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My Story
My Story
Hi, I’m Rose Barros, the person behind Living Soil Aruba.
When I left the Netherlands in 2007, I didn’t have a grand plan—just a feeling that I needed something different. I wanted to discover who I really was, but somehow I found myself repeating the same patterns, just in a new place.
That started to shift when my husband Daniel, a born and raised Aruban, and I began exploring how to grow food here in Aruba. I became curious, hands-on, and hungry for answers. That curiosity eventually brought me to Syntropic Agroforestry—a method that doesn’t just grow food but restores ecosystems and helps communities reconnect with nature.
Living Soil Aruba grew out of this journey—not from a business plan, but from trial, reflection, and growth. I now work as a consultant in Syntropic Agroforestry, but more importantly, I keep learning. I make mistakes, adjust, and stay open.
Aruba is where I’ve chosen to root myself—not just physically, but with intention.
This island has shaped me. Even though I may not speak the language fluently or move with the rhythm of the culture, my heart is here. This is where I want to give back.
I never birthed a child of my own, but I carry this work for my foster daughter, for your children, and for theirs. I carry it for the next seven generations. This is my way of giving back to the land that holds me.
Whether I’m in a school garden, leading a workshop, or helping a neighbor, the goal is the same: to be useful to the living system I’m part of.
Rose Barros
My Roots
My Roots
My hands first touched soil with intention in 2014. But my roots in nature go much deeper.
I grew up outdoors. My parents encouraged me and my sisters to spend as much time in nature as possible—riding horses, building huts, ice-skating on frozen lakes. I spent countless days in the forest with my grandmother walking her dog, playing hide and seek or tag among the trees. At my other grandparent’s place, we imagined we were "kabouters" (forest gnomes), living in her forest-like yard.
Those memories stayed with me. They grounded me, even when I didn’t know it.
Years later, when Daniel and I started growing food together here in Aruba, it felt like a return to that early wonder—but now with deeper questions. How can we live more in tune with this land? How can we share what we learn?
That’s when I began forming online communities, organizing seed swaps, inviting people to each other’s gardens. Eventually, I found my way to Permaculture—and then to Syntropic Agroforestry, which finally gave structure to what I always believed: we are not separate from nature—we are nature.
I didn’t end up here by accident. This work connects everything I care about—community, education, food, and the Earth.
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