Happy Spring. I grew up in the days when March 21 was officially the first day of Spring. Somewhere along the way, that got changed to March 20. Not sure what all the details for that change were but, nevertheless, I trust that the waxing sun is making for brighter, if not warmer, days.
Translation phrases. Yesterday Manuel started talking about a mutual acquaintance of ours, Mariano. Manuel said that he was a “Sweet Father”. As the conversation continued, I queried about the phrase. He said that it was from an American book he had read. I realized he meant “Sugar Daddy”. Same thing really.
Yesterday was spent in a rather frustrating search for documentation and authorization stuff. In an earlier project, we had endeavoured to buy some land to resettle ten peasant families giving them a new home and land to support themselves. Well, the employee who was charged with this figured out that he could buy the land in his own name and, possibly, walk away with it. Needless to say, we disagreed with that perspective. So, we are in the throes of gaining control of things again. Yesterday we went with two gentlemen who have offered to help us to two different offices. One was in El Progresso, a short hour away and the other in San Pedro Sula, a further hour away. The upshot of the whole deal was: a. You need to go to Tegucigulpa and it only takes a year. b. The man isn’t in. Come back at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. I asked Manuel why we couldn’t have done all this by phone and he was a wee bit puzzled at the concept of doing it all by phone. Sigh. He is right. The only one wondering about the whole procedure was me.
On Tuesday, Manuel and I went to look at a piece of property. Once the education project gets the funding it needs, I would like to get some property to begin some of the agriculture projects we have been considering. I don’t want to start them until it is on land we own. Marcos, a local land agent, took us the twenty minutes to the land. It was a lovely piece of land but to see it we hiked for over two hours up and down and around. We certainly have a good idea of the boundaries though. Unbeknownst to us, there was a small fly or something that was busy munching away. Unlike the black fly which just gets on with it and you know right away that you have been bitten, this no seeum type bug left its calling card about 24 hours later. Both Manuel and I have scores of little welts on our legs to remember the hike by. Obviously people who live in the area develop immunity because I have not seen anyone with the measle like scenario that I sport.
Yesterday, for lunch, we went to a restaurant that was featuring, as its Soup of the Day, Mudongo soup. That is a soup which takes two days to cook. Day one is to cut up the meat portion and give it a good boil. Day two adds the coconut milk and the vegetables for a final boil. The vegetables include plantains and another type of banana along with a squash type vegetable which remains somewhat crunchy even after cooking. The meat portion consists of pieces of stomach, intestine and diaphragm. Thanks to my butchering experience I was able to identify each portion easily. Because it is cooked so well, it is, actually, quite tender (I have had occasions in Africa where chewy was the operative word). As well, with the spices and coconut milk, it is very tasty. It is served with rice and tortillas. Lovely. I doubt I will persuade my family to give it a try.
Ardythe and Alyssa arrive tomorrow for a two week visit. Hopefully their luggage will survive the trip unscathed and unmolested. Post 9/11 baggage checks leave one uncertain what will be left opened for the next leg of the trip. It has made things so much easier for thieves in the destination countries because they know that luggage is no longer locked and is, often, partially open. So much easier to reach in a grasp a part of the contents.
We made a stew for lunch this week that featured mangoes, curry and cinnamon along with some meat and other vegetables. Everyone was pleasantly surprised and seconds were the order of the day.
Talk to you later.
Bryan
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Black Flies and Cold Chicken
The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. and I hurried to put some water on to heat for my morning dish pan bath. At the same time I put on water for porridge. Why is it that you work hard to get the porridge hot enough to cook and then work hard to get it cool enough to eat? By 6:10 breakfast was over, bath done and I was ready for the day. Unfortunately, I had to leave before finishing the last two chapters of a novel I was reading – will get back to it tonight I am afraid.
The reason for the early start was a trip out to give some people advice about garden beds. We boarded a rapidito and headed out to Rosa’s farm and met with the five families who are going to start making garden beds in between the rows of papaya that Rosa has planted. We did some measuring and cutting of measuring sticks and demonstrated a few ways of planting the seeds. After doing that it came out that getting seeds was a problem. Not sure why that is but it does seem difficult to find seeds here. Julio, one of Rosa’s workers was along and showed me a number of his efforts. Most commendable. As I told Rosa later, “Planting anything gets you an 80%. The other 20% we can talk about, discuss and even argue but as long as stuff is getting planted you are well on the way.” She is busy planting trees on her property. Her numbers suggest that in 2-4 years each of her fruit trees will produce more than $100.00 of fruit (she is thinking $250.00) a year. When you consider that, as a teacher, she makes $400.00 a month, it means only 50 trees to equal that income. And, believe you me, trees are much easier to manage than kids in a classroom. The lumber producing trees she is planting will be worth more than $1000 a tree in ten to twelve years. It was exciting to see someone putting things in the ground. She also has many roses planted which look lovely.
The down side of the trip was that there is a type of black fly which bites and takes a tiny chunk of skin with it. Whenever I encounter a new type of stinging insect, (mosquitoes, etc.) the bites swell up quickly and thoroughly for the first few days of encounter. Within a week or two my immune system is ready for the new attack and it is not so annoying. My arms look like a Canadian camper in June who lost his tent and campfire.
We had another board meeting this week and, in preparation, I told Manuel that I would buy smoked chicken and put in my fridge and serve it cold. Well, a bit of the conversation got lost in the translation because there was nothing like this in Manuel’s culinary background. He knew that it was okay to store chicken in the fridge but had never heard or thought of having cold chicken at a meal. Consequently, when we were ready to serve the meal, I went over to see that the cold deboned chicken which I had ready to serve was being hustled into a frying pan to be heated. I quickly resolved the situation and we got the translation corrected. Everyone was quite amazed at the prospect but, fortunately, all enjoyed the new adventure in taste.
For the meeting we inaugurated the new Lorena Oven and it performed in a stellar fashion. As well, we put two solar cookers into service to cook potatoes and cauliflower. By noon, fresh beans (evidently, there is a taste difference between new dried beans and old dried beans when cooked) were cooked on the stove and a pudding made from ground milk corn, milk, sugar and cinnamon. Fresh watermelon finished off the meal which we served outside in the shade of one of our palm trees. Sooooo tropical.
Today the men are supposed to come fix the roof. Not sure if that will happen. I hope they did not arrive during the hour I was planting. Juan Carlos called to make sure I could come referee a soccer game this afternoon. Will see how that goes. Hopefully all will stay calm and any Honduran intensity will be saved for the after game drinks.
One other interesting trip this week. We took some scribblers and pencils to children who are kept in a shelter during the school week. These children come from single parent families or live with extended families. For the most part, they are without care during the week because the parent or caregiver has to work. Consequently, the make do with one meal a day. The shelter allows them to have three meals a day, access to schooling and a place to sleep during the school week. They return to their homes on weekends. It was a sobering reminder of how close to the surface poverty is and how it crushes the lives of those least able to do anything about it. Additionally, these children who are malnourished before the age of five face a lifetime of difficulties in health, education and livelihood skills. It is good to think that we are at least trying to do something about ameliorating some of these problems.
TTYL
Bryan
The reason for the early start was a trip out to give some people advice about garden beds. We boarded a rapidito and headed out to Rosa’s farm and met with the five families who are going to start making garden beds in between the rows of papaya that Rosa has planted. We did some measuring and cutting of measuring sticks and demonstrated a few ways of planting the seeds. After doing that it came out that getting seeds was a problem. Not sure why that is but it does seem difficult to find seeds here. Julio, one of Rosa’s workers was along and showed me a number of his efforts. Most commendable. As I told Rosa later, “Planting anything gets you an 80%. The other 20% we can talk about, discuss and even argue but as long as stuff is getting planted you are well on the way.” She is busy planting trees on her property. Her numbers suggest that in 2-4 years each of her fruit trees will produce more than $100.00 of fruit (she is thinking $250.00) a year. When you consider that, as a teacher, she makes $400.00 a month, it means only 50 trees to equal that income. And, believe you me, trees are much easier to manage than kids in a classroom. The lumber producing trees she is planting will be worth more than $1000 a tree in ten to twelve years. It was exciting to see someone putting things in the ground. She also has many roses planted which look lovely.
The down side of the trip was that there is a type of black fly which bites and takes a tiny chunk of skin with it. Whenever I encounter a new type of stinging insect, (mosquitoes, etc.) the bites swell up quickly and thoroughly for the first few days of encounter. Within a week or two my immune system is ready for the new attack and it is not so annoying. My arms look like a Canadian camper in June who lost his tent and campfire.
We had another board meeting this week and, in preparation, I told Manuel that I would buy smoked chicken and put in my fridge and serve it cold. Well, a bit of the conversation got lost in the translation because there was nothing like this in Manuel’s culinary background. He knew that it was okay to store chicken in the fridge but had never heard or thought of having cold chicken at a meal. Consequently, when we were ready to serve the meal, I went over to see that the cold deboned chicken which I had ready to serve was being hustled into a frying pan to be heated. I quickly resolved the situation and we got the translation corrected. Everyone was quite amazed at the prospect but, fortunately, all enjoyed the new adventure in taste.
For the meeting we inaugurated the new Lorena Oven and it performed in a stellar fashion. As well, we put two solar cookers into service to cook potatoes and cauliflower. By noon, fresh beans (evidently, there is a taste difference between new dried beans and old dried beans when cooked) were cooked on the stove and a pudding made from ground milk corn, milk, sugar and cinnamon. Fresh watermelon finished off the meal which we served outside in the shade of one of our palm trees. Sooooo tropical.
Today the men are supposed to come fix the roof. Not sure if that will happen. I hope they did not arrive during the hour I was planting. Juan Carlos called to make sure I could come referee a soccer game this afternoon. Will see how that goes. Hopefully all will stay calm and any Honduran intensity will be saved for the after game drinks.
One other interesting trip this week. We took some scribblers and pencils to children who are kept in a shelter during the school week. These children come from single parent families or live with extended families. For the most part, they are without care during the week because the parent or caregiver has to work. Consequently, the make do with one meal a day. The shelter allows them to have three meals a day, access to schooling and a place to sleep during the school week. They return to their homes on weekends. It was a sobering reminder of how close to the surface poverty is and how it crushes the lives of those least able to do anything about it. Additionally, these children who are malnourished before the age of five face a lifetime of difficulties in health, education and livelihood skills. It is good to think that we are at least trying to do something about ameliorating some of these problems.
TTYL
Bryan
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tourist Escort – March 8
Finally, I planted the two vegetable beds we created to a variety of greens. We will see if the seeds I obtained have any viability. Once again, though, it demonstrates how much nutrition can be obtained from a very small piece of land. Each bed is 3 feet X 20 feet but will easily provide greens for a family for several weeks.
Friday afternoon, I joined Manuel on the bus trip to San Pedro Sula. Once in San Pedro Sula I caught transport to the City Mall where I met a new friend, Eddy, a man from California who is volunteering as a teacher at the Anglican school I taught at a couple of years ago. He was looking for a chance to see other parts of San Pedro Sula and get out of town.
After showing him a few new spots around City Mall (near where he lives) and a great Baleada spot, we headed to the city centre to walk around and see a few sights. Many of the teachers and students in the school are very anxious about security issues. As conspicuously rich people, they are targets for bandits and kidnappers. Consequently, their lives are spent surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire. Obviously, they don’t spend a lot of time exploring their world and enjoying the colour and vibrancy that is part of ordinary peoples’ lives.
Saturday morning we came to Santa Cruz so that Eddy could have a chance to see a town setting that is much more relaxed than the visible armed guards so much a part of San Pedro Sula. He was so happy to walk around and see some of the ordinary lives of Hondurans. It is always so refreshing to see a place through the eyes of a newcomer and realize how many things that I no longer notice are interesting and exciting to someone else.
After lunch, we went with the owner of the smoked chicken restaurant to watch his team play soccer. His team is part of a ten team league featuring solidly over-the-hill players from several surrounding towns. I was possibly going to be the referee (turned out that the other team had a referee). There are not enough fields in Santa Cruz so the two teams from Santa Cruz travelled thirty kilometres to a field on the shores of Lake Yajoha. What a beautiful setting. On two sides lush green forest crept to the edges and tall trees stopped errant balls before dropping them into the undergrowth. The other two sides were a maize field and a sugar cane field. The backdrop was paper art layers of ever taller mountains pushing through the evening clouds. The game was fun as well.
Our friend hustled us away from the field so that we could find a bus for Eddy to return to S.P.S. We were very lucky to have a bus coming along the road behind us which stopped at the Las Flores intersection as I jumped out of the car to wave it down. After making sure Eddy was aboard, I was lucky enough to flag down a later vehicle from the game and got a ride in the back of the pick up with four of the players.
Two thought provoking events this week. One is the tragedy of the excommunication of the doctors in Brazil who performed an abortion for a nine year old girl who was pregnant with twins due to the ongoing sexual abuse of her father. What type of theology is prepared to condemn a small girl to the hell of pregnancy after living with the hell of abuse? A theology that values life has to be flexible enough to value the lives of the living and oppressed as much as those of the unborn. With millions of already born living without hope, parents, in need of health, education, sanitation and nourishment surely there is something there to occupy the time and efforts of these “religious” leaders.
The second thought provoking event was a conversation with a fellow in the States who has done some fine work with green leaves as a food source and nutritional basis for health. As we talked he hoped that I would be able to get some things done before I had been here so long that I had “gone native”. This is a phrase I have heard over the years and it was most troubling. The assumption is, so often, that we as Canadians, Americans and Europeans have the real, complete knowledge of all things good and productive and we are, consequently, able to provide all the answers to the poor natives in whatever country we fly into. There seems to be no understanding that wisdom is not confined to one culture or religious expression. As we walk, sit and eat with people of other cultures we are often overwhelmed with the abilities and wisdom that they have to offer to the conversation. We have access, very often, to large quantities of knowledge but that does not, all too often, equate to wisdom.
Today I was given another fascinating reminder of this. Friends called me and asked if I wanted to go see some forest. It was only five minutes by collective from the town centre. We walked from the highway and into this patch of forest. An elderly gentleman was with us and, as we went, we paused numerous times as he pointed out plants and told us what they were used for – nutrition, medicine, fodder, fuel and timber. Fortunately for me, there was also an American who had years of experience in horticulture so we got both Spanish and Latin names for many things. Between us we learned many traditional uses and shared some new ideas and potentials for various plants. What a delightful time.
Just as delightful was finding a gorgeous waterfall tucked away out of sight only a hundred metres from the road. We sat and enjoyed the sound and spray as well as all the lush greenery. My Leatherman came in handy to cut into different seeds and fruits as we explored the plant life. Four of us played in the river a little bit setting up a log so that the rest could cross dry shod. It was more the fun of wading in the rushing water than the necessity of setting up a bridge. At the end of the hike, our host served us barbecued pork, roasted cassava and cabbage salad. A totally unexpected adventure.
Enough for now.
Bryan
Friday afternoon, I joined Manuel on the bus trip to San Pedro Sula. Once in San Pedro Sula I caught transport to the City Mall where I met a new friend, Eddy, a man from California who is volunteering as a teacher at the Anglican school I taught at a couple of years ago. He was looking for a chance to see other parts of San Pedro Sula and get out of town.
After showing him a few new spots around City Mall (near where he lives) and a great Baleada spot, we headed to the city centre to walk around and see a few sights. Many of the teachers and students in the school are very anxious about security issues. As conspicuously rich people, they are targets for bandits and kidnappers. Consequently, their lives are spent surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire. Obviously, they don’t spend a lot of time exploring their world and enjoying the colour and vibrancy that is part of ordinary peoples’ lives.
Saturday morning we came to Santa Cruz so that Eddy could have a chance to see a town setting that is much more relaxed than the visible armed guards so much a part of San Pedro Sula. He was so happy to walk around and see some of the ordinary lives of Hondurans. It is always so refreshing to see a place through the eyes of a newcomer and realize how many things that I no longer notice are interesting and exciting to someone else.
After lunch, we went with the owner of the smoked chicken restaurant to watch his team play soccer. His team is part of a ten team league featuring solidly over-the-hill players from several surrounding towns. I was possibly going to be the referee (turned out that the other team had a referee). There are not enough fields in Santa Cruz so the two teams from Santa Cruz travelled thirty kilometres to a field on the shores of Lake Yajoha. What a beautiful setting. On two sides lush green forest crept to the edges and tall trees stopped errant balls before dropping them into the undergrowth. The other two sides were a maize field and a sugar cane field. The backdrop was paper art layers of ever taller mountains pushing through the evening clouds. The game was fun as well.
Our friend hustled us away from the field so that we could find a bus for Eddy to return to S.P.S. We were very lucky to have a bus coming along the road behind us which stopped at the Las Flores intersection as I jumped out of the car to wave it down. After making sure Eddy was aboard, I was lucky enough to flag down a later vehicle from the game and got a ride in the back of the pick up with four of the players.
Two thought provoking events this week. One is the tragedy of the excommunication of the doctors in Brazil who performed an abortion for a nine year old girl who was pregnant with twins due to the ongoing sexual abuse of her father. What type of theology is prepared to condemn a small girl to the hell of pregnancy after living with the hell of abuse? A theology that values life has to be flexible enough to value the lives of the living and oppressed as much as those of the unborn. With millions of already born living without hope, parents, in need of health, education, sanitation and nourishment surely there is something there to occupy the time and efforts of these “religious” leaders.
The second thought provoking event was a conversation with a fellow in the States who has done some fine work with green leaves as a food source and nutritional basis for health. As we talked he hoped that I would be able to get some things done before I had been here so long that I had “gone native”. This is a phrase I have heard over the years and it was most troubling. The assumption is, so often, that we as Canadians, Americans and Europeans have the real, complete knowledge of all things good and productive and we are, consequently, able to provide all the answers to the poor natives in whatever country we fly into. There seems to be no understanding that wisdom is not confined to one culture or religious expression. As we walk, sit and eat with people of other cultures we are often overwhelmed with the abilities and wisdom that they have to offer to the conversation. We have access, very often, to large quantities of knowledge but that does not, all too often, equate to wisdom.
Today I was given another fascinating reminder of this. Friends called me and asked if I wanted to go see some forest. It was only five minutes by collective from the town centre. We walked from the highway and into this patch of forest. An elderly gentleman was with us and, as we went, we paused numerous times as he pointed out plants and told us what they were used for – nutrition, medicine, fodder, fuel and timber. Fortunately for me, there was also an American who had years of experience in horticulture so we got both Spanish and Latin names for many things. Between us we learned many traditional uses and shared some new ideas and potentials for various plants. What a delightful time.
Just as delightful was finding a gorgeous waterfall tucked away out of sight only a hundred metres from the road. We sat and enjoyed the sound and spray as well as all the lush greenery. My Leatherman came in handy to cut into different seeds and fruits as we explored the plant life. Four of us played in the river a little bit setting up a log so that the rest could cross dry shod. It was more the fun of wading in the rushing water than the necessity of setting up a bridge. At the end of the hike, our host served us barbecued pork, roasted cassava and cabbage salad. A totally unexpected adventure.
Enough for now.
Bryan
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
One Oven Done - March 3
Sunday morning, the family arrived to build the Lorena Oven. We were two from our office so that made a crew of five. The man and I worked on mixing cement and so forth for the foundation. There is just no easy way to mix cement by hand. Once the support bricks were laid, we set up the form for the main bed of the oven. Cutting wet hardwood planks with a dull handsaw makes for a good workout.
As we worked, the ladies worked on mixing the adobe. A combination of horse manure, wood ash and clay was sieved and then mixed with water to make a gooey mixture just right for plastering with.
As soon as the base was formed and the cement poured, they began laying the fired bricks that make up the oven. The oven proper is made up of fired bricks and adobe. By one o’clock the finishing touches were being put on the whole thing and it was covered up to prevent spoilage by the on and off again rain.
By one thirty I was on my way to Tegucigalpa. The bus was late leaving San Pedro Sula so Manuel did not arrive until almost 4 p.m. Nevertheless, we made good time once we left Las Flores. We had hoped to arrive early enough to catch a movie in the big city but that didn’t happen. Instead we went to a restaurant for supper and got to bed in good time.
Our hotel room was nice and clean and, more importantly, around the corner and away from the noise and fumes of the buses starting up at 5 a.m. Lovely. It even had hot water in the shower as well so that was a real bonus. Considering how cold it has been the last few days that was most appreciated. Low teen temperatures are very cold when you have no place to go warm up. The washroom even featured lovely mauve fixtures with a padded, aquamarine green toilet seat.
In the morning, as we were having breakfast, a lady came in to ask for food. She quickly accepted the beans and cheese on my plate along with a tortilla. A reminder that underneath the facade of rich buildings and malls is an aching layer of pain and misery.
Our meeting went well on Monday morning and we came away cautiously optimistic that the funding will appear for the project. The man we saw is the final link in the chain and he was very positive about our ideas and hoped to have a reply to us in the next two weeks. Will see how that turns out.
As our bus warmed up, we had a host of hawkers coming up the aisles. Children’s toys, lovely wall hangings inscribed with a favourite Psalm, plates of food and, my favourite, a Rasta man, complete with braids, Ethiopian coloured knitted cap and pendant selling sticks of incense.
Manuel and I got off the bus about twenty kilometres from my turn off to check out a small fish farm we had seen from the bus window. It was most interesting. It featured nine tanks each holding about 1000 m3 of water. The man who was guarding the place showed us around and told us everything he could. A lovely set up with lots of potential. Each of the seven grow tanks will hold about 4000 or more tilapia so that is a lot of fish. The tanks were made of wire mesh lined with a hard black plastic. Very economical. The site will bare further study.
Today we had, in my opinion, the best sweet potato recipe yet. Sautéed onions, steamed leaves done in a yoghurt and peanut butter sauce. Everyone dug into that dish with a will. I promised the girls fourteen days of sweet potato leaves so will have to figure out some other ways of preparing them. Hopefully, in two months, many of the other greens we have planted will begin producing and we can have a variety of healthy (and good??) eating.
Talk to you later.
Bryan
As we worked, the ladies worked on mixing the adobe. A combination of horse manure, wood ash and clay was sieved and then mixed with water to make a gooey mixture just right for plastering with.
As soon as the base was formed and the cement poured, they began laying the fired bricks that make up the oven. The oven proper is made up of fired bricks and adobe. By one o’clock the finishing touches were being put on the whole thing and it was covered up to prevent spoilage by the on and off again rain.
By one thirty I was on my way to Tegucigalpa. The bus was late leaving San Pedro Sula so Manuel did not arrive until almost 4 p.m. Nevertheless, we made good time once we left Las Flores. We had hoped to arrive early enough to catch a movie in the big city but that didn’t happen. Instead we went to a restaurant for supper and got to bed in good time.
Our hotel room was nice and clean and, more importantly, around the corner and away from the noise and fumes of the buses starting up at 5 a.m. Lovely. It even had hot water in the shower as well so that was a real bonus. Considering how cold it has been the last few days that was most appreciated. Low teen temperatures are very cold when you have no place to go warm up. The washroom even featured lovely mauve fixtures with a padded, aquamarine green toilet seat.
In the morning, as we were having breakfast, a lady came in to ask for food. She quickly accepted the beans and cheese on my plate along with a tortilla. A reminder that underneath the facade of rich buildings and malls is an aching layer of pain and misery.
Our meeting went well on Monday morning and we came away cautiously optimistic that the funding will appear for the project. The man we saw is the final link in the chain and he was very positive about our ideas and hoped to have a reply to us in the next two weeks. Will see how that turns out.
As our bus warmed up, we had a host of hawkers coming up the aisles. Children’s toys, lovely wall hangings inscribed with a favourite Psalm, plates of food and, my favourite, a Rasta man, complete with braids, Ethiopian coloured knitted cap and pendant selling sticks of incense.
Manuel and I got off the bus about twenty kilometres from my turn off to check out a small fish farm we had seen from the bus window. It was most interesting. It featured nine tanks each holding about 1000 m3 of water. The man who was guarding the place showed us around and told us everything he could. A lovely set up with lots of potential. Each of the seven grow tanks will hold about 4000 or more tilapia so that is a lot of fish. The tanks were made of wire mesh lined with a hard black plastic. Very economical. The site will bare further study.
Today we had, in my opinion, the best sweet potato recipe yet. Sautéed onions, steamed leaves done in a yoghurt and peanut butter sauce. Everyone dug into that dish with a will. I promised the girls fourteen days of sweet potato leaves so will have to figure out some other ways of preparing them. Hopefully, in two months, many of the other greens we have planted will begin producing and we can have a variety of healthy (and good??) eating.
Talk to you later.
Bryan
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Waiting to Build a Lorena Oven
The crew to build a Lorena Oven are to arrive in the next few minutes. As they were to arrive at this time yesterday I am cautiously pessimistic. The good news is that all of the materials arrived yesterday afternoon so we are definitely making progress. It will be exciting to have one of these fuel efficient stoves to experiment with. It will include a small baking oven (I think – that is the plan) so will be quite versatile. The Lorena Oven uses much less fuel and, better yet, smaller dimension fuel wood (even corn cobs). This means that a family with one of these ovens can plant much smaller types of trees which grow faster, coppice rapidly and have other uses for food and fodder. Since the trees are smaller, they can be planted closer together and so need much less space to provide enough fuel for a family.
As Manuel and I hiked to and fro in Santa Cruz looking for a place which could make a cement beehive we stumbled upon an office fronting for a concrete pillars, railings and balustrade posts making outfit. Imagine our surprise when the lady involved spoke wonderful English and, amazingly, is working on sustainable agriculture on her plot outside of town. She was excited to meet someone else who knew a tiny bit about beekeeping and was very helpful. The next morning, I was up and out by 6 a.m. to catch the rapidito with her to go see her land. Amazing what she has been able to accomplish in a couple of years. Even more amazing the potential that awaits further work. It was such a wonderful opportunity to talk with someone who is knowledgeable about many of the things I have looked at. We will see how the conversation continues.
This lady, Rosa, encountered a small boy in the village who was basically living a feral existence. He `lived` with his father but spent many of his nights outside on the ground and obviously went hungry much of the time. She took him home and he is now in school. At almost ten years of age, he looks, to me, much like a six year old. He is definitely well behind in the growth and development curve. A reminder that there are many invisible people who need help and attention.
Two more meals with our growing favourite – Sweet Potato Leaves. One meal was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cream and leaves. That went over fairly well. The other was chicken, coconut milk, rice, curry and leaves. Everyone had second helpings of that one so we are making progress. Yesterday I took a try at making my own yoghurt and it set nicely so we can try yoghurt as a base for some of our meals. Will also try one with peanut butter sauce – a favourite method in Uganda.
Friday night, on the way home from the town centre, I encountered three small boys pelting down the street toward me. I wasn’t sure what they were running from until, another 20 metres along, I met their dangerous opponents. Obviously they had been troubling two little girls until the girls had had enough. Both girls had their hands full of mud and were flinging balls of mud at the boys. Happily, I was outside of the firing line.
Further down the street I was just beginning to wend my way through a street soccer game when I heard some shouting. The boys looked at me and pointed backwards. I turned around and found that I was passing the home of the Principal of the Santa Cruz Education Department. So, after a visit with him and two others of his staff (an hour and a half later) I completed my journey.
Finally one type of mango is hitting the market. They are small mangos but, nevertheless, very delicious. Will enjoy them while they are in season.
Have a good Sunday.
Bryan
As Manuel and I hiked to and fro in Santa Cruz looking for a place which could make a cement beehive we stumbled upon an office fronting for a concrete pillars, railings and balustrade posts making outfit. Imagine our surprise when the lady involved spoke wonderful English and, amazingly, is working on sustainable agriculture on her plot outside of town. She was excited to meet someone else who knew a tiny bit about beekeeping and was very helpful. The next morning, I was up and out by 6 a.m. to catch the rapidito with her to go see her land. Amazing what she has been able to accomplish in a couple of years. Even more amazing the potential that awaits further work. It was such a wonderful opportunity to talk with someone who is knowledgeable about many of the things I have looked at. We will see how the conversation continues.
This lady, Rosa, encountered a small boy in the village who was basically living a feral existence. He `lived` with his father but spent many of his nights outside on the ground and obviously went hungry much of the time. She took him home and he is now in school. At almost ten years of age, he looks, to me, much like a six year old. He is definitely well behind in the growth and development curve. A reminder that there are many invisible people who need help and attention.
Two more meals with our growing favourite – Sweet Potato Leaves. One meal was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, cream and leaves. That went over fairly well. The other was chicken, coconut milk, rice, curry and leaves. Everyone had second helpings of that one so we are making progress. Yesterday I took a try at making my own yoghurt and it set nicely so we can try yoghurt as a base for some of our meals. Will also try one with peanut butter sauce – a favourite method in Uganda.
Friday night, on the way home from the town centre, I encountered three small boys pelting down the street toward me. I wasn’t sure what they were running from until, another 20 metres along, I met their dangerous opponents. Obviously they had been troubling two little girls until the girls had had enough. Both girls had their hands full of mud and were flinging balls of mud at the boys. Happily, I was outside of the firing line.
Further down the street I was just beginning to wend my way through a street soccer game when I heard some shouting. The boys looked at me and pointed backwards. I turned around and found that I was passing the home of the Principal of the Santa Cruz Education Department. So, after a visit with him and two others of his staff (an hour and a half later) I completed my journey.
Finally one type of mango is hitting the market. They are small mangos but, nevertheless, very delicious. Will enjoy them while they are in season.
Have a good Sunday.
Bryan
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Papaya Circles and Stevia
Late last week, Manuel told me that the paper was predicting a long, hot and dry ‘summer’. Well, naturally, the last few days have been cold and wet. Good thing because our long awaited papaya seedlings arrived on Monday and we were able to get them planted yesterday. We now have two papaya circles ready for production. We have had the mulch mountain operating inside each circle for three months so there is already a good amount of compost and, therefore, available nutrients for the seedlings. Will see how they grow. One of the circles has ten seedlings and the other nine (one of us can’t count obviously). The bananas in our banana circle are now over one metre high and putting out their second leaves. They should start growing fairly quickly after that.
Three months ago, I gave a packet of Stevia seeds to Santos to try his luck with. I was encouraged by the fact that well over twenty sprouts were in evidence when I last visited him. However, the final tally was two plants. He sent one to us and is keeping the other at his place to, hopefully, replicate by taking cuttings – eventually. There has to be some way of making these silly things grow but I haven’t found it yet. For obvious reasons, the commercial growers of Stevia in Paraguay and China are not very forthcoming with propagation techniques. Stevia, a natural sweetner that is native to Central and South America (in one subspecies or another) has so many wonderful qualities for use here in Honduras. A sweetner that has no calories, no ill effects on teeth and poses no problems for diabetics has great potential. When one sees the crippling hold that the sugar companies and their followers (Coca-cola, Pepsi, etc.) have on this country and its people it makes one hope fervently that there is an alternative that can be grown and utilized quietly and without large company control.
While I was away, I found out, Julia and Manuel took turns staying in my house so that there would be no break ins. It is touching to be a beneficiary of such kindness. One also learns that when you keep your wardrobe to one or two small plastic bags or one cardboard carton, you can move anywhere with great facility.
On the bus from San Pedro Sula yesterday, I had a long conversation with a fellow who works in the poultry industry. Here in Honduras, the poultry industry is controlled by one multinational corporation, Cargill. They own the feed mills, the grow operations, the processing plants and the distribution networks. They don’t, as far as I know, control the egg industry but, with their control of feed prices, certainly can influence it.
A private grower can contract with the Cargill conglomerate to grow birds. But, after cost of feed and labour he only clears about five cents a bird (if I heard the figures correctly). That does not leave any room for error or disease.
Cargill, in their barns can have one man care for 20,000 birds if there is no automatic equipment. With automatic feeders one man can care for 70,000 birds. Considering that these men are paid about $200.00 a month you can see that they don’t lose much profit in wages.
The man I talked to was considering ways to grow birds on a smaller scale and do his own marketing. It was a pleasure to talk to someone who was looking outside of the large, mechanized box. He had obviously done his homework in some of the areas and realized that one person plucking and drawing chickens the old fashioned way by hand could still do 80 birds a day. So, a family operation could easily manage 1000 birds a week without needing a plant. We talked about alternative feedstuffs that grow here and how they could be prepared without large equipment, especially for small numbers of birds (1000 birds is small in poultry terms – sigh). I think he could do very well with 300 birds a week if he can find or grow the feedstuffs and not have to resort to Cargill prices.
As is so often the case in the countries I have lived in, there is the huge, conglomerate type operation and the totally haphazard backyard casual approach with nothing in between. This means, of course, there is a huge, empty playing field for the knowledgeable person who is also willing to do a moderate amount of physical work along with careful management. Too little effort has been placed on developing agriculture in this area. As well, too little effort has been placed on realizing the opportunities for minimal equipment type operations that combine low tech equipment and regular manual labour.
Low labour costs and very modest living costs means that operations can be much smaller and much simpler and still provide a similar lifestyle result to much larger operations in Canada.
We tried Sweet Potato leaves on Monday at lunch time. These leaves have high levels of calcium, protein, Vitamin A and C and iron. We simply steamed them and then put them into some coconut water. We chopped up the coconut meat but it didn’t flavour the combination like I had hoped. Need to grind it somehow. The leaves weren’t bad but not a taste treat. Will try them with onions, tomatoes and cheese to see if we can’t make them more palatable. Three of us had had lots of greens in our lifetime so we found the leaves quite acceptable. The two younger people hadn’t eaten lots of greens so found them less appetizing. Fortunately I had made meatballs and vegetables in a cream sauce so there was a good filler dish to make up for the greens.
Bryan
Three months ago, I gave a packet of Stevia seeds to Santos to try his luck with. I was encouraged by the fact that well over twenty sprouts were in evidence when I last visited him. However, the final tally was two plants. He sent one to us and is keeping the other at his place to, hopefully, replicate by taking cuttings – eventually. There has to be some way of making these silly things grow but I haven’t found it yet. For obvious reasons, the commercial growers of Stevia in Paraguay and China are not very forthcoming with propagation techniques. Stevia, a natural sweetner that is native to Central and South America (in one subspecies or another) has so many wonderful qualities for use here in Honduras. A sweetner that has no calories, no ill effects on teeth and poses no problems for diabetics has great potential. When one sees the crippling hold that the sugar companies and their followers (Coca-cola, Pepsi, etc.) have on this country and its people it makes one hope fervently that there is an alternative that can be grown and utilized quietly and without large company control.
While I was away, I found out, Julia and Manuel took turns staying in my house so that there would be no break ins. It is touching to be a beneficiary of such kindness. One also learns that when you keep your wardrobe to one or two small plastic bags or one cardboard carton, you can move anywhere with great facility.
On the bus from San Pedro Sula yesterday, I had a long conversation with a fellow who works in the poultry industry. Here in Honduras, the poultry industry is controlled by one multinational corporation, Cargill. They own the feed mills, the grow operations, the processing plants and the distribution networks. They don’t, as far as I know, control the egg industry but, with their control of feed prices, certainly can influence it.
A private grower can contract with the Cargill conglomerate to grow birds. But, after cost of feed and labour he only clears about five cents a bird (if I heard the figures correctly). That does not leave any room for error or disease.
Cargill, in their barns can have one man care for 20,000 birds if there is no automatic equipment. With automatic feeders one man can care for 70,000 birds. Considering that these men are paid about $200.00 a month you can see that they don’t lose much profit in wages.
The man I talked to was considering ways to grow birds on a smaller scale and do his own marketing. It was a pleasure to talk to someone who was looking outside of the large, mechanized box. He had obviously done his homework in some of the areas and realized that one person plucking and drawing chickens the old fashioned way by hand could still do 80 birds a day. So, a family operation could easily manage 1000 birds a week without needing a plant. We talked about alternative feedstuffs that grow here and how they could be prepared without large equipment, especially for small numbers of birds (1000 birds is small in poultry terms – sigh). I think he could do very well with 300 birds a week if he can find or grow the feedstuffs and not have to resort to Cargill prices.
As is so often the case in the countries I have lived in, there is the huge, conglomerate type operation and the totally haphazard backyard casual approach with nothing in between. This means, of course, there is a huge, empty playing field for the knowledgeable person who is also willing to do a moderate amount of physical work along with careful management. Too little effort has been placed on developing agriculture in this area. As well, too little effort has been placed on realizing the opportunities for minimal equipment type operations that combine low tech equipment and regular manual labour.
Low labour costs and very modest living costs means that operations can be much smaller and much simpler and still provide a similar lifestyle result to much larger operations in Canada.
We tried Sweet Potato leaves on Monday at lunch time. These leaves have high levels of calcium, protein, Vitamin A and C and iron. We simply steamed them and then put them into some coconut water. We chopped up the coconut meat but it didn’t flavour the combination like I had hoped. Need to grind it somehow. The leaves weren’t bad but not a taste treat. Will try them with onions, tomatoes and cheese to see if we can’t make them more palatable. Three of us had had lots of greens in our lifetime so we found the leaves quite acceptable. The two younger people hadn’t eaten lots of greens so found them less appetizing. Fortunately I had made meatballs and vegetables in a cream sauce so there was a good filler dish to make up for the greens.
Bryan
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Round Two Begins
Back in Honduras after three weeks in Canada visiting family, getting things organized and having a chance to enjoy cold, cold and more cold. It is over 30° C here today and it was -27° C when we left Vegreville Tuesday.
The flights down were uneventful. I found out that the seats in front of an emergency exit on TACA flights do not recline. That was a long flight trying to snooze. Fortunately, I had a lovely pillow and the window seat so was able to catch a few winks. Sitting in the airport in San Salvador I was able to see my luggage being loaded and that was a very nice sign.
Chepe and Manuel were waiting for me at the airport and had a pick up truck there as well. What a treat to be able to leave directly from the airport without fussing with taxi and bus. The trip home was quiet with only one small detour to pick up a bed for Chepe’s house.
After delivering the bed, we went to Laura’s, one of the CPI Board, house for an amazing lunch. Dessert featured a type of pudding made from fresh young corn, milk and sugar. Very impressive. It is a good thing she lives an awkward rapidito distance away or I would go there often for meals.
By two in the afternoon we were back in Santa Cruz and I was able to unpack a bit and catch some needed zzz’s. In the late afternoon, I headed up to Jose’s Barbershop for a trim. With the warmer weather, I need any advantage I can get to keep cool. Some shopping and two baleadas to go and I was home again for the evening.
This morning I made a stew for our team lunch and set it to work in a new slow cooker I brought with me. After opening the office, I went to the store and got two pounds of chicken meat (menudo) – well, it was hearts, necks and livers. Now, I actually enjoy those parts of the chicken so that was one of the reasons I bought it. The other was that it was half the price of regular chicken meat. I used some curry spice that I picked up in an Indian shop on the way to the airport. The power went out at ten o’clock but, fortunately, one of the girls remembered that lunch was cooking. We dug out the solar cooker and had everything cooked for noon. I tried adding a pasta (called marmahon) which looks like tapioca but that didn’t work out well. Next time I will cook it separately and then add it to the stew. A cup of rice saved the day and made it rather good. Everyone else added salt to their plates but all enjoyed it.
Most of the trees we planted are still growing. We need to be a bit more vigilant about some of them. Birds and ants are taking their toll and the trees need to get a head start on that depredation.
The two Grade Students are 1/8th done their course work in two weeks. That bodes well for them finishing both Grade 8 and 9 by the end of the year. While in Canada, Rueben, a member of the CPI Board in Canada, put all the textbooks into PDF format. Wow. What a huge boost that was for us. We are currently putting all the sound tracks with the text and will have a full, workable course in just a couple of weeks rather than months. Will see tomorrow if we can get the girls working with the new material.
Each time I surfaced to consciousness, I was able to enjoy the chorus of dogs that is part of the nightly entertainment package here. The local lively church thumped and clanged for a couple of hours but shut down in good time. By morning, the room had cooled off enough to need a light blanket. That is a good sign. If you can cool off for a few hours a day you can handle the hot hours so much more easily.
Will write more later.
Bryan
The flights down were uneventful. I found out that the seats in front of an emergency exit on TACA flights do not recline. That was a long flight trying to snooze. Fortunately, I had a lovely pillow and the window seat so was able to catch a few winks. Sitting in the airport in San Salvador I was able to see my luggage being loaded and that was a very nice sign.
Chepe and Manuel were waiting for me at the airport and had a pick up truck there as well. What a treat to be able to leave directly from the airport without fussing with taxi and bus. The trip home was quiet with only one small detour to pick up a bed for Chepe’s house.
After delivering the bed, we went to Laura’s, one of the CPI Board, house for an amazing lunch. Dessert featured a type of pudding made from fresh young corn, milk and sugar. Very impressive. It is a good thing she lives an awkward rapidito distance away or I would go there often for meals.
By two in the afternoon we were back in Santa Cruz and I was able to unpack a bit and catch some needed zzz’s. In the late afternoon, I headed up to Jose’s Barbershop for a trim. With the warmer weather, I need any advantage I can get to keep cool. Some shopping and two baleadas to go and I was home again for the evening.
This morning I made a stew for our team lunch and set it to work in a new slow cooker I brought with me. After opening the office, I went to the store and got two pounds of chicken meat (menudo) – well, it was hearts, necks and livers. Now, I actually enjoy those parts of the chicken so that was one of the reasons I bought it. The other was that it was half the price of regular chicken meat. I used some curry spice that I picked up in an Indian shop on the way to the airport. The power went out at ten o’clock but, fortunately, one of the girls remembered that lunch was cooking. We dug out the solar cooker and had everything cooked for noon. I tried adding a pasta (called marmahon) which looks like tapioca but that didn’t work out well. Next time I will cook it separately and then add it to the stew. A cup of rice saved the day and made it rather good. Everyone else added salt to their plates but all enjoyed it.
Most of the trees we planted are still growing. We need to be a bit more vigilant about some of them. Birds and ants are taking their toll and the trees need to get a head start on that depredation.
The two Grade Students are 1/8th done their course work in two weeks. That bodes well for them finishing both Grade 8 and 9 by the end of the year. While in Canada, Rueben, a member of the CPI Board in Canada, put all the textbooks into PDF format. Wow. What a huge boost that was for us. We are currently putting all the sound tracks with the text and will have a full, workable course in just a couple of weeks rather than months. Will see tomorrow if we can get the girls working with the new material.
Each time I surfaced to consciousness, I was able to enjoy the chorus of dogs that is part of the nightly entertainment package here. The local lively church thumped and clanged for a couple of hours but shut down in good time. By morning, the room had cooled off enough to need a light blanket. That is a good sign. If you can cool off for a few hours a day you can handle the hot hours so much more easily.
Will write more later.
Bryan
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