Teach a Woman to Fish
A close look at the experience of Rancho de Lelo in Costa Rica
Before I knew it, I was wading waist deep in a tilapia pond, hanging on, con dos manos, to a net that would catch my dinner. The water below me was dark but I could feel my toes sinking into the sand and rocks, occasionally feeling a fish brush past my legs if I stood still for too long. Six other sets of hands hung onto the net with me- one of which belong to the owner and mastermind behind this restaurant, Aurelio Mata Leiton. Leiton, nicknamed Lelo, opened his restaurant, the first restaurant in San Luis, in 2011, since then expanding on both his own experience and his guests’ little by little. Rancho de Lelo is known across San Luis for not only serving fresh food but also embodying the “Pura Vida” lifestyle that is Costa Rica.
Rewind to an hour ago, before I found myself waist deep in the pond, and I was sitting on the bus with the rest of the UGA Costa Rica students and faculty, hungry for anything other than rice and beans. All twenty-one of us, plus a few of the campus naturalists, followed the echo of festive music along a stone path to the main building. Smiles were exchanged as Lelo and his family greeted us. Before dinner, it’s customary for guests to play a soccer game with Lelo and the natives of San Luis, and half of us did just that, the other half watching from the sidelines. A rainbow painted the sky behind us, framing both the soccer game and the breathtaking view of the San Jose mountains.
The restaurant currently sits on land that began, for the Mata family, as a small home, surrounded by pasture. It now boasts two tilapia ponds, abundant landscaping, and a large soccer field, collectively, a sustainable business and lifestyle. With Lelo’s charisma and his wife Elvira’s talent for cooking, opening up their home to feed the community just seemed like the thing to do, and the community of San Luis agreed.
“There were a bunch of volunteers who wanted tilapia and to spend time with my dad,” Beatriz, Lelo’s daughter, beams, “[My dad] always loves to teach and be [taught] by another person. He’s always trying to share any kind of information that he has and he’s always trying to learn something new.”
That thirst for knowledge is clearly something that runs in the family, as Beatriz herself was one of the first college graduates in the area of Monteverde and San Luis. She spent the first twenty-three years of her life in San Luis and with her family before moving to University in Puntarenas. Beatriz can still vividly remember the humble beginnings of both her father’s idea and the potential of the land- the entire family, community and UGA Costa Rica supporting the business along the way. In the same way the community supported and continues to support their family business, Beatriz’s family supported her in earning an education and now, as she’s living almost three hours away in La Fortuna. It’s easy to see, after visiting Rancho de Lelo and meeting the Mata family, how Beatriz was able to build her own independence- through careful guidance of a wise father and growing up in an environment that fosters participation and nurtures sustainable development in all aspects of life.
We waded slowly, close to the bottom of the pond, presumably to keep our balance. The further we walked, the more fish we caught- some, though, jumped above us and the net like an unruly soccer ball that came alive in the wind. We kept moving, moving and laughing, until we caught just enough fish to feed everyone for the night. I didn’t anticipate fishing for my own dinner that Wednesday night of our trip, but with a little encouragement from new friends and the empowering environment that Costa Rica fosters, I felt, now more than ever, ready to jump in.
11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity. (Earth Charter)
