Interview with Oscar I. Miranda
Sunzal, El Salvador
11/29/2003
“There is a positive side and a negative to side to every country, it is up to you to decide what side you are looking for”, says Oscar I. Miranda of Sunzal, El Salvador.
A business owner, Oscar has followed the “rags-to-riches” path of many Horatio Alger characters -- and through sacrifice and hard work is the proud owner of neon sign business in the United States, and a hotel/restaurant in El Salvador.
Life did not always look so bright for Oscar. In 1984, at the age of 14, he knew things were not all well in his country. There was a brutal war going on, and the sight of dead bodies on the side of the road was not uncommon. There was an unwritten law that people should not leave their houses after 8:00pm, for fear of being shot. The news did not hide the fact that there were problems either, and young boys coming home from school had to dodge men from both sides to prevent getting kidnapped and sent away to fight.
During the height of the fighting, Oscars mother, who was living in the States, sent for her two sons. For the price of $1500 (half to be paid up front and half of which was to be paid upon their arrival in America) the two boys would be transported from their home in El Salvador to their mother’s doorstep in the Los Angeles area.
One month later, with no idea what would be in store for him, Oscar and his eleven year-old younger brother got into a car with only two changes of cloths and began their journey. Soon thereafter they joined about twenty other people on voyage to Mexico, crossing rivers to avoid border detection and other immigration officials. After arriving in Mexico, they were flown to Tijuana with seven other people. They waited there for two days to cross the border. It took them two days to sneak across the border along with group of about 30 people of all ages. Although they carried water with them, they ate only once.
After arriving in the States, Oscar was immediately enrolled in school at San Fernando Jr. High School. Things were quite different when he got to the States. Living in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, the young El Salvadoran was ridiculed for his style of speaking. He also learned upon arriving at his mother’s house that he had two half-sisters. His mother was determined to keep the families separate sending, the boys to their room at 6:00pm, and sending them off to school in the morning. Other problems followed, and Oscar and his brother ran away within a year of arriving in the states. After staying a few days in a friend’s garage, they were turned over to the authorities. They spent time in foster care until their mother’s sister made the commitment to take care of them. Thereafter, Oscar found a job hauling supplies for a roofing company. Constantly lifting objects that weighed more than he did, he eventually hurt his back and could no longer work.
With $1000 in his pocket, he and his brother returned to El Salvador in 1987. After returning, Oscar realized that he needed to return to the United States, a place where there were real opportunities. With $200 he and his buddy set off, even though his buddy was not able to offer any money to make the journey. Oscar purchased maps and began the long journey once again. Although his relationship had been rocky, his mother loaned him the necessary $400 to cross the border the second time.
Returning to the roofing company, he asked for his job back and began working. He paid off his debts within 2 months of his return. He soon realized that this type of work would ruin his body, and he began looking for something else. He stumbled across a neon sign-maker and asked for a job there. The owner agreed that he would hire Oscar if he could pass a two-week trail period. He passed, and continued to work cleaning up, spray painting, and learning what he could. Soon the owner purchased new machines for neon bending and fabrication. Oscar asked if he could practice with these machines. He boss said he could practice on his own time, with his own materials. That was fine; Oscar bought materials and on his own time began learning this craft. Soon after, a conflict arose between Oscar and his boss over the dangerous spray paint fumes involved in the work – so Oscar was no longer permitted to practice with neon. At this point, he knew it was time to move on. Taking a large cut in pay -- but with the chance to perfect his craft -- he accepted another job, and soon extended his skills.
After he became skilled, he realized that many people around him with less skill and experience were making twice as much money as he was. He brought this to his boss’s attention and found the situation was not going to be resolved. He soon found a partner and between them they invested $7000 into their own business. With in five months, Oscar had generated more than $5300 profit for himself. He was amazed at this, but kept on moving forward. Within 2 year he bought out his partner and has never looked back.
Now he is the proud owner of a couple businesses and a handful of residential and commercial properties. Oscar mentions his father as a positive influence. He was a businessman as well, and taught him to be diligent and instilled in him a profound sense of right and wrong.
Now Oscar spends most of his time in El Salvador. He recently bought seaside property and built a hotel/restaurant called Rocas Sunzal www.rocassunzal.com. It is situated in front of a prime surfing spot in El Salvador. He is constantly expanding and improving his new business and looks forward to retiring in El Salvador.
He cites the weather and lifestyle in El Salvador as two of its greatest attributes.
Good luck Oscar, and we hope to return soon.
Oscar’s parting words to me were this:
“Never give up in life! Think positive!
Todo quiere un sacrificio en esta vida
You have to pay a price to gain something in this life.”
“Always stick to your beliefs and hold your ground. Stand strong and don’t let other people bring you down.” That’s what Janine says to people who do not believe they can make a difference.
Janine and her organization pledge to do everything they can to save the vanishing treasures of the rainforest. She wants to be a part of a generation that makes a difference!
At the age of 3, Janine, lost her father to a sudden heart attack. In dealing with her husband’s death, Janine’s mother began an international search for a new place to revive her spirits and create a fresh start. They traveled to London, Denmark, and Hong Kong before finally deciding to permanently settle in Costa Rica. The absence of a military, the immense beauty, and the more relaxed lifestyle all contributed to their decision to make this their new home.
Janine and her mom currently reside in the small town of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, nestled between the quick rising tropical mountains and warm sandy beaches of the Central American Pacific.
At the age of nine, Janine, embarked on her journey to make a difference. Knowing that the rainforests were being destroyed, she and her friend starting a craft-making project with the idea that the proceeds would go toward a preservation project. After four months and a matching grant (from her mother), Janine raised $160. With this money, she decided that she would sponsor a plot in the Costa Rican rain forest.
Proud of her investment, she went to visit the land which she helped preserve. Much to her dismay, the organization could not account for how her donation had been spent. Disappointed but directed, she began creating her own organization to preserve the rainforests. Kids Saving the Rain Forest was created.
It is really important to the organization that people be able to understand exactly how their donations are spent. Through Kids Saving the Rain Forest, you can adopt a tree for $20 or sponsor a monkey bridge for $75, for example. Look on their website at www.kidsavingtherainforest.org for the latest projects.
Besides raising money for rainforest preservation, Janine and her family enjoy helping local animals. While I was there, in fact, they were taking care of a couple of 3-month-old sloths that had been abandoned by their mother. Apparently, if a baby sloth falls off its mother’s back, she will not come down from the tree to retrieve it. Janine says it’s “survival of the fittest.” If the baby can muster the strength to crawl back up the tree, Mom will kep it. If not, she cannot risk her own life to go down and rescue it. Sloths move so slowly that they are at too great a risk to predators when out of the safety of the high branches. In fact, sloths only come out of the trees once a week, to defecate at the base of the tree they call home.
When people in the Manuel Antonio area find a fallen sloth or other animals in need of help, they know to bring them to Janine and her friends at the Blue Monkey. The animals are cared for and released back into the wild when they are able to take care of themselves. Other animals at the Blue Monkey (Janine’s mother’s hotel) include raccoons, a titi monkey (Titi monkeys are only found Manuel Antonio and are one of the most threatened monkeys in Central America.), dogs and cats.
When Janine is not working on Kids Saving the Rainforest, she enjoys talking on the phone, watching TV, or hanging out with her friends. She loves Sushi and listening to Christina Aguilera and hip hop. She goes to a semi-private school where her schoolmates are from many different countries (such as Peru, France, Nicaragua, and Italy), and where all her lessons are in Spanish.
Janine and her mother have recently bought land and are planning to build an environmental education center there. Plans include a nature trail and an animal rehabilitation ward.
Janine is a young lady on a mission, saving the forest one tree and one animal at time.
Have you ever heard of Land Rover Coffee?
Land Rover coffee is a business venture that brings Land Rover and coffee farmers together, trying to create a mutually beneficial opportunity for everyone. Land Rover pays top dollar for premium coffee, local growers maximize their profits, and in return growers maintain their Land Rover loyalty, buying vehicles, parts and service to continue the Land Rover coffee-growing tradition.
Rodolfo Echeverria is the heading up this new project for Land Rover and has been working on marketing it in the United States. For three days, Rodolfo guided us through the streets of San Jose and its surrounding areas and guided us efficiently through the various tasks the team needed to accomplish during our stay in San Jose, Costa Rica. While traveling with us, he told me of his fascinating family history.
Rodolfo, 35, was born and raised in Costa Rica. He is third generation German/Costa Rican. His Great Grandparents immigrated to Costa Rica from Germany at the turn of the century. Farming is what they knew in Germany, so farmers are what they became after their move to Costa Rica. With the climatic conditions being different than what they were in Germany, Rodolfo’s great grandparents turned to coffee and sugar for their livelihood. Times were good and their farm was very successful until war broke out all across the world in the early 1940’s.
Similar to the Japanese stories in the United States, Germans were rounded up in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries because of their heritage. Rodolfo’s grandparents, all of whom were born in Costa Rica, and mother where victims of this dark time in the world. Upon hearing of their fate, they sold what they could before the Costa Rican government sent them to Crystal City, Texas. While being held in Texas, it was determined that these people did not have the proper paperwork to legally stay in the United States; therefore, the United States would be forced to deport them.
After holding them in Texas, the United States struck a deal with Germany and was able to make an exchange—Texas-held Germans for US businessmen and tourists that had been stuck in Germany as a result of the war.
After the war Rodolfo’s family returned to Costa Rica. They picked up the few assets that remained from the prewar days, and once again started from scratch. The family is once again doing well and continues to grow quality coffee.
Rudolfo, is now a proud father. He looks forward to directing the future of Land Rover Coffee, and we look forward to drinking it.
**Apparently, there were approximately 50 camps in the US for the imprisoned Germans. For more information on this story go to www.foitimes.com.
The Osa Peninsula is one of Costa Rica's most remote area, which is probably the reason it is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. The Drive Around the World team stumbled into this region as a result of a meeting a local environmentalist in another town who knew a fellow American living in Costa Rica. After a few calls and a long drive we were having bacon, eggs and Land Rover coffee with this man, whose name is Michael Cranford. Through the course of breakfast, we learned a lot about Michael, and through the course of the day we learned a lot about the area.
Mike is a transplant from Colorado. After building and running a painting company, he decided to leave the rat race in the United States and head to Costa Rica. "The happiest thing for me is waking up in nature", he told us. Perhaps this is why he built a house that integrates itself so closely with nature.
He says there are three rules you need to keep in mind when building and designing a house in the tropics: 1) Hide from the sun; 2) Stay out of the rain; and 3) Capture the breeze. You can see from the pictures how he has done this.
Once he was able to accept the fact that he didn't need walls, he was released from all the restraints of conventional housing. This is quite a jump for people living in North America or Europe. His living room has no walls (which sometimes a problem for an artist, as there is no place to hang his works of art). I asked him about how he deals with animals and bugs invading his space. He says they are never much of a problem. He keeps bananas outside for the monkeys, and for the most part his dogs keep the house secure of any animals that might be a problem. He says the bugs only come out at night when the lights are on; keeping the lights down to a minimum will keep the bugs away (he also comments that bugs are always worse the week before the full moon). So you go to bed a little earlier and get up a little earlier -- a small price to pay. His house is situated among primary forest and overlooks the Gulfo Dulce.
Michael is a practicing artist and has several students. His art explores themes of the environment. He juxtaposes the pristine with destruction in his works, challenging and encouraging the observer into action. He latest work is an interactive piece that, when completed, will take the observer from virgin lands into a lifeless environment just by walking a few steps forward.
As an artist, Michael loves the serenity of the area and the impact it has upon his work. His goal is to conduct art retreats here at his house Sombra de la Lapa (shade of the scarlet macaw). Eventually he sees himself conducting workshops 5 or 6 times a year with groups of no more than 12 people. Michael is currently displaying his work locally, in the States, and online. He encourages questions and is always excited to share his love of the environment. "In nature I am not bored," he says. "I learn something new everyday"
After breakfast, Michael offered to show us around the area and invited us to a community meeting of landowners. It was interesting to observe this meeting and hear of the problems that the area is currently facing, including development, the illegal cutting of trees, and the poaching of animals.
These problems affect everyone in the community, as the health of their land is dependent on the whole system of nature rather than isolated components of it. New roads, new houses and disappearing animals affect the health of the environment. At one point, the frustrated government official said, "How do you control humans in the area without a guard and a gun?" Without action to combat these problems, residents are concerned that their area is going to suffer that fate of other parts of the country.
Some of the suggested solutions were: 1) Charging a tax on tourists coming into the area 2) Charging the outside world for clean water and air that had been generated by the area. 3) Trying to make the area and UNESCO site, thereby getting outside funds to preserve the area. What do you think the community should do?