We were led through a super-hardware store of sorts past tractor parts, motorcycles, feed, and vet supplies. The complex also offered a financial center and even a post office to the coop members. We walked upstairs where we watched an historical video and sampled some chocolate milk (Trebol Leche Chocolatada). The video explained how the Loma Plata Community came to be.
Through the video we learned of the Mennonites' struggle to practice their faith in peace. They were uprooted from Switzerland and arrived in Russia during the early 1800's. They left Russia for Canada and the US in the late 1800's. In order to preserve their culture, the Canadian Mennonites took an offer from Carlos Cansado to settle 50,000 hectares of Paraguayan land in the Chaco region. 1,742 Colonists arrived in the Chaco and 10% died by the time they finally were able to reach their new homeland. They had to penetrate the "Green Hell" of thick thorn forests bushwhacking and hauling their loads via ox carts and horses. Staying true to the Mennonite spirit they built roads to their land. These industrious folks have constructed 1600 km of dirt roads throughout the Chaco connecting this artery to south Paraguay.

As the cooperative has developed it is now able to provide its members with many benefits including: social security, health insurance, housing, and retirement. The colony has thrived and now has to 9000 members. We left the plant with souvenir calendars, key chains and brochures.