Randomness and Ramblings (Month 3)

This is the washing station at Calvario 2 in use ( yea I know very original name there is also a Calvario B we work at  god knows how many Calvarios there actually are). Not the prettiest it must be said but works well.

               As I said not the prettiest, nice from far, far from nice. To be fair though the last day before the hoilidays I had to run back to antigua for Inlex meeting. I asked the two peace corp volunteers if they would mind coming back in afternoon when concrete was better set and see if they could dickey it up and if not just scrape it with a nail so that I could put another decent coat on after the holidays. They said no bother, I went and bought them lunch and the lot to say thanks and guess what they never went back. Sound..... Peace corp are pulling out of Hue hue because of some politics before April. Must be carelful I dont slip on my own tears when they go. If I am honest I am especially bitter towards them because they were the first people I had contact with when I reached La cumbre and they were so negative about everything I thought I must be entering hell. Luckily I took it with a pinch of salt and when I talked to Stefan a few days later he painted an opposite picture. He is naturally a positive person and I I honestly dont know what I would have thought about things if he hadnt of been there. For that I willl always be greatful. It is very annoying I let somebody. Really I am a little annoyed with myself for half believing them and being a little dubious at first when there is absolutley no reason to be.  There is absolutley no place for negativity here and you have to be extra positive around the two other volunteers becuase the negativity, especially when they are together just oozes. They must have been out the day in their Peace Corp training when the thought the lesson that its what you make of it yourself... Leave them at that.
             Officially Peace Corp are leaving Huehue because it is too dangerous. Most dangerous thing up in the Cuchmantanas is the dogs, natural hatred for gringos or else well trained who knows. honestly dangerous here what a joke? If they worked in Ashford of a Saturday night they would nuke the village.
            I have no problem with individuals who work for the peace corp, dont get me wrong, just happened to get too whingy fXXXXers in my project. I have met loads who are well clued in to whats happening in the world, along with plenty of people from the States who are here independantly who are doing great work and can recognise the problems of Capitalism.
              The peace corp as an organisation I just dont get. Sorry if I offend anybody here but what is the point in an organisation financed to do charity work by the same government who have been raping every country south of the border of their resources for decades. Coincidence it started up in the earlñy 50s along with the worst attrocities in Latin America, finaced by the CIA. Hey im no Jim Corr but im not blind either. To me it is justification to be here enforcing capitalist policies. Stop raping resources and there mightn´t be such a need for charity down here.

First day back and asleep on the job tut tut. Cheers Roberto...

Right so going back in time now to the start of my holidays. Gloria the co founder of Inlex with her husband Carlos asked myself and Michael to visit a project that an Irish women had donated money to and deliver a check. Not really my scene standing with a check like a lottery winner but to be fair to Gloria she was more than helpful in helping me find Borax and went out of her way when she could to help with Dona Lily when she was needed so nice to be able to return the favour.

The project is an orphanage called Santa Apelonia near Chimaltenango. Along with a school the kids are thought trades. From the ages of 12 to 15 they have carpentry, clothes making and shoe making classes and after 15 they choose one trade to specialise in. They do not sell the products but they use them themselves and they are also somewhat self sufficient in the area of vegetables and eggs. 

This is one of the kids who didnt have anywhere to go fo the Christmas and of about 75 was ont of the 20 or so that spent xmas at the orphange. The kids here are not necessarily orphans but could be in a situation where their family cannot afford to take proper care of them etc. Also relatives might take the kids out for xmas.

This is myself and Micahel D with Suzy a teacher at inlex AKA Laaaaauuuuuriiiiiittttttaaaaaaaa......

Dona Lily puts the pout on for the photo again without fail. Honestly she is the happiest women in the world normally. Just a bit confused as to what to do in photos. Suppose we all put on a smile so why not....

                  This is where the rambling is gonna come in now. During the xmas Dona Lily was sick. Had two tumours removed from her intestines. She is doing well now. I have to say how I feel about the hospital though. Hermano Pedro. You would think that there would be some sort of Christian sentiment wouldnt you? For a start they first said it was liver cancer. That is a death sentence in most countries but especally here. No facilites for liver transplants whatsoever. Why would you say that unless you were sure? When I returned from Coban to visit Dona Lily, Astrid informed me that she was able to leave physically but that until they paid the full fee she was not allowed to leave. And with a 500 euro fee for every extra night. Needless to say I had a little freak out at the doctors at this stage, who quickly changed their tune to saying as she didnt need medical attention that a 50 euro fee would do per night. This was a Friday and it was impossible to get money before Monday. Now I offered to give them my passport and bank card until it was paid at this stage because she was eager to get to her own home. No doctor stone would not have it. Where is the sense in it, the fee keeps getting bigger, what would happen if she wasnt able to get her hands on the money, prisoner for life? Dont mind Hermano Pedro, more like Saint Peter with the key to front door. Now I understand its probably like that for a reason but they had her address and I offered to give them my passport. Anyway besides that I asked explicitly did she have all the medicine she needed I even asked Diego of Inlex (Gutemalan) to ask to make sure and was told yes she did. I waited around for a few days until Dona Lily´s stitches were to come out and low and behold the doctor tells her she needs more medicine. He knew she didnt have the money herself. Incompetance or spitefulness i couldnt say. If he spent more time worrying about medicine and not money things might be a lot more effective. Last week Astrid rand me saying Dona Lily had sever pain again so I told her to go back to the hospital. They perscribed more medicine and she was out in two days not a bother on her. Surely this medicine could have been perscribed straight away? Gloria has asked a doctor friend to get a full report from the hospital so we will wait and see.....
               I also visited a De La Salle school in Antigua. It made the De La Salle school I attended look like a slum. Now im not religion bashing for the sake of it, take a look at the coban blog and you will see I appreciate the good work done by members of the church. However there has to be something fundamentally wrong with private hospitals or schools being run like a business under the name of a christian organistaion. I have now doubt a lot of the money ends up in Rome, along with a lot of the money from the collections on Sundays. I personally find it hard to stomach. This could be Irish bitterness towards the church though who knows..........

Miguel and Astrid

No this isnt a scene from the remake of Darby O Gill and the little people.........

I got this T shirt for free, the night of the Reillys 10 year anniversary. Well now to say it was free, did spend quite a bit of time and money there over the Xmas. Some spot though to be fair. Right craic there every night without fail. If your not dancing on the counter your on your way to the toilet.

This is a fountain in the market in Antigua. Carlsberg dont make fountains..............

Right so new years eve climbed a mountain (Dog nose Mounatin I think) in San Pedro de Atitlan. From left to right Johnnie, Lara, Stefan, Meself and Denise. How do I know these people you ask. Stefan was a work mate in La Cumbre and Johnnie and Lara are his companeros in Coban. Denise was my class mate in Spanish school. Anyway very sober new years, was very cool but too tired to drink much after walk. 

Coban of an early morning.

The two love birds.... Right little Cila Black I am. Fairly handy at it myself though....... Useless gone....

A roof top party at the lads apartment in Coban. Not much night life in Coban. Before 2008 was like most Guatemalan cities but since then it has gotten really dangerous because of Mexican drug gangs who have came to Guatemala since the crack down by Mexican government. Also a route from Columbia to The United States. More about the project the lads work in blog on Coban.....

 Back in La Cumbre since last Monday.......... What are you looking at gringo?.

Mi nuevo Casa. Few little alterations still needed but is getting there. Stove going where the bags of borax are now, next week hopefully.

View from the half door........ just for you Sprocket.

The Jacks...

 My new addition as of yesterday. An Into the Wild style shower. A come on now what else did you expect... Going to see about getting two gas bottles welded together next week. Bottom one is stove and top is an oven. For use as a typical oven but also for making charcoal or carbon which in turn can be used to make water purifiers. Method in my madness I tell you.

The new tat.....

 Few senoritas on the way to the market with corn on their heads. Took me about twenty minutes in a pick up. You do the maths....

A bread oven made out of Adobe. Have thoughts to try make a stove out of this. Little bit more confident seeing this.

Back in work visiting the schools and womens groups see what they need help with in the year to come. One look at this is it any wonder why I love it here so much. Some place to wake up every morning I can tell you.

Santa Lucia Christmas Party

Right so this was the second part to where your hard earned money went to. A bit of a party for the kids on the Friday before New Years with food, clothes and a little present for each.

This is us at the checkout of the Mega Paca in Guatemala City. A paca is a second hand clothes store. The clothes normally come from america and they are really cheap. Some items being ten cents euro or there abouts. It varies up to about 3 euro fifty but with a bit of scavenging there are plenty of bargains. On a large scale they help to ruin any native textile or clothes industries but hey for this particular cause they are a god send as trying to buy for 150 plus kids just wouldnt have been possible with new clothes.  

Roughly speaking about 170 euro. We bought a good bit extra to ensure that we at least had enough for one item for every kid. Had to guess at sizes and sex of children.

This is the receipt for all the clothes. When we were leaving the store with 7 super size bags the security guard actually came over to me asked for a look at the receipt and acted like by having a scan of the bags she new that we hadnt robbed anything. Hilarious.....

Toys were always last on the list behind clothes and then food but becuase of your genourosity it was made possible. Was a major panic station on Friday mroning buying for 170 kids or so. Fair play to Denise for being a great help as a shopper and mule.

Astrid and Dona Lily, inspecting the Pinatas provided by Inlex. Dona Lily was rushed to hospital last week, was more than a bit scared for her to be honest as the doctor was mentioning liver cancer. Not possible to have liver transplant in Guatemala. She went in for an operation and they remnoved two non cancerous tumours from her intestines. I chatted with Astrid yesterday and she said all is well and that she is back to her smiling self. Will call in to see her on Thursday when I arrive in Antigua.

The food preperation. Party was meant to start at 3 so at about half 4 we thought we should start it. Typical Guatemala style. Marisa my Spanish teacher her two daughters and a few local women were in charge of this aspect.

This is the clothes section one for each child.

Had to divide the presents into age and gender. For instance boys 9 to 11 were footballs girls 3 to 5 were kitchen sets etc etc. Individual presents werent really an option.

Me lookin a bit stressed. Wasnt much use pickin the clothes out for chaps to be honest.

Two happy customers.

We planned it so that a few kids came in at a time while the pinatas were getting burst outside so there wasnt total mayhem. Pinatas donated by gt.inlexca.org

Two more happy little customers. Puppies eating the left overs from the party.

Went to visit a family after the Party with Michael D to show him were a lot of the kids live like.

All in all was a great week with the Kids of La Pinada and Santa Lucia. Was a good bit of organising and thanks to eveybody who helped out in anyway at all, donations, support, volunteering. Everyone was great. As always with anything like this the reward outweighs the effort a hundred fold. The people really appreciated it and I just wish that the photos in some way could portray that aspect but you will just have to take my word for it im afraid. Thanks to all. O by the way there is about 90 euro left over from the fund and as promised all the funds will go on this project. Talked to Hilmar and he wreckins a sink in the kitchenette would be the most needed so that will be a little side project in the next while. Bout 50 euro for a decent sink maybe and the rest will go on materials and labour. I am going to publish a full set of accounts for both the Santa Lucia fund and the La Cumbre fund in next few days. There is about 1100 euro left in the La Cumbre account in case your wondering. For me now I am in Coban taking a look at this project where the people live in the dump. More on that to come. Wednesday im heading back to Antigua, see how Dona Lily is, go to dentist (Hope there is no pain envolved think im all pained out after latest tattoo), sort out a route for borax supply and do a few other little bits of business then back to La Cumbre. Was originally going to take holidays until the 23rd but for one the West coast is in rainy season, no thanks I can get that at home, and I am, planning on going to Tikal with a different project so think its time to head back to La Cumbre and start getting hands dirty in sheep shit. Everybody else is supposedly starting back around this time too. School etc...

Kids from Santa Lucia - Zoo trip

All aboard and ready to leave Parque Central Santa Lucia............ The madness begins.

 Denise here with her adopted family. Marco (5), Melissa (8) and Maria (11). There from a family we visit a bit with Hilmar. There father killed himself about 4 months ago becuase he couldnt take the stress of not being able to provide for the family, leaving there mother to provide for 4 small children by herself now. I cant undserstand it so im not going to comment too much on how I feel about it. All lovely kids, hard not to fall for them. Marco is a little bit on the wild side but sure isnt that half the craic. I had him in my arms showing him a big iguana climbing up a tree. Put him down to pick up the sister to show her. Hadnt got her in my arms and the bould Marco had pegged a rock at the iguana. Would have killed an elephant how hard he threw it. Luckily it barely missed. 

Alex, Christian, Denise, Jasmine and Eli...

  

This is me with my assigned group. The Monos (Monkeys) I decided to call my group. Basically because its the only half decent animal sound I can do. Dunno how I feel about it now really. Was walking round santa lucia the other day on the way to Inlex and every second kid was making monkey noises at me and shouting Mono. Genuinely dont think they meant it in a bad way to be fair. Could be called worse I suppose............

 

 

Who is codding who here now????

 

 Myself and the bould Marco........

Feeding time at the Zoo.........

The excitement at this water fountain was unnatural. Fair few wet arses goin back on the bus. Half the kids were soaked to the bone. Not a lot we could do really...

 Denise and the two sisters. Two women who help out at the Comedor (kitchen) every week.

Group photo.... Missing a few but was a battle to get this. Phase 1 complete. All children accounted for none eatin by lions, no Iguanas murdered, kids happy, great success.

I honestly think the kids would have had the same fun if we had brought them anywhere the fact that it was the zoo wasnt totally important. The excitment of a treat and an adventure was the main part for them. Have to say too the older kids really look after the younger ones, boys girls didnt matter they were all great. Made it really enjoyable for all of use helping out too. When Hilmar first said about going to the zoo I thought, nice to bring them on a trip but a Zoo in Guatemala??. To be fair now it wasnt that bad, similar to Dublin zoo as I remember it as a kid, little smaller maybe.

In case your wondering what is the point of the zoo trip. Well make your own mind up but this is my feelings on it. Cons first....  Its pretty cruel to lock wild animals up in convined spaces or concrete jungles no matter which way you look at it.
Now pros, made 108 unasuming kids very happy. Made some more kids and parents aware of the merits of being part of the community centre. Will hopefully make the amount of kids turning up bigger in the new year so that more kids eat healthily and get vitamins. Promotes Hilmar and his work. Hopefully it helps him get even more respect which could make it easier for him to do whatever he wants to do, I know he has plans to do painting courses in the new year and possibly shoe making also. All out of the community centre. My feelings are that he himself would be of best use teaching the kids English after the comedore twice a week. He doesnt agree and we leave it at that because it is his centre and I have my opinion but thats all it is and we move on. I never doubt Hilmars intentions and I after all am only a visitor. I hope it has some positive effect in the long term but even if it doesnt I think the kids really deserved the day out. 
Myself and Stefan were dsicussing the pros and cons of the zoo trip when he hit me with an idea that got me really interested in a project.
I first met Stefan in my project in La Cumbre and to be fair we hit it off straight away, solved many the worlds crisis in a night over a bottle of Ron Boltran 12 year old. Honestly classify him as a good friend, worst wing man in the hostory of wing men but a good friend. He was there for a month only and is returning to work in his own project in Coban at the start of the school year in mid January Stefan is the English teacher in a school where most of the kids live in a dump. Their families survive off selling what they find in the land fill. Pretty scarey stuff.
Right long storey short this is the idea. Bring the 200+ kids that attend the school to a great Myan archaelogical site called Tikal. Have presentations and seminars it there native Myan language the night before entry to the site. Provide food and accomodation for 2 or 3 days for everyone. Why? Simply it is a ¨zoo´ trip with all the excitement that it has but will also teaches the kids how great their native culture is and how great their own society once was. The chances of the kids getting this chance without outside help is near on impossible. Have a few generous offers for a bit of fundraising so might be calling them in for this. First have to sit down over next few days here in Coban and work out the logistics Stefan can work out what is needed. We might then split up the target between a few of us that are interested in going and work from there.   

Best looking sinks in La Cumbre, even if I do say so myself

This is the first construction project I undertook with Seeds of Help and we got iit done just before the xmas break. It consists of 4 sinks and a soakaway for a school. The Water is provided by a rain water harvesting tank also constructed by Seeds of Help. In the picture above you can see the foundations and the soak hole. Have to admit i was walking around with a measuring tape and a pen and paper for the first day so cant take any credit for much of the digging.

Morning of day two. Striking the shutter for the foundation. Was a bit soft but the oul mix of comcrete wouldnt exactly be up British Standards now.

The idea is that the soak away has two purposes. One to disperse the water and two to act as a pathway for the children to walk across. Area gets especially wet in rainy season I am told. Also raised the path above the existing ground for same reason. i was going to turn the concrete blocks flush face up originally but had a little brain wave. Thought that the students could use the blocks as a little herb garden, each witht there own little area (block). Consulted with the two Peace corp volunteers/agriculture experts they agreed as long as there was a hole for drainage in the bottom.

Roberto checking the blockwork for level. I did the blockwork myself so there must be something wrong with the level becuase that says its way off...................

Relaxing on the job. Thats is your fired me bucko. You dont actually get sand or gravel in la cumbre you use a seive to take what you want out of a pile of aggregate.

 

The finished article. Well the concrete was actually scribed up again after this so that another layer of render could be put on in the new year to guive irt a better finish.

Have to say I really enjoyed this project. It was such a change not having to be the bad guy. Back home there are deadlines and budgets that are normally my resonsibilty so I do whatever I feel I have to, to get a job done. Its a big part of my job normally, if that envolves giving a bollocking, and not being everybodies friend then so be it. This was different. Everybody on the site was volunteering in one manner or form so there was absolutely no point in shouting or giving orders. Also this is Guatemala so even if everybody wasnt there by there own free will there isnt much point in getting excited. Everybody worked as hard as they could when they were there, it got finished a day later than I hoped and its still not fully finished. Yea and so what?
Had a bit of a block layers strike for basically the entire project besides half a day, alright but sure coming from Ireland that would be a normal job. So had to improvise there myself but everybody did, George and Adriana are agricultural experts and they were laying block kerbs and plastering, nothing was set in stone and it turned out pretty rough but I am really proud of it. Few things I would probably change on the next one would be having the sinks a little deeper and proabably scud dash the raw blockwork first rather than trying to just plaster it. Would take an extra day but would be a lot easier and would probably give a better finish.

I have to admit the real project manager on this job was Brenda even though she wasnt there. Rightly so too becuase I would have f·····d it up without her. Let me explain. We were half way through the project and I called Brenda and asked if we could buy more stone, she said that yes we could but only if the community decided to pay for it. I straight away thought hey but sure for what it will cost I will take a few euro out of the fundraising money. She flat out said no and when the community also refused she still said no. What happened next? They found stone. It took a day but they picked stones and we got enough to just about fill the soak hole and path.
In Ireland like most places the split in cost between labour and materials is normally around 50/50. I am not totally sure of costs here yet but for instance the materials probably cost around 60 euro for this project. Sylvia´s (The girl we a sponsoring to go to school next year) brother gets 30 euro a month for working in construction. So we could have paid 2 construction workers to work for a month. So it is safe to say that the materials cost is much more than labour. To be fair most people would probably guessed at this but it is really important that I start thinking this way.
It is part of the fundamental make up of Seeds of Help that people help themselves, the community provided the blocks, cement and aggregate along with a lot of labour and we provided the taps, pipe work and a bit of a plan. Initially we had discussed with the community putting a roof over the washing station and they had agreed to provide the Lamina (galvinised sheeting) but it never turned up. Nothing to say it couldnt be done in the future however.