We had the pleasure of hosting two EARTH University students this past year. EARTH University is a non-profit University based in Costa Rica dedicated to providing education to young people from Latin America with an emphasis on sustainability, natural resource management and the exploration of the social realities. For 15 weeks Patrick Ralon Rafael from Guatemala and Jose Mauricio Torres Rodriguez from El Salvador dedicated their time to learning from Selva Negra, and in return teaching us several things that will make our lives easier. Allegro Foods sponsored Rafael and Jose's internship and supported their studies by promoting the internship at EARTH University.

Their accomplishments include:

• Laboratory restructuring: They were at Selva Negra to help the laboratory make its move from the old cramped quarters to the remodeled kitchen space. Although the move is not finished they were able to help catalog and inventory all the items, and bring to mind some that would be useful to add.

• Fair Organization: A fair was organized, whose main objective was to integrate each of the areas of production in Selva Negra. The goal was to facilitate the cross learning of each division in order for the Selva Negra employees to see how their product and waste product fit into the whole of Selva Negra.

• New Sutainable Venture: They assisted in the implementation of Microorganisms of the Mountain. Utilizing resources from the mountain, like mushrooms and bacterias, a substance was generated which assits in rapid decomposition, currently it is being used in the production of organic fertilizers, in the stable, pig area and coffee production. In the compost (organic fertilizer, it assists in a quicker turnover, in the stables and pig areas it helps to decompose the pigs waste to prevent fly infestations.)

Rafael and Jose both felt that one of Selva Negra's greatest strengths is its ability to utilize everything sustainably, but its greatest strength is its people. People who care about their work and are open minded to new ideas to improve their productivity as well as their impact on the environment. We couldn't agree with them more. With continued efforts, we hope to fulfill their expectation and continue being a model sustainable farm.
We would like to thank Patrick and Jose, as well as Allegro for making this possible. We look forward to another opportunity to host more students from EARTH University.