Tlaquilcingo and the Process

Cistern and dry latrine construction is still happening. The people who are requesting cisterns and dry latrines already do the work of building these technologies. Now we want them to be more involved in finding the money to finance these projects. Last week Manuel (MCC teammate) and I drove 1 1/2 hours to Tlaquilcingo. We met (again) with the group that would like to build 18 cisterns and were able to finish up the application we're turning in to the Canadian Embassy. We have received funding for two previous cistern projects from the Canadian Embassy. Today I got an email confirming that they received the application. Their committee meets in March to decide which projects they want to fund......

Drop by Drop

Placido, Aquilina and Bertrudice in front of the municipality building in Cualac.


Sunday morning at 8am I headed out to find out what President Roland from the neighboring municipality would contribute to the next dry latrine project in Chiaucingo.
I stopped at Aquilina and Placido's house first. They were planning to go along with me. Aquilina wasn't there. She had left and hour earlier to get the mayor to write up another request for help with the dry latrine materials and wasn't back yet. I waited. Finally she came back. She had all the papers she needed and now there were a total of 54 families requesting dry latrines! (The count was around 25 earlier in the week.)
We picked up Bertrudice, another committee member, and headed on to see the President.
I don't remember all the things we talked about in the car, but I had a good time.
We had to wait over an hour to see the President. I'm continually amazed at how patient people are here. When I started to get impatient, they reminded me that everything happens in it's own time.
Finally we met with Pres. Rolando. He decided to donate 100 bags of cement to the project, but we'd have to come back on Wednesday to pick them up. I tried to say thank you and not sound disappointed ....we need 324 bags of cement along with lots of other materials, but it was something. Aquilina could see that I was worried about how to transport the cement and comment about this to Rolando, who immediately offered one of his dump trucks. So three people from the group will go on Wednesday to help load and unload the cement. We said our niceties and headed home.
On the way home, at about 11am, we started talking about how little Rolando is donating to the project, sharing our disappointment but also trying to celebrate the success of getting something. I said something about how each drop of water together makes the ocean and everyone agreed.

Later in the evening when I was talking to my mom, she mentioned something she had heard in church that morning at around 11am. The pastor said something about how each drop of water together makes a flood. But each drop of water doesn't necessarily know it's part of the flood. (Isn't that what you said, mom?)

And soon after that I read the intro to Rilke's Book of Hours - Love Poems to God that Merideth lent me the other day.
From page 10
"be modest now, like a thing,
ripened until it is real,
so that he who began it all
can feel you when he reaches for you." (II,I)

and the author went on to write,
"it helped me...to put into perspective my own doubt about what I was doing and how my friends and colleagues might judge it. Reading these words, it was a relief to see myself just as one bit of God's creation, no more exalted than a branch, a stone or a DROP OF WATER. Rilke's sense of a God who could reach for me in my barest simplicity - in my most "real" and "ripened" self - pleased me.

And it pleases me too. Thanks too every(one) "drop" that was and is and will be a part of this story.

Baking Plans

In the car heading out with the cookbooks.


Testing,

testing,

testing.

Micah (hiding behind everyone) and his friends.


This afternoon Micah and I took off to Chiaucingo with the cookies and cakes that we baked yesterday. And a bag full of cookbooks. Micah talked the whole way there. I love listening to him. As soon as we got there he ran off with his friends. I joined the circle of 9 women and we had fun testing all the treats. We made sure to clean our pallets between each cookie and cake. I had a good time. Come to find out, one of them has a bread shop (sugar breads) in town. Lots of talking about what they want to learn, why, and how they want to organize our time together. In the end, they decided they want to learn how to make the sponge cake (More With Less p.282) first. And we're going to meet at the bread shop because they have a wood-fueled oven large enough to bake all the cakes at once! I clarified with them that I've never baked a cake like that before. They assured me it would be fine. And they're right. Pulling all our knowledge together, we'll be fine. I'm excited about all the baking and cooking tips I'm about to learn from them.
Micah played hard for 2 hours. Got in the truck to head home and he fell asleep immediately.

Visit to President Rolando

So today three of us (2 women from Chiaucingo and myself) went to see the president of the neighboring municipality. Aquilina (from Chiaucingo) did most of the talking. We're trying to get some matching funds to build more dry latrines in Chiaucingo. At first Pres Roland started telling us why he doesn't have any money right now to support the project. We listened. Then I mentioned that this year we (MCC) have some money for the project and how great it would be to have a mix of funds. He paused, rethought his answer, and started making some phone calls. In the end he told us to come back on Sunday at 9am and he'll tell us how much cement he can donate to the project. YES!!!!!

Mini Olympics

These are pictures of Micah as goalie at the mini olympics in, oh, maybe November 2008. He had a great time. His team placed 2nd and since he was the goalie he got to stand on the podium. This was the first year they organized the mini olympics. Schools from the communities came too.

Visit to a New Community

A couple from Ocotitlan, about 30 minutes from Olinala, showed up at the garden reunion on Sunday. They had heard about it from Leovigilda. They patiently sat through the garden talk and jumped at the chance to find out more about the dry latrines and cisterns. They want to build a cistern at their house with their own money as soon as possible, to show everyone else in their community how beneficial it is. They also invited me to a community meeting the next day to share information about the dry latrines, cisterns, family gardens and fuel efficient stoves with everyone. So in the afternoon I headed out with a bunch of "props" to talk about what we do. I had a great time. It was fascinating to watch the decision making process at work after my presentation. First a small group of men talked. Then gradually more people joined in. While the men carried my props back to the truck, the women swarmed around me to talk more about the fuel efficient stoves.
In the end, the community decided to hold another meeting the next day to figure out who is interested in what technology. Many of them expressed interest in coming to the Sunday meeting to talk more about organzing and finding money for these projects. One again, there was some powerful energy present.

Garden Meeting on Sunday

What? Working on Sunday? Yes, since Sunday is market day and lots of people come into town, it's also the day we have our garden reunion once a month at the office. (The garden groups from last year and this year are invited.) We talked about whether or not the cisterns we help people build are really beneficial (I heard people respond positively saying that the water in the cisterns are CLEAN water and it's incredibly helpful to not have to spend so much time and energy collecting water with their donkeys), shared organic recipes to combat white flies and other insects that damage garden plants, and what else people would like to talk about in the future. Martin and the boys decided not to stay. Instead they took Chispitas home to love and play with. (Chispistas is our friend Zam's dog, whom Tia Merideth was taking care of while Zam was out of town with his family and grandparents.) The boys fell in love with Chispitas.


Chispitas taking a quick nap.



Here Bernadina (from Zacango) is passing on some more information about how to build the earthen stove to Julio from Chiaucingo. Bernadina went to Chiaucingo the day before to teach a group how to build the stoves. It was great to watch them check-in.



Sharing organic recipes for combating unwanted garden guests.




Merideth holding up two radishes that Aquilina brought to show the group.


We talked for about an hour about garden-related things. Then I invited those who were interested in talking more about dry latrines, cisterns and stoves inside the office. Quite a few people came. They started talking about how they could organize themselves and get what they needed in order to build more dry latrines and cisterns. (Stoves use all local resources.)
It was awesome. There was some sweet energy flowing. In the end, they decided to meet again next Sunday, same time, same place (our office!) Once again, all I can say is, "Guide my feet Lord while I run this race."
We'll see what next Sunday brings.

Trying to....

have a comp day at home becuase I worked all day on Sunday, plus Micah doesn't have school today. But.....one thing after another happens. This morning our neighbor came over asking to borrow money. His daughter has been "sick" for the past two weeks and he doesn't feel like she is getting adequate medical care here, so he wants to take her to the next biggest city. His brother won't lend him money...could we? (I put "sick" in quotation marks because I see her up playing around, talking, being a kid. It's been clear for a long time that we have different definitions of what "sick" is, and that's fine.) So what do I really want to write about? I guess the struggle of being here and having access to money and the power that comes with the money. Also, I recently had some health issues and I went for tests and treatment. That's just one of the millions of contridictions I live, I'm sure.





My baking buddy

I told Micah that I was going to do some baking today and he eagerly agreed to help. I'm facilitating my first baking class in Chiaucingo tomorrow, so I'm making some samples to take along. (Mom - remember the cooking classes I taught at Hesston Rec how many years ago? Wouldn't Carl get a kick out of this?)
There has been talk about this for at least a year now. A group of women would like to learn to bake cakes and cookies. We've talked and talked about the cultural differences between our baked goods and the ingredients that we can and cannot get here. They have also talked about eventually opening their own bakery for some income generation. We'll see what happens.

(Side note - this morning Patricio from Zacango stopped by the house. We talked for awhile and he told me that he and his family are in the process of building an adobe oven. "Wow!" I said. "Do you know how to bake bread?" And he went on to tell me that he does know something about baking, and his uncle (who lives near us and has a bakery) would help him. They want to open a bakery in Zacango - to generate income!!!!!!! He also said that he's talking with a number of people about the details. So if something takes off in Chiaucingo, I know who to connect them to in Zacango! How do these kinds of connections always seem to happen at the right time? God IS at work!)

MIcah and I made a sponge cake (from More With Less), a chocolate cake (from Moosewood Cooks at Home), chocolate chip cookies (our own recipe), peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies (from the Kid's Cookbook my mom gave Isaiah for his 7th birthday) and honey milk balls (from More With Less). I also have a loaf of oatmeal bread (from More With Less) that I made on the weekend to take along.

Oh, and there's more to the story. So Micah and I are baking along when he says that he really, really, really want to go along to Chiaucingo tomorrow to play with his friends. (See earlier posts.) So I decide to call Aquilina who is heading up the group and ask if we can meet in the afternoon instead of in the morning. (HER grandchildren and the ones Micah wants to play with, and she loves it!) So we get that settled and then she asks when we're going to visit municipal president Rolando. Well....I didn't have answer, trying to have my day off and all. "I'll get his number and you can call him and schedule a time," I hear her tell me. I agree and hang up the phone. Less than a minute later she calls me back with the number. I immediately call the pres Rolando. His secretary sets up an appointment for tomorrow at 10am!!!! I call Aquilina back and we laugh that it's a good thing we've already change the time for our baking class :)
So tomorrow morning Aquilina and others on the dry latrine committee, and I, will visit pres Rolando and talk about how we can work together. Just in time for the community meeting we're having in Chiaucingo on Friday.

All in a day off of work.


They still enjoy sleeping together.

V-Day Part 2

In the evening (10pm) we went to the Cena-Baile (supper and dance) hosted by the boys' school. We went with three other couples and had a really nice time. The main group/band played mostly slow songs - the kind where you just rock back and forth, so Martin did dance with me in public after all :)
The music was so loud the whole time is was hard to talk. But check out how everyone is actually smiling for their posed pictures! It was fun and it was a real date!

V-Day Part 1

I pasted little cut-out hearts with love messages around the house - like my mom does - and the boys were so excited they decided to decorate one wall in our bedroom with pictures for us.
We made flan (from a box, sorry Martin) and invited Merideth over for a special dessert. Then in the afternoon we headed out to Chiaucingo for the lunch invitation. We took along a carrot cake we had made in the morning. Once again, the boys had a wonderful time - playing and climbing in the tamarindo tree. Everyday Micah asks when we can go back.

Getting Ready for V-day

We got back to Aquilina's house to find them busying making food for tomorrow, Valentine's Day. We accepted their invitation to come back tomorrow for lunch and tried to say goodbye. It took forever as the kids were having such a great time playing. We made it home by 9pm.

Friday

On Friday afternoon we all went to Zacango to check in with Bernadina - could she go to nearby Chiaucingo the next day to lead a stove building workshop? She agreed, so we then drove to Chiaucingo to drop off the stove mold and let them know that the workshop was on. The boys stayed at Aquilina and Placido's house playing hide and seek with their grandkids. (It was dark by then, which added great excitement to the whole thing.) After we dropped off the mold, Placido took us to meet his parents. His dad makes "morales" these bags out of plastic string. We had a wonderful visit.

The Building Continues

We're not about numbers - just to say that from my experiences here, people are still interested in building dry latrines and cisterns. (For example a group from Tlapa, 1 1/2 hours away, showed up at our house at 8am the other morning wanting to talk about dry latrines.)

Martin is currently checking in on the building going on in Zacango. They are finishing up some 26 dry latrines (this time doors were included) and 24 cisterns. These are some pictures he took the other day when we went to ask Bernadina if she could lead a stove building workshop in Chiaucingo. She said yes and the next morning she and her husband went to Chiaucingo - for the first time - to teach 25 women how to build stoves with our mold (which she has done many times in the past.) (No pictures of this conversation, nor the stove building.)

Soya - Soy

Last week Kiara led a workshop on different ways to prepare soybeans in Chiaucingo. I went along. It was great fun.

At Home

A few pictures from recent happenings at home.



They are paving the road in front of our house. This has provided lots of entertainment for the boys especially. Here Isaiah is eating lunch with the guys. The other day when I came home, Martin told me that Isaiah was actually doing the work -smoothing the cement, etc. He still likes to get involved with whatever is going on around him. (Micah took the opportunity to hold onto the one precious guinea pig that's still alive.)


A lunch with "ants on a log". The boys really got a kick out of that!
(and we arranged the food on the plate like a face.)


Micah feeling devilish.

Two Quotes

Two quotes I came across lately

Dialogue is more than your giving me space to say my words, and my giving you space to say yours. It involves our listening. We are all very different. We cannot have dialogue unless we honor the differences.
-Elizabeth O'Conner


An act of love may tip the balance.
-Elie Wiesel

Working on a Saturday

In earlier posts I mentioned that we've been working weeks and weekends. Last Saturday municipal President Rolando invited me to a meeting in the neighboring municipality of Cualac. He asked if I could share some about we are doing here. (Helping people build cisterns, dry latrines, fuel efficient stoves and family gardens.)
The meeting lasted all day. Most of it was interesting. The community development department had collected information from each town mayor and compiled a list of needs. They want to start more greenhouses, work on reforestation, income generation, composting, water collection....to name a few. I got to meet a lot of people working with different projects, some similar to ours. I was impressed with the emphasis put on composting. Guerrero is the only state where the government still subsidizes the fertilizer that everyone uses on their corn fields. A number of people said they would rather make compost - knowing that the fertilizer is bad for the earth and that they want to take better care of the earth.
During my presentation I mentioned that our cistern molds will be in use all year. "Hmmm, I think our municipality should buy it's own cistern mold. Then we wouldn't have to wait a whole year until yours are available." commented Pres Rolando.
YES!!!! I think that's a great idea.
So we'll see what happens!

Taxco

After visiting the butterflies we went on to Cuernavaca. We stayed with Sister Kathy, who insists we are part of the family and won't let us pay her anything for her hospitality and food. Another blessing. (She runs an inter-cultural dialogue center - check out her website www.ccidd.org for more info.)
We took a day trip to Taxco - the silver town. Beautiful town. Beautiful silver. We rode a cable car and walked around for a few hours.