Talita Kumi Students Promote Vermicomposting to Care for Our Common Home

At Talita Kumi, the boarding students of the educational center located in San Pedro Carchá, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, continue to implement concrete actions in favor of environmental protection. One of their most recent initiatives is the production of a new type of organic fertilizer through vermiculture, complementing the Bocashi compost they had already been producing. 

This new fertilizer is created using the Californian red worm, commonly known as the "coqueta roja," one of the 1,600 known species of earthworms in the world. This particular worm is a hybrid of species that live in soil and those that thrive in manure and organic matter. Its primary food source includes coffee pulp—an abundant byproduct of the coffee industry in northern Guatemala, where Talita Kumi's student centers are located. 

These worms transform organic waste into humus, a nutrient-rich compost that naturally and sustainably improves soil quality. The process is carried out in wooden boxes covered with black nylon to protect the worms from direct sunlight. 

Beyond reducing the amount of organic waste sent to landfills, this initiative produces a high-quality fertilizer used for growing vegetables and short-cycle crops on campus, promoting sustainability and efficient use of natural resources. 

Moreover, these techniques are easily replicable by students in their home communities, most of which are rural and Q’eqchi’. In doing so, they help spread ecological farming practices rooted in respect for nature. As Laudato Si’ reminds us, we must recover “the wisdom of indigenous and rural communities who practice ecological agriculture based on a profound respect for the natural world.” At Talita Kumi, young women are not only learning to care for the earth, they are planting seeds of hope for a greener future.