This week we didn't have a lot of work to do but it was more a bit of tidying up loose ends. Below you can see things like the shelves and clock hanging on the wall....
Dona Eulalias bedroom no longer a prayer room. Bed in........
Gavins chicken house..... Finally finished. Some size of a yoke but well thought out, or ended up well one or the other. The right side where everybody is looking into is for the younger chickens. There is a branch climbing into the larger area. The thought being that when they are big enough to walk along the branch they are big enough to go into the larger area. The long door on the left can be lifted up to take out the eggs when they eventually start laying in about 6 months or so. Gav bought 20 chickens. This is a great way for the family to make an extra few pounds. 20 eggs means 20 Q which is a decent bit. There is plenty of space to rare more chickens too. If they wanted they could put 40 chickens there easily. At the minute the water supply is tapped off the neighbours water supply. There wasnt enough money to pay for the water connection but it is something that the family need to save for and pay for themselves in the future. The chickens make this easier, but will also give them a bit of a sense of paying towards the house which is important. The reason that we went for the local water supply and not rain water harvesting is simple that the local water supply is drinkable.
There was right excitement when the chickens finally came as you can imagine..........
Last week I also took a return trip to Guatemala to pick up the solar panel. Its facing due south and at an angle of 15 degrees which is the optimal for Guatemala. We went for solar panels because for one its more eco friendly but besides that and more importantly Dona Eulalia works cleaning clothes and peoples houses, it is not permanent and she never knows when she will or wont have money,. this means that if we connected her to the mains elec there is a very big chance that she wouldnt be able to pay a bill at some stage, her elec would be cut off. The solar panel gives her a certain amount of elec every day for free, after the initial purchase of course.
There are six lights one in every room. They are low voltager LED lights which will not drain the battery too quickly when used correctly.
Above can be seen the invertor with the battery inside it. Pride of place goes to the radio given to Dona Eualia for her birthday by the spanish volunteers of course....
I would like to now thank everybody for there help with this project. I cant name everybody for fear of leaving somebody out for a start. I would just like to say how sorry I am that they can not all see in person what this home means to the family, how it has changed their lives and how greatful they are..... muchas gracias a todos.....
In case you are wondering about what my plans are for the future I will tell you. For now I will be moving to Antigua to live. Reason for this is that im broke simple enough. Going to work in Reillys Irish bar and possibly look for a more permanent job with a charity. I will be going back to visit Dona Eualalia and family regularly. Not least to see how Sylvias computer classes are coming on. When she is ready she will be writing to all concerned parties on a monthly basis. I will have this sorted sooner rather than later. I would like to work with Semillas de Ayuda in the future if its possible and we have a few projects unfinished and ideas bantered around. The thoughts of never going back to Huehue is somehting I simply cant contemplate. While im living in Antigua I also have a few ideas to work with local charities and possibly even another house after xmas but I will let you know when I do. I am still planning on leaving for Canada to make a few pound around April next year I will be keeping the blog up dated when I have something worth talking about. For now thanks again to everybody and talk soon. Adios........
