this day and we especially want to talk a little bit about Hispanic Heritage Month. And this is a project that we hope that between now and the end of October we will have different voices that are going to be able to share about what they are doing in the community. So today we have a guest who, for us, is a very special person for our organization. Jael tell us a little bit about our guest today?
Jael: Of course, yes. This morning, we have here our dear friend Celia, who is not only a good friend, but she is also a neighbor of here, of this community, of Woodbine, of the school, of the church. So here it is this morning. Could you tell us more about yourself, Celia?
Celia: Hello, good morning. My name is Celia Aguilar. I have been here in this town of Nashville. I've been living here for almost seventeen years.
Jael: Tell us where you're originally from.
Celia: Oh, I'm from Mexico, from the State of Jalisco. From a little place on the shores of the Pacific. I have four children and I am happily married to a hardworking man. His name is Juan Andrade.
Jael: Let me add something to that, because something that has always struck us is to see that when you are working in the afternoons in the garden, he is always with you, he is always by your side. He is a man who knows a lot about plants and he is a volunteer and he loves to be by your side working alongside you. And I think that's a wonderful thing and I've seen them together as a family also giving their time there in the the garden that you're part of.
Celia: Yes, he likes plants a lot and as a family we love nature and through him I have learned to take care of plants, to take care of the garden. It is one of the things that we both do and work together in the garden of the house. And sometimes we have been given the opportunity to work elsewhere as volunteers. And we've done it and we're happy to do it. We like it. It is something that we like and it already comes with us, that we love what the garden is, what working with plants is.
Jael: That's very nice. You mentioned that you arrived here in about 2005. If I'm not mistaken, tell us how you've seen the transformation of this neighborhood.
Celia: This neighborhood, a long time ago, when I first arrived, was very high in crime, but as the years have passed our neighborhood has changed a lot, it has become a quieter area. I have seen that as my children have grown, I have been able to see that many of the families go for a walk with their children more peacefully. I see a lot of people who go and play sports, run in the morning or in the afternoon. You can already travel at any time of the day with peace of mind because it is already very quiet. Our area.
Jael: And they have, well, they have access to the place for the kids to play there, in the school park. What other park do you have near here?
Celia: Usually most of the people who live near us have access to the school park, which has now been rebuilt and it is very beautiful. The kids love it and we also walked to the park, which is Coleman Park. It is also a very quiet place where one can go to be with their family with peace of mind. It's a very nice area too.
Jael: Tell us how you got involved with this organization, how did you start your relationship with Cosecha?
Celia: Well, at the school where I take my children, which is Whitsitt school. There I have spent time since I signed up my first child in pre-kindergarten. It's been like eleven years since this. I've been there always supporting how I can as a volunteer. And this one, in this school I met miss Courtney. She is a good person, she is a good human being. Her charisma, her way of being makes one feel comfortable working around her and with her group that she has made as well.
Carlos: For those who listen to us, I want to give a little information about miss Courtney. She is a person who co-founded this program Cosecha. She was the executive director, but at the moment she participates in another way in the board of Directors. But this is the relationship you started. You already had an acquaintance with her because she was also wrapped up in the PTO, in school, right?
Celia: She was working in school with PTO. I was working with her in PTO as a vocal assistant, helping in whatever way they needed. And from there this in school they posted that they were going to start a project with Cosecha in the school garden. So I was interested in working with her, helping out any way I could. And then it happened that I went with them more, that it was already an organization, a bigger organization and that they had a big and very nice project and that was to work in the garden with plants, with nature. I loved it and I'm grateful that this happened, of course.
Carlos: I think we need to talk a little bit about what happened as an organization. We have a great relationship with schools, our local schools, because we believe that for us to be able to foster community and uniting neighbors, working to support the community, We have to start with the work of schools. Schools are a reflection of the community and for us, especially with the Whitsitt school, which is a community in which most students are Hispanic descendants and the work in front of us is a very big opportunity. Then we were given the opportunity to receive the garden that is part of the school, which they had a project that had been working for a long time and was invested in to become a dedicated area for learning. Part of this project that we have received is to work and for us it was something very important to find the right person to be able to run this project and I think you agree with me that Celia, especially what she's talking about. She is a neighbor of the school, she has been involved in school, but she also has a lot of that talent of nature.
Jael: Yes, Pastor. One of the important parts of the mission that we have and which Miss Courtney always emphasized, is the word in English. It's empower, right? It's not very common in Spanish
Carlos: Empower,
Jael: Empower, empower neighbors, empower the people who are there constantly. So I am, you can say, I am part of that too I am a product of that empowerment. Years ago, through another organization and what a good thing, this is another story, but this was very important, not bringing people from outside to take care of something that is already there, right? In this case, the opportunity we were given to take care of the garden. What better than someone who already has his heart there like Celia, someone who already volunteered. So why not encourage that and get her a financial stimulus so that she can continue to do that work while she enjoys it too and has the experience in doing it?
Carlos: Then we connected with Celia and as Miss Courtney and she had a conversation to her, she knew about this opportunity. But then Celia, tell us a little bit about what your experience has been.
Celia: My experience, I like, that I've met a very team. I am fortunate to know this great team that has been made here at Cosecha. I feel calm, I feel comfortable. I am thankful to be working with all of you. I like to see that in the mornings the children, well groups of children, come to the garden when we are working and we feel an energy from them that they are, they feel free, they feel confident to come and talk to one of us and ask us about a vegetable or themselves, make comments about an insect or some bee and leave the time talking to them.
Jael: I would like to add,because I remember that having a conversation with you also told me that it was relaxing for you, that it helped you how to disconnect from things that are sometimes daily worries and that you enjoyed that moment. Tell us how you feel or how has that helped you in your physical health?
Celia: Oh, yes, it is. I have also been seeing in my health that by working in the garden this has removed a little anxiety. It is something relaxing for one's body too. I feel that at the same time spiritually, because you find yourself working in the garden, because you disconnect from everything that is, the problems. The daily routine and at the same time it takes a little bit of the stress off the whole body of one and, I don't know if it's a nice thing to be working outside in nature. Oh, listen to one until the bird songs. The ones you don't notice when you're locked up in your house, in the everyday routine.
Carlos: There is a question. When you were there, when you lived in Mexico, You and your husband already liked to plant these things, something you maybe experienced a little differently here. We know that the climate is different from and that we live here in a place where we are blessed to have many things growing. But I don't know what your experience has been if this one has already grown. You all grew things from Mexico or here. If you have learned to cultivate things that are our own, of our countries.
Celia: In my thinking, it is something that already comes with our cultures, because I saw it in my parents. My mom grew her own garden and my mother-in-law my husband's mom too. She had already loved flower gardening. But here we took on the task of my husband and I to build our own garden, our own garden, which year after year we plant it again, to grow our own products, our own plants. And we have learned to grow some vegetables that we didn't know, that were not given in our country this one. And it's nice to know new things, new things, get to know new plants, herbs that you didn't know about this one and from there this one. To be consuming for our house, our own family.
Carlos: I think that's something that's right. You said the word an almost spiritual experience and I think there is something very incredible when we see it is that we can not just produce, but consume from there. And I think we can know that there are no vegetables and fruits taste better when you have put that effort on it, right? To the work you're doing. It's been amazing and I think the school is pretty grateful for what you're doing. We are very grateful for what you are doing and I think that for those who listen to us and if you have the opportunity to go and visit the garden, it is accessible to all people. In fact, it's a community garden. Although it is part of the school, all we ask is that you respect and maintain the space. But you can go see and see how you can immediately see the work that has been done.
Jael: If it's good to add anything else, we're always looking for volunteers who can come join Celia and the Cosecha team. We are there every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 to 10 in the morning. This is outside of Whitsitt Elementary School in the Woodbine neighborhood.
Carlos: Well, before we can conclude this, is there something, in your experience, something that has been a great celebration for you.
Celia: At first I had a lot of nerves about not being able to do my job. But I didn't give up and as I got to know you all, I've learned a lot from you all and I've enjoyed working with you all. Oh, and I feel complete. And I know now I know I can. It was a challenge for me, because I have four children and it is a big family and that takes a lot of work in the home. But as I have given myself time and I have seen that you can do more things to invest time in good things and good things for.
Jael: Celia, you are a talented woman and we are so grateful that you share them with us, with the community, with all the Whitsitt families, through the work you do at Cosecha and in your neighborhood.
Carlos: And as you say, let's hope to continue working one way or another with you in volunteering, because you are a key person in this community and we want to celebrate that constantly. Thank you for being part of this team and I think this is the start of something that will continue to grow. Thank you. Well, we want to thank you for your time and thank you Celia for being with us on this podcast. In this morning and our pilot for this podcast. Hopefully in the next few days we will have a little more of this space open to others who are doing something in the community, especially trying to raise the voices of our Hispanic community as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. You can also find us on Instagram, where you can find it at CosechaCommunity. You look for us on Instagram and also on Facebook. You can find us at Cosecha Community Development and there you can find out more about what we are doing and we are constantly putting information and you can see what is being done in the community. And if you want, as Jael said, how do we invite volunteers?
Jael: So you can connect with us and you can text us at (615)818-7608, or just show up there in the school garden. Any of these days Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 a.m. from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., you don't necessarily have to stay two hours if you want to. Volunteers from 8 to 9, an hour is fine or 9 to 10, so. Well, there are those mothers who can hear us, of course,
Carlos: This is a great opportunity. If you have kids in school at Whitsitt, help us, drop your kids off to school and stay there for a little while to work in the garden.
Jael: Forget about washing dishes that morning and doing laundry. Come and have a nice time as you fill your hands and reconnect with the earth fill your hands with earth, reconnecting with the earth while you can relax doing this precious work that is done with nature.
Carlos: Well, thank you so much for joining us on this day and hopefully you will hear us soon.
