Randomness Month 4 - Part 3

Right to start with I promised a few pictures from the pancakes on Shrove Tuesday with the local kids (40 or so)

Coni was on fruit duty. Basically we asked the kids to bring fruit. All didnt which would be expected so we, well Coni cut them all up and made fruit salad to be put on top of pancakes.

Seno Ceci looking very teacherly. I wont lie my pancakes were really round and looked really good, I had control of one frying pan though and Ceci had control of four. Multi taskin naaahhh I havent a hope.....

Kids tucking into the pancakes. Counted 5 kids in the hammock at one stage. Must be some kind of record seen as it wasnt even up....

While we had the kids together we decided to explain about the bottle light projects. Found out that the guttering (rain water pipes) they have in most hardware stores are similar in size to the clay tiles they use so we pretty much can fit them in any houser in the region now. Next week we are going to start doing examples in a house in each community and workshops for the people to start making and installing their own. Some areas have no electricity and the areas that do have them turned on in the kitchen all day. Really hopeful on this project, think it will be a good solution. Long term I hope to set up another blog (sustainable solution inc) specifically to explain these ideas, and others like sheeps wool insulation in English and Spanish. Had a look and there is nothing really at the minute specifically for thrid world countries. Free at least. On the really long finger at the minute though.

It was carnival in latin america on the same day so the kids all filled egg shells with paper clippings and stuck a lot on my head it has to be said. I did have to help them out a little by bending down. Not the tallest race in the world at the best of times especially when their under ten. Had to go to Huehue (the nearest big town) later that day where people were getting egged and floured all over the shop. How they didnt attack the gringo god only knows but I didnt stay around too long either.... 


A plan has come together after discussions between Brenda (project director), Ceci (Local teacher and Brendas sister), Coni (work colleague) and myself. Basically I wanted to learn a bit about living sustainable. So as you can see below we made a lot of progress in this regard in the last week of Febuary 1st week of March. Chicken coop is finally finished ready for chickens when I go back, and also we have a compost heap including roof to prevent the sun drying it up too much. The third part will be a green house to be completed soon too. We are doing the work with a local family. Dona Mina and her son Ronnie live one field away from me. Dona Mina works for food somedays and others she gets 1 euro a day from her two brothers families for cleaning and washing. To be fair they are not super rich either but the point is they could do with some help. Also as I dont plan on being in La Cumbre every weekend I need someone to help keep the Chickens and green house going when im not there.

COMPOSTING:

This is me struggling with a pick axe tring to dig hole for compost.....

This is Victor a ten year old boy from across the way making a show of me. Victor is my new best buddy. Mad to help always and really smart. We are building a compost pile at his house when I get back. Cool that he is interested in it for one and nice to have a hand too... He came to my house few weeks back with some of the wort looking oranges I have ever seen, must have found them on the side of the road. Made 20 cents and a packet of biscuits in the deal, gotta love his initiative of thinking of selling them to the stupid gringo. Definitely gonna go far in life. 

This project was Brenda´s baby really and I just done what I was told as I know nothing about composting or anything else agriculature if im honest. Brenda and Seno Coni got well stuck into the work from the start. Dont claim to be Rambo or anything but anybody would honestly feel the difference at 3500m altitude.

CHICKEN COOP:

Finally got the chicken coop and pen finished

Well insulated on Mammy´s orders.........

 Materials for chicken coop cost the grand total of 12 euro (120 Q)

There is another layer of chicken wire above this one cant find a finished photo though sorry....


I bought a motor bike. The beast is a Yumbo 200 Dakar. Wouldnt say it got the name from anything to do with the dakar Rally. Be grand for me, has a one year guarantee and when I sell it should get the price of my return flight out of it. Big thanks to KLM for not letting me change my flight again by the way. Will be so looking forward to travelling with use again ha ha. Seriously though ever since I knew i wasnt going back on the 2nd of April ive been able to make plans without giving myself time limits which has taken the stress right out of it. (NOTE: always read the small print with KLM) Not sure yet how much I will use the bike on long trips but it is going to make life a hell of a lot easier for work. Some places we work like Escaputzi are about an hour on a bus on a dirt track. Fine going there in the morning because the buses leave at a certain time but after your finished work there is no guarantee of when you will get home.  

PARTY PARTY PARTY....  The first pictures are of Llandells 2nd birthday (Brenda´s nephew). The second is of Wilfred´s Dona Caralinas (woman who recently had a stroke) son and my nest door neighbour. The third set are of the grand opening of the washing station we built before xmas. Sure if ye dont have a gringo at your party in Huhuetenango this weather your no body. Was thinkin of hiring myself out as a token gringo for events now there is an opening in the market with the Peace Corp pulling out. Party animal gone I am. Little bit different than the parties in the square what?
Birthdays are a really big thing in Guatemala. Not so much expensive gifts, although there are gifts but they are a big event for the family and normally last the whole day by the time the different traditions have taken place. They were both really cool to be invited to, was a really nice experience. Seem to mean a lot more if I am honest with the whole family spending the day together and celebrating for hours. In fact because the whole of Brenda´s fanily couldnt be together until Sunday Llandells birthday was postponed for 3 days. Dont think he noticed and if he did wouldnt say he minded.
They normally start with fireworks at the time the person was born. For instance Llandell had fireworks at 6 in the morning, but could be anytime and they do love their fireworks in Guatemala...

 The pinata as you would expect. There was also a savage amount of food to be eaten along with cake.....

Not sure how this tradition started but basically when the person goes to blow the candle out you shove their face in the cake. I knew it was going to happen but it was still really funny. A little bad you might think but if you were there you would laugh...

Oooohooooo hear come the tears. Two things happened here, everybody kept laughing and Llandell stopped crying pretty soon. Funny im sorry.....

This is Wilfreds having a go at the pinata. Dona Carolina is feeling better she says but to be honest her face still looks very numb. Not sure if that will improve. At the minute she has a scarf around her face permanently.

                                                             Still really funny...............

Wilfred has a really big family, 22 uncles and aunties on his fathers side alone. This is him receiving gifts a little bit happier with the cake wiped off his face.


Third party was the opening ceromony at La Union. This is me looking very important cutting the ribbon in the opening ceremony of the water tank (not me) and the washing station and soak away (me).

Bit of an oul concert by the school kids in between the many speeches by the foundation, leaders, presidents teachers and former teachers in La Union. Might seem like I am taking the piss a bit but im not. In La Union they get things done because everybody wants to get them done. Everybody helps. If anyone out of the group listed above wasnt interested then things wouldnt happen. Great example for the other villages around. Works well.

 Any excuse for a bit of a concert. Been a while since U2 played in these parts ye know??

Finally the last get together I had before leaving for a bit of a vacation was a meeting with the 13 kids on scholarships with Seeds of Help. The main reason we got together was to tell the kids about the trip to Tikal we have planned and tell them to start saving for spending money.
It was however the first time all 13 had been together in a room so it became a lot more. Normally at these things people are asked to say a little bit about themselves as an introduction. This was a lot more than the usual age and name. I suppose the kids felt like it was a good way to say thanks to Seeds of Help and most took the opportunity to explain their situation and why they felt so indebted for the chance they have been given in life. I am going to talk more about this in the next blog because I need people to help me to make this trip happen. Thanks to everyone who has already agreed to help so far in anyway.  Namely, Reilly´s Irish Bar (Antigua), Verity, Liz (Aka Mammy), Aunty Mary, Kerry, Terri, Derk, Joe, Sue and Foley.