After A Long Drought

After what seems forever, I am back in Honduras. It is nice to be home again. The pile of things needing attention is rather daunting but my team here were magnificent and have everything under control. My job is to cheer them on.

We arrived with seven more computers. Each of our carry on suitcases had a CPU (entailed a longer than usual time at the security checkpoints) and then monitors, cables and screens were in the other luggage. There was room for a little bit of our stuff ... but not much. Well ... important stuff like a couple boxes of Red River cereal made it. Life can go on without other things.

The dry season has arrived along with dusty roads. However, only a few weeks of that and it will begin raining again. In fact, it will likely rain once a week during the dry season. The plants and trees are still doing well and continuing to grow. Some of the trees use this time to flower so there is still lots of colour and, in the right places, some lovely scents.

Yesterday morning, the electricity in my house went haywire. The cable connecting the house from the pole has been repaired a number of times over the years and the road dust interferes with the flow of electricity. For whatever reason, there was power in one part of the house but not the other and the bulb in the kitchen was on SUPER bright. We called an electrician and he showed up to help. The end result was replacing the cable to the pole. The electrician climbed up the pole and replaced the cable and then connected it to the house - all with live power. I certainly was in awe. I know how much I sweat working with switches when the power is firmly off. Doing it in +35' C and with live power ... I will be the spectator thanks. I do know from experience that if you cut through a live wire with side cutters it can create the perfect size wire stripper.

Centre in Havanna - amazing production

15 year old centre

A 100 bed set up - Intercropping and Irrigation

Field approach to organiponics - 2 acres or more

While away, I was able to visit Cuba and see some of their vegetable growing techniques. They have a raised bed system which is very efficient, uses no chemicals and produces astounding amounts of vegetables. I would look at the beds, do some math and then go back and start the equations all over. A family in Honduras could earn a minimum wage income with three beds. In Cuba, one person is able to take care of 15 - 25 beds. Truly amazing. There were many things about Cuba which were fascinating and educational. There were even bookstores with books. Prices were very cheap so families could afford to buy books. An odd feature was the sections of Danielle Steele books in Spanish. I refrained from purchasing those for our digital library in Honduras.

The community of Yajoa, which I talked about in an earlier post, is really taking their education seriously. They now have 48 students (many adults - hurrah) and are raising money to buy computers. We will provide two after Easter (Easter being the national swimming week so studying is very much off the radar).

I would so much like to find a way to provide Yojoa and Las Delicias with a container computer school. It would be a lovely prototype for schools in general and would give the ministry of Education another option for providing education to the many communities without access. Do you know any welder, handyman type people who would like to work on such a challenge?

Manuel was in San Pedro working on some documentation. While returning to one office, a fight broke out across the street. An inebriated man attacked the school guard with a machete. The guard had a machete as well so it was much like an old fashioned sword fight. There were sparks flying (literally) and chaos in the school grounds. It was a Father's Day celebration so parents and children were trying to get out of the way. Fortunately, several of the crowd were quick, brave and amazing enough to subdue the attacker. Knowing how sharp machetes are kept, I am in awe of their actions.

In Cuba, we bought a bottle of perfume made from Vetiver Grass. Yesterday I brought it to the school and had the staff smell it. I put a bit on the wrists of each staff member. The first person was totally amazed and then made sure they were watching the reaction of the next staff. By the last person, everyone was in on the excitement. So ... another project on the 'to learn about' list.

A number of meetings in Canada were encouraging as it was good to talk in person with the many people who are doing so much to ensure that this project continues.  They are such an integral part of our program.

Must run.

TTYL

BB