OUR TEAM MEETS THE LOCAL (CHICHICASTENANGO) TV NEWS TEAM

During our second session at Pocohil, a festival called "First Fruits" was also taking place "down the road a piece." Two TV news reporters from the local station came with a camera to take pictures of that festival. They saw "las gringas," two large vans, and stopped by our training building wondering what the heck was going on. Fortunately, Carol Haug was standing outside and talked with them briefly about our events, piquing their interest enough to get them to COME ON DOWN!

The first thing they saw was the work with the children and the KIDDIE PARADE. The children of the Mayan mothers were being read to by Charles Butler, were being entertained by Janet Van Benthuysen with her puppet monkey, and were playing the numerous games the rest of the child care team, including Mary Schmidt, had brought with them. The children were also ready to go on a kiddie parade through the town. The children were given kazoos, drums, streamers, and all sorts of parade items, and off they went. The TV cameras caught the parade, but they had no idea what was coming next as they proceeded down the hill to the building where the training was taking place!

THE SOLAR OVEN: The next thing they noticed was the solar oven. Jean Marconett had brought a stove from the solar oven society in Minneapolis and had set it up in the morning. During the first part of the morning training process, she took the women through the process of how to use the oven and how they could build one. She had a pot of beans and a pot of veggies ready to be placed in the oven, and the beans had been placed in about an hour before the reporters came. The reporters asked many questions about the oven and what was in it. Jean went through the process with them, and happily, when she opened the lid, the beans were steaming and well on their way to being done. The reporters took a book of recipes and were mightily impressed.

BOILING WATER: Next, they noticed the 3 plastic bottles of water lying on black shiny paper next to the oven. Our team had brought three 1 liter bottles of water and some WapIs- Water Pasteurization Indicators. They were H2O filled and included a glass tube with some soybean wax inside. These bottles were sprayed black on the outside and were lying on a shiny back surface (they could be placed on the roof too). They are to be set in full sun, and as soon as the wax melts, the water has been hot enough (149 degrees F – 65 Degrees C) to kill all bacteria and is safe to drink.. The reporters were given one of the wax tubes, and again, were mightily impressed.
WATER TESTING: But little did these reporters realize that perhaps the best was yet to come. The main reporter believed that the water in the community was clean and pure because it came down from the mountain. Sandy Guyse was sitting at her microscope and had a picture of the water she had collected four days ago. He was mortified to see the pictures and to learn the results of the testing of the water from the stream and from the well. They both had obvious e-coli contamination. They left stunned.
CARLA AND "FUNDACION HERENCIA VIVA: They then interviewed Carla, the director of the Guatemala agency our team works with, and they also interviewed Suzanne Greenleaf, our US team leader. They learned much about Carla's organization, what its goal is, and how other communities can become connected to her. Carla was thrilled with the publicity and with the fact that when the reporters left, they said, "Next time you come, be sure to call us!"
THE STOVES:
Lastly, Suzanne talked with them about the stoves that had been purchased, installed, and how beneficial they are because they don't burn much wood.

And perhaps the best is yet to come. While here, they called the national news team and suggested they come!

Stay tuned – our fame is spreading fast.

Reported by Julie; Pictures by Susan