Cacao Trees, Homemade Chocolate Bars, and Champorado with a Mountain View Outside Our House

Hello everyone,

When we were young, our parents always told us to go to the city and study hard. They wanted us to finish school and find good jobs because, according to them, life in the mountains was difficult. Farming was not easy, and they did not want us to experience the same struggles they had.

Of course, we followed them. We went to school, graduated, and looked for jobs. Some of my siblings even went abroad to work.

But after almost a decade since I graduated, I started looking at life differently. I realized that living in the mountains is better than in city. Actually, there are many opportunities here. We just need to be hardworking and learn how to make use of our land.

One of my brothers is a good example. He planted many cacao trees on his farm. I remember that not everyone appreciated what he was doing before. Some might have been thinking, where would he sell all those cacao beans? What could he do with so much cacao? For some people, it was just something that could be made into cocoa drinks.

He is not only growing cacao trees. He is also making his own chocolate bars. I find it amazing because we can now enjoy homemade chocolate without always buying from the stores. Whenever we want some, we can just get chocolate from his production. Haha!

What I like most about my brother is that he does not keep everything to himself. He always tells us to get cacao seedlings from his nursery so we can also start planting. If we want cacao beans or chocolate, he lets us get some without asking for payment.

And whenever we help him make chocolate, he still pays us for our work. That is why I always say that it is nice when one sibling starts doing well and also helps the rest of the family. We do not need to compete with each other. We can grow together.

Since I work online, I usually stay awake at night. My brother always reminds me that while I can still work online, I should also invest in long-term farming. He encourages us to plant cacao, rubber, coffee, and fruit trees. His point is online work can give us income today, but planting trees can give us something to harvest in the coming years.

Now, his cacao trees are growing, and he is becoming more serious about chocolate making. He produces 50% and 70% dark chocolate bars. The ingredients are cacao nibs, cane sugar, milk powder, and cocoa butter.

I also feel proud whenever I see his chocolate products displayed in different pasalubong centers, including stores in our municipality. Imagine, the cacao trees he planted before are now becoming chocolate products that other people can buy and enjoy.

I wake up early so that I can make a champorado with cocoa with this amazing view outside.

Sometimes I think about what our parents told us when we were young. They wanted us to leave the mountains because they believed there was a better future in the city. But now, we are slowly seeing that there is also a future here.

I am not saying farming is easy. It takes money, patience, and hard work. But seeing my brother's journey makes me believe that we should not underestimate what we can grow on our own land.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why I am also learning to appreciate farming more. We can work online, earn money, and still build something on our farm for the future.

Thank you for reading! This is my own picture and edited in Canva.

Have a nice day! 💛