The community of La Florida was established in 1984 when displaced war refugees occupied an abandoned coffee plantation. They created a co-operative to collectively purchase and work the land. Every member of the co-op owns 4 acres of land, with the family working 2 acres for maize and beans and the remaining 2 acres farmed collectively for coffee and citrus production. When I arrived at La Florida in 2000 many farmers had permaculture design certificates, and my first job was to help the permaculture project evaluate its work and plan its future. We decided the time had come to build an independent Salvadorean Permaculture Institute and find funding to develop the work.

However, our plan didn’t predict the terrible earthquakes in January and February 2001. The quakes brought destruction to La Florida, but also a wonderful opportunity to build our vision for an ecological community. We began a community building process, establishing a mutual aid system where the community worked in small groups to help each other build. The women organised themselves to build rainwater catchment tanks, improved firewood cooking stoves, plant home gardens and build chicken pens. Today, every family has a new house made with local volcanic stone; a compost latrine; an improved stove and a water supply. Most are planting their crops using some permaculture methods and the co-op has received organic certification for their coffee.

In 2002 we secured funding, and started running Introduction to Permaculture courses for subsistence farmers. We encouraged them to work together in local Farmer to Farmer committees to support each other in their new farming practices and promote permaculture to their neighbours. By the end of 2002, we had built a network of 250 farmers using environmentally friendly methods, and keen to learn more about permaculture.

To tackle conflict you need to continually remind people that it can destroy, but talking openly about things will often result in progress. If you keep your eyes & ears open you can often intervene before conflict starts. It helps to create situations where your group can talk openly and honestly about things - perhaps debate issues in a controlled meeting, or go on social outings together.

If conflict happens it helps to cultivate an attitude that however hard the process of resolving it, it’ll be worth it in the end. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the ‘cause’ of an argument is often not the problem – that lies deeper, and you need to find it. You should remember that no one person is ever all right or all wrong but they will both think they’re right at this moment. A compromise needs to be found because both people have something to offer your organisation.

If someone comes to you with a problem, don’t tackle it straight away: people don’t talk rationally when they are angry. Make sure you let the two parties know that you think it can be sorted and ‘we’ll talk about it in the morning’. Do it in the morning because people haven’t had the time to have a bad day yet!

Before the meeting talk to ‘eye-witnesses’ because someone will have some honest insight into the problem, and talk with both parties individually before you get them together. When you have a fuller picture of what happened & why, assess the situation in your head. Think of how you can say you understand both sides and picture a solution that you can present.

In the meeting show your understanding of both sides by giving examples of the same thing that you or someone you know have experienced in the past and explain how you or they got over it (lie if you need to). By relating how the same things have happened to a third party you can address the problem and create a better understanding but leave personalities out of it. After the meeting ensure that people agree, or agree to disagree, and that they leave that particular conflict in the room when they go. Try to arrange for both parties to work together on something positive ASAP.