Green Leaves

On Saturday morning, I cut a number of stalks of Chaya to make cuttings for planting at a project. Julia graciously harvested the leaves that I trimmed off and from the tops of the stalks. As well, Santiago had found a large branch of a Moringa tree on the ground. We harvested some of those leaves as well. The branch went for planting.

This morning I brought the bag of leaves to school. In addition, we had a small bag of beet leaves (Chepe and I found them sitting in a box by a vegetable seller destined for the garbage bin). We were having a cooking class for four girls who are going to make some posters about green leaves.

We began by chopping up the leaves and setting a small bunch in the pan for steaming. As the leaves finished steaming, we tried them alone, with vinegar and, finally, some butter (heavy cream). We tried both the chaya and the beets that way. The first bunch weren’t too well liked (the chaya are not a taste treat by themselves), but by the third or fourth set, they were being eaten quite happily (much to my surprise).

First taste of greens - rather apprehensive

The next session was to cook leaves in oil along with onions, jalapeño pepper and tomatoes. To this we added, in various batches, peanut butter, cheese (with peppers) and coconut milk. The peanut butter was the all round favourite with the coconut milk a close second. We needed a different variety of cheese that melts better.

All in all, a successful morning. The girls even took the leftovers home to let their families try. Again, a surprise for me. Yeni, one of our staff, has been cooking with leaves for a couple of weeks now so was a stalwart supporter of the whole enterprise. Other students meandered by to check on things. There will be many stories told tonight.

Professional tasters - more than one bite

Saturday morning, at about 5:00 a.m., Blanca, a worker at one of the projects, had her baby. It was number three so came rather quickly. When I arrived at 11.00 a.m. the house was cleaned, lunch was on cooking and she was ready to deal with project business. Her companion was obviously digging in and helping but she certainly had things under control. Rather amazing.

I took a bunch of food, diapers and what not. The lady in the store selling diapers was a great salesperson and did her best to make sure I went fully laden. I refrained from most of the stuff but did buy the small red band that was supposed to go around the baby to protect the healing navel. The person I was with assured me that this was an important item. I have no idea but enjoyed the sales pitch enough to cave in.

Saturday evening, I took in the farm and ranch show in San Pedro Sula. It was amazing to see the cattle and horses on display. Some beautiful animals. The Brown Swiss cows were my favourite and it certainly made me start calculating how I can get one or two. Will likely have to settle for a local breed first.

TTYL

BB

Tela Beach Day

Sunday morning, 120 students, family members and the CPI Honduras board went to Tela to spend a day on the beach. Incredibly, we left on time (before 7.00 a.m. from Santa Cruz – earlier for the first bus stops). Just after 9:00 we passed Tela.

We travelled past Tela to Triunfo de la Cruz, a Garifuna village. The Garifuna are descendants of the slaves brought to work the Sugar Cane plantations many years ago. They continue to maintain their own language and, to a certain extent, their own culture. The Garifuna language has many West African roots and one can hear the similar sounds to West African languages as they talk (not that I am an expert ... but I can still count in Hausa).

We piled off the bus and headed to some rickety shelters made of bamboo and coconut fronds. The villagers have a monopoly on items such as bathrooms and change rooms and make full use of it. The charges are what the market can bear so it is okay ... I guess. They have kept the facilities rustic.

The water was beautiful. Enough of a wave was hitting the beach to make it fun for all but not enough to cause problems for first timers. The beach sloped gently for a long ways so people could find their own preferred spot without any trouble.

Two months ago, the board of CPI Honduras felt that they should be contributing to the project in a financial way. So, they thought of how to raise funds. Their idea was to organize this excursion. Along with Manuel, Yeni and Edel, they made up tickets, sold them in their communities and organized small snacks to be sold along the way and at the beach.

I am so delighted with the whole venture. It was a success on so many levels. First of all, the trip went off without any hitches. So, everything else is beyond expectation. Having the board take ownership of this project and look for ways to contribute is so very encouraging. As well, we had people from a variety of communities which meant that students and families were able to make new friends and give our program a much bigger ‘face’. Other schools aren’t doing this so it was a real achievement for our school. For several of the young people, it was their first trip to the ocean (100 km away).

What was especially exciting was the fact that Santos and Esperanza came with many of the students they have helped enrol in the program. Two years ago relations were very strained with these lovely people due to a former employee’s maliciousness. To have them back as friends and contributing to the success of our school is extremely rewarding.

We arrived back in torrential rain. I carried about ten students in my truck to their village. All vestiges of salt were well taken care of by the time we pulled into the village centre. Being inside the truck meant that I had to wash off in the house.

Other news. Friday, Santiago and I found some Vetiver grass and were able to buy five large sacks. We planted two sacks’ worth at the school with the help of the students. They enjoyed the project and we practised English phrases as we separated the shoots and set them out to grow. A tiny bit of excitement ensued when a foot long snake appeared in one of the clumps. Everyone agreed that it wasn’t poisonous (rather a surprise in itself – generally all snakes are ‘poisonous’) and so we released it on the other side of the road.

The town of Santa Cruz is in shock today because one of the local doctors was kidnapped and killed last night. His body was discovered some distance away. Rather bizarrely, it was at the junction of three different regions so there is a squabble about which region is to do the forensics. We are still not sure what the whole story is. There was a meeting recently of the town business community to talk about crime. He wasn’t politically involved so it doesn’t seem to be motivated by that.

This morning, the local representative of the Educatodos program dropped in to see us. She talks at auctioneer overdrive speed so much of what she said went well into my stratosphere. One of the things she mentioned was that she has not received her salary for eighteen months. Can you imagine? I have no idea what keeps her going.

TTYL

BB

Amaranth Seed

On Tuesday afternoon, Blanca and I harvested a big garbage bag of Amaranth seed heads. The plants have grown rapidly despite a lack of rain and incredibly hot weather. The plants are a lovely purple colour and the seed heads a bright crimson atop the two metre stems.

Yesterday, Santiago and I went through the bag and stripped the seeds and flowers off the stems. There should be several million seeds when all is said and done. Blanca tried planting some of the seeds and they are sprouting. I hope we can get a good source of seed from this next planting.

As with so many plants, finding the seeds, getting them to flower and set seed and then to find ways to harvest them and get a second cycle going takes a great deal of time. In this case, it is rewarding to see these plants producing. Amaranth is so nutritious and so hardy that it is a wonderful addition to people’s lives.

Amaranth is an old plant from Aztec times and it is good to reintroduce back into it original home area. The red flowers were used to produce some sort of red beverage that was drunk in honour of one of the old deities. The Church was not pleased with such a sacrilegious similarity to the wine of the Eucharist celebration. So, the plant was banned for several hundred years. A severe case of losing the baby in the bath water.

Three weeks ago, the women’s group took over the whole piece of land where their fish ponds are located. The young man I had working there had gotten rather tired of working every day and so went on to better things (we hope). In those three weeks, the women have made more progress than the young man was able to do in several months. Sigh.  It is, however, encouraging to see things being planted and tended with proper care.

This last week we have set out some mint plants that were started in seed bags a number of weeks ago. Those tiny seeds take a very long time to get established. We shall see how they do now that they can spread their wings a bit. One of the plantings is really enjoying the freedom ... so hopefully the others will as well.

A hard afternoon rainstorm has lowered the temperature a bit. We hope it is the start of the rains. Things were getting quite brown (only in Honduran terms). A dry season here still has not relation to the African sense of the word.

Other notes of interest. Saturday I crossed off a bucket list item. I sang Schubert’s Ave Maria at a wedding. It went well, although there was no standing ovation ... not that there ever is. The bride was nineteen and an ambulance was on call in case the baby arrived two days before term. It is very difficult to watch young people (children really) having children.

Sunday was the opposite extreme. The music group sang at a funeral mass for a mother and her two children who were killed in Los Angeles by their father in a murder suicide. The stress on individuals and families who travel to another country to find work and who have to deal with a new culture, racism and slavery is enormous. In addition, they are constantly being pressured by family in Honduras and (in this case) Mexico to send money and support them.

Too, we are often unaware of the cultural differences between Latin American countries and how these put stress on a relationship.

Must run. A trip to Tegucigulpa tomorrow to visit the Vice Minister of Education. I do hope that we get the needed papers this time. What a dreamer.

TTYL

BB

Fresh Chicken Dinner

Today, Edel and I went to a nearby village, San Antonio. We took the long cut but, in the end, after stopping and asking where the village was (truly, we had actually checked beforehand but were given the wrong distances) we arrived. It was a beautiful drive and only a few kilometres so an enjoyable extra few minutes.

Edel and Jessica going over the new program

We were installing the Education Program in a computer that two of our students had acquired. I worked on “To Do” lists and ideas to think about drawings while Edel did the installation.

Several minutes after we started, I noticed one of the smaller girls out running about. A few minutes later she called to her grandmother and stood holding a chicken over the fence. The grandmother brought it over to show us and check whether it would be suitable for dinner. We agreed and off it went to the kitchen for last rites.

An hour later, just as Edel finished the installation, two bowls with fresh chicken, rice and potatoes appeared on the table. I chose the dish with the gizzard (my favourite and ... from African days, the part always given to the eldest guest) and gave Edel the wing. There was a dish of freshly made (still too hot for my fingers) tortillas as well.  The students’ computer was loaded with country and western music so we enjoyed hearing about something or other in Texas and Alabama as we ate.

The soccer field next to the house has just been levelled and, consequently, the house is going to be in danger of losing the front yard from erosion. We talked about where and how to plant vetiver grass to prevent the problem. I do hope they actually follow through.

With the right road in front of us, the trip back to Santa Cruz was much faster although not nearly as scenic.

TTYL

BB

A Day in the Life of ...

The last few days have been full of a variety of projects, conversations and duties. It has also been full of extra warm temperatures and soaring humidity. The past three evenings have featured heavy downpours ... I rather like the Spanish word – tormentas ... rather more descriptive in many ways.

Last week, in the search for a cheaper stove/oven, I had some molds made to help reduce the costs of the initial layer of blocks around the base. We hoped that they would produce simple concrete blocks of the same dimension.

Wednesday morning, Santiago and I headed to one of the block making spots near our house to get some ready mixed sand and cement. I figured it would be easier to buy a half wheelbarrow of the ready made stuff than to fiddle with buying sand, transporting sand, ... you get the idea.

We arrived at the place and asked the young girl in charge of sales if we could buy half a wheelbarrow. She thought about it for awhile and said that she would need 170 lempiras ($9.00). We were rather surprised at this figure and began questioning her calculations. Finally, I asked if we could buy some freshly made blocks. Well, that was possible. So, the next set of three blocks from the press, we had the workers dump them into the wheelbarrow. Of course, they crumpled into a very nice half wheelbarrow full of mix. We paid the girl for three blocks – 30 lempiras – and headed off to try our molds. The workers were rather amused at this and, I think, the girl was a wee bit chagrined.

The molds didn’t work. The blocks kept crumbling when we tried to tip out the new blocks. I hustled across the street and had the welder try to change the angles on one of the molds. Still no dice. By now, in 35’ C heat, I was beginning to worry about the mix drying out. We then spotted two concrete blocks and lined them up 4” apart and used them as a mold. It worked like a charm and we had 16” long blocks in no time. Of course, would they set? We covered them up with plastic bags and odd boards. Two days later and they are nicely stacked and perfect for the job. They are less than half the cost and we can make the blocks a variety of lengths.

Yesterday, a man who is helping over twenty young people in his village came to collect some exams. During the conversation, the problem of drying coffee came up. If they could dry and sort the coffee they could get a better price. Well ... now that you mention it ... Sigh. I dug up the picture of a portable greenhouse type dryer that we put together last year. We then discussed alternative building materials like bamboo. This dryer would also work for beans and maize. We also discussed a type of gravity fed system for sorting out beans by weight (and, therefore, quality).

Lime for prepping fish ponds, composting toilets, alternative types of pig food preparation and compressed earth block machines also cropped up.

The dying mother being recusitated by repentant daughters

The Board enjoying the theatre

Today was a special board meeting which the staff combined with a belated Mother’s Day celebration for the ladies involved. Several of the young students presented a skit with the very strong moral message that disobedience to mother may have tragic consequences but return and repentance will lead to a happy ending. Enjoyed by all.

I was up at 5.30 to cook the lunch. Fortunately, mashed potatoes, carrots and a pork rib stew went over well. The other staff quietly ensured that there was a tiny bag of salt so that newbies to my cooking could satisfy their salt habit without too much ado. They also made sure there was bread (the special tortilla equivalent) for people to feel comfortable with.

Not all the days are filled with exciting activity. Today, when I arrived at the office, I was informed that the wife of our night guard had delivered a baby last night but the baby was stillborn. So, this afternoon the board and staff went next door with flowers and candles to pay our respects to the family. The very young mother is still in hospital.

The baby was laid out in a lovely red gingham frock and matching hat. A tiny doll lay beside her. Flickering candles surround the little coffin and gave light to the gloaming of the room. She will be laid to rest this afternoon. The current heat means a burial is necessary even though the mother is still in San Pedro Sula.

TTYL

BB