A Duka Stop Now

When I came to school Wednesday I was surprised to see a man sitting out front with various types of snacks and drinks for sale. Evidently, he figured that our school was an opportunity to make a few lempiras. He asked Manuel for permission and so we shall see what happens. It is strange to think of our students as being a market opportunity. My guess is that the man will move on in a few days. For now, he sits on one side of the road in the morning and then moves, with the sun, to the other side for the afternoon. (btw - duka is the Swahili word for a small shop).

The Duka man - perilously close to hurting some of my plants - and earning my wrath :))

 This morning, a student, Maynor,  came with a ginger plant in a bag. He wanted to trade for Vetiver grass and Lemon Grass. It is such a delight when something like this happens.

Maynor with the Ginger plant

 With the rains, we can begin to plant some more stuff and that is exciting as well. Edgar has planted a whole bunch of plants on the opposite side of the road from the school. He is, as well, gradually creating more space along the roadway. Erosion has built up a good amount of soil. He takes the soil, uses it to create seed bags and then uses the resulting space to plant more plants we want to propagate. The road looks nicer as well so everyone is a winner.

Maynor with Juniapa - edible plant / good for cooking

  This week Edgar started some seeds and cuttings in tubes. We are experimenting growing things in 2 foot tubes. The idea is that they will have a much longer root mass when we transplant them. This will mean the roots can head for moisture much more quickly. As well, we can use a post hole digger in the future to drill the hole for planting. The tubes can be reused for more plants. Saw a picture of a company using 3 and 4 feet tubes in the States so want to see what happens. If we can gain 3 or 4 months in the field it will be worth the effort, especially for higher value trees.

Edgar with tubes - leaf dryers in the background

Someone passed on a very neat world clock site - Poodwaddle. It has some incredible statistics to absorb. One of the staggering things I noted was that there is 1.6 more sugar produced than vegetables, 2.13 times more sugar than milk, 14 times more sugar than fish. The cost to health and environment is and will be staggering as this imbalance continues to grow.

We spent a number of hours working on some land issues for our next housing project. The importance of finding a way for poor people to get homes and land legally was underscored yesterday. We passed one location where 80 people are occupying some land. The person with me said that in this area alone, over 600 people are invading land. Unfortunately, often this process is done simply as a way to make money - either through extortion, bribery or future sales of stolen land. However, a root cause is the problem of legal ownership of property.

So ... today so far - cropping Vetiver grass for worm food; planting ginger; giving Vetiver and Lemon Grass; taking and sending photos of edible Honduran plants to an African friend working on a book; organizing photos of students for biographies; helping a young man create a business plan; tracking down prices for equipment; accounting (month end); phoning condolences to friends in Vegreville ... and it is just coffee time. Certainly not boring at all.

TTYL

BB

Wow - A Month

For the past ten days, in addition to keeping things going at the school, we have hosted two Canadian visitors, a father and son. The father, Bruce, and I worked with the same organization (MCC) in East Africa twenty five years ago. He was in Somalia and I was in Northeast Kenya.

 

Testing the water

Column Blocks - Bruce and Carlos

Column Block and U shape mold

Edgar, Bruce and me - Planting seeds

Bruce is one of those amazing people who can look at something mechanical, understand how it works, why it works and how to fix, modify or replace it with something else. I am always in awe of that type of skill. He was here to see what types of things we are doing and to see how they can be implemented in Haiti where he is working with various groups. Fortunately, we had a few things to look at.

Last week we visited Siguatepeca where we saw a Waterstep water purification system. For less than $2,000 this system was installed and is capable of purifying 38,000 litres of water per day. Imagine what a difference that can make. One of these has been installed in a primary school and the children are able to get clean water for their homes. The principal says he already notices a difference in attendance and the ability of students to participate more fully because they do not have stomach problems. This is likely the new system we will use in our next housing project.

We also tried out two new block molds ... with varying success. The good news is that we now have a model to work from. The welder was involved in making the blocks so now has an idea of what was lacking. These two types of blocks should save time, money and lumber. One type is already being used in other communities but not here in Santa Cruz.  The column type block is not yet being used. We will find out next week if builders are interested. The first blocks are curing now and need a couple more days to get hard enough to work with.

 

Closer look at the tup - Cucumbers sprouting ... enlarge the picture and you can see them.

Bruce brought with him some drip irrigation supplies. He and Edgar spent a morning putting a short run together. The cucumbers are up and we wait for the other plants to sprout. This type of system will be of great value for small gardens as well as larger plantations. Even though we get plenty of rain in a year for trees, the sporadic nature of several months a year makes it difficult to grow vegetables. This system can be used on a large scale as well. In Ontario, a man used it for 40 acres of corn. In a side by side test, the field with drip irrigation got 280 bushels/acre and the one without 80. We will work with this more over the next few months.

Land conflicts are an ongoing problem. We met a group of 50 families who are being pushed off their land by a "landowner". Haven't heard what the final verdict will be. In our own case, a housing project is being held up by unexpected negotiations and intransigence. I always think of how hopeless it must be for the ordinary Honduran when facing these kind of difficulties. I have options and some connections. They don't.

Thank you for following along.

TTYL

BB

Torsalo

The week is, I think, winding down. The Vice-Minister of Education had her assistant send me an email at 11.30 p.m. last night asking if she could visit today. Fortunately, I check my emails as I eat breakfast (a litre of milk tea - African habit and green porridge - Moringa powder added) at 6.00 a.m. The Minister was leaving Copan in the morning so we had a few hours to get things ready.

Finally, after nearly three years of asking, we have had a visit. That is exciting. The Vice-Minister has been most helpful and receptive to our ideas. She talked to students who were studying and Yeni and the staff gave her a lovely sales pitch. After we had looked at the program for some time, we looked at the development booklets we are creating and had a quick plant tour. The Vice-Minister went home with Chaya, Moringa and Stevia.

 

Carol reading a story with her mom. Her mom has already taught her to read, write and do simple sums. Her mom is getting a chance to study with us.

Keysi and her baby pay us a visit

The head of Cortes region and entourage

On Wednesday, we had another important visitor. The Head of education for the Cortes region (which includes a huge area), came to see our school and to go visit the container school in Las Delicias. She was scheduled to come at 8.00 a.m. We waited until 3.00 p.m. for her to finally come. Edel, had a contact with the group of people she was with so was able to track her progress - sort of like following Santa on Christmas Eve.

The trip to Las Delicias went well and after showing them to the highway, we waved them on their way. Hopefully there will be some positive results from all our efforts this week.

Now for the gory story hour. Manuel has had a pain in the neck for a few weeks (besides me). The last three days it has started oozing a bit. I was worried it was a boil and told him to treat it with hot compresses of water and vinegar. Well, yesterday morning I sent him to the doctor. The doctor examined him and found that he had three Torsalo larvae growing on his neck. The doctor offered to remove them surgically. As near as I can figure, that was too much of a decision and Manuel came rushing back to the school. The doctor accosted me last evening and asked where he had gone and why he had left without paying the consulting fee. We straightened that out and now I await news of how things are going on the larvae removal front.

Tomorrow is the start of the annual fair. Preparations are feverish in the town centre. The new central park is only a couple days away from being complete. It is looking great. I will try and get a schedule of the week's events before the week is over. That is a novel idea I know but ... one that I am actually pursuing with diligence this year.

 

Elia Del Cid, the Vice Minister of Education for Honduras talks about Hay Basket cooking - with help from Yeni and Edel

The major focus this week has been filling out the needed paper work for registration and school permits. What a huge hassle that is. However, we are nearly done and the staff has done a sterling job sorting it all out.

That is about it.

TTYL

BB

Back in Town

Three weeks in Canada flew by. Fortunately, I was able to drive in at least three days of snow and blizzard so that I got my winter "heroic" quota filled. I confess that shovelling sunshine is much more to my liking.

A highlight of the trip (aside from Oh Henry, Brie and peas) was an opportunity to speak at the Alberta Agronomists convention in Banff. It was an honour to be asked and it afforded me a chance to spend hours hearing other speakers as well. A wonderful opportunity to learn and to meet new people. The coming changes in climate make our work with alternative food sources even more critical.

This week is the first week of hot weather. It is definitely warm. Yesterday it was 39' C in my house during the afternoon. Fortunately, the temperature drops in the evenings and by morning, I shut off the fan and enjoy a couple of hours of quiet sleep.

Last night, my "bats-in-the-belfry" system kicked in again. Two young men were coming over to talk to me about their church. I went outside to welcome them in and the door slammed shut behind me. Keys and everything locked inside. In the evenings, I generally wear a sarong, a habit I picked up in East Africa where it goes by the name of kikoi (Swahili) and mauis (Somali). A sarong is, however, not a recognizable item of attire in Honduras. In fact, it must seem totally bizarre. Needless to say, I wasn't planning on a walk to town centre wearing that.

Security being what it is here in Honduras, all the windows are covered with bars so there is no chance of breaking in. Considered taking out the small bathroom window but I would have had to find a very small person to fit through that space.

Fortunately, after some general worry and preparation to spend the night outside, I remembered that I had, unusually for me, left my phone on a bag by a window I was able to push a corner of the screen out and reach in and grab the phone. Phew.

One of my staff, Edel, was, fortunately, still in Santa Cruz. He very graciously agreed to take a taxi to Julia's house and get her set of keys. Julia's phone is in La Ceiba but a text message was answered and I was able to find the number of her daughter and alert her to my need. What a great feeling to send a text in Spanish and have it achieve the desired results. Magic I say.

Within an hour, I was back in my house. Needless to say, another set of keys was cut today and is hidden outside the house for the next attack of silliness.

The major topic of conversation in the town this week is another kidnapping. The victim, this time, is part of our landlord's family. No ransom has been asked for yet which is causing a great deal of worry. A ransom is a fairly good guarantee that the victim is alive.

Those of us from middle and upper middle class often have the idea that we can control our fate. We buy insurance, we plan for the future, we work, we save ... we take a pill. We close our eyes to the uncertainty that is ahead of us. For the poor, this illusion is not available. All too often, the shadows of the unknown and terror blow hard against their tiny candles.

For those of you interested, read the book Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig. It certainly gives a rather bleak picture of what is ahead for the health of the world. But, it explains and affirms the concerns I have been having seeing the assault on traditional diet and nutrition being waged by food companies here in Honduras and Africa. Teaching people to grow and consume a nutritious diet is more and more critical each day.

That is about all for now.

TTYL

BB

Opening Day

Front of the school

Back of the school

Program Begins

Guests - Tegucigulpa and Canada represented

Lab section

CPI Board Cuts the ribbon

Students cutting the ribbon

Students getting to try the program

Frieda, Canadian CPI Board member presents edible leaf plants for the school

C.E.F. staff

Trinidad and Teresa - the real force behind this program

Day 9

Making progress.

 

The Computer Lab part painted. Windows in today ... we hope.

Rafters up - the stringers are on as well today.

Evaluating A Project

Some thoughts on evaluating projects. Sometimes we beat ourselves up because we look at the empty space in the glass rather than how full it really is. There are, I think, better ways of looking back.

1. Did you do your best?
                - Your best does not have to equal or be better than someone else's best.
                - You will always find someone who's best is better than yours.
                - You can often find someone who's best is worse than yours.
                - DON'T compare your best with that of others.

2. How did your best affect the poor?
                - Did the poor live better lives because of your efforts?
                - Were the poor more equipped to help themselves?
                - Did the poor feel more self-confident in their own abilities
                       and in their own "best"?
                - Did your best cost the poor more than they received?
                - Did your best allow the poor to teach you something?
                - Did your best exclude any groups of people?

3. How did your best affect the earth?

                - Did your best cost the earth more than she received?
                - Is the end result of your best a benefit to the earth?

4. How did your best affect yourself?

                - Did your best cost yourself more than you received?
                - Were you able to learn from the situation?
                - Is your next best going to be better?
                - Will others connected with your best be able to do better as well?
                - Is your best something that will positively affect your "grandchildren"?
                - Did your box get bigger?

5. Was your best skewed towards pleasing the rich or the poor?

                - Who benefitted the most?
                - Did your best narrow the gap between rich and poor?
                - Did any rich see the poor with new eyes and new appreciation?

6. Does your best make earth a place of value or a place to escape?
         (In Christian terms - Thy Kingdom come on earth ...)

7. Would you do it again?
                - What reasons do you have?
 
Irrelevant Considerations
 
1. Could your best have been better? Of course it could have been better.

2. Was your best successful in terms of material gain, things built, prizes won?