Thursday, March 17,2011.



Construction continues. It is clear now that we will not be able take up the shower installation in the church. That will have to wait for another team apparently.



Clinic visits also continue.



The highlight of the day is that women from the team visited women from the community in the ChiChi market. There are two markets each week--Thursday and Sunday, with Sunday the larger. One of the team members participating in tht event will write that portion of the blog. Check back later.



I would like to note a few random comments about the Xecopol community.



During installation of the stoves we were able to visit homes. The typical layout is that of a "compound." Living quarters are separate from the kitchen area, which is in a separate small building. Work areas also appeared to be in separate small buildings or sheds. The kitchen areas I saw had wooden beam ceilings, or tile. In any event, in the "before" installation condition there were openings in the ceiling to allow smoke and heat to escape. The openings were not directly up, but were to one side or the other in order to prevent rain from coming in. The fire is set on the floor with three stones in a triangle to provide for some sort of cooking surface. I did not see one in action. The walls and ceiling were heavily sooted, and there was a strong odor of burnt material. It was easy to see the vast improvement a contained, vented, fire would make. In one home we were introduced to the mother and her 9 children, all of whom were grinning from ear-to-ear after the installion. A fire was started immediately. It was an emotional moment.



Transportation is worth a few comments. In small communities, travel by foot appears to always to be an option. This is even with large loads to carry by both men and women. A large load of firewood, for example, is carefully packaged with twine or rope into a stack 3 or 4 feet high, 1 1/2 feet wide, and 1 to 1/12 feet deep. That stack is then wrapped with rope that has a pad that hits the carrier at the forehead. The load is lifted to the back, with the back, neck and head bearing the bulk of the load. Bent forward, they walk for miles and up the steepest grades. The load might also be avacados, as the harvest season seems to be happening. Bicycles are prevalent for individual travel. In somewhat larger communites, tuk-tuks (sp?), three-wheeled golfcart-like vehicles, are favored. In larger cities, actual taxicabs may be found. Transportation from rural areas to various-sized communities appears to be by pick-up trucks that function as taxis, with the passengers seated on the edge of the truck bed. "Chicken" buses, converted and redocorated school buses primarily, are prominent within larger communities and from community to community. Getting from city to city we were most often on the Panamerican Highway. It runs north-south generally from the U.S. through Central America. It was in generally good condition, but there was clear evidence that it suffered great damage in the 2010 hurricane, as repairs were still being made. Other major roads in the area also suffered great damage. Getting out of Panajachel for several months after the hurricane involved ferries and chicken busses rather than the preferred use of private vehicles for commuters working further to the north.


Animals. Walking daily from the church to the school, we construction guys pass several loose dogs and two tethered cows. The cows graze in a different 100-foot area each day, soetimes in a corn field that has not been planted yet for 2011. They are skinny, but appear contented. I am told they are brahmin cattle, suitable for a dry climate. We have seen 6-8 of them at a cattle sale, also skinny. The dogs are everywhere. They root about, well-behaved, searching for food. I understand they belong to a family and appear healthy, but also skinny. I am also told that some families have pigs and goats. although I did not seen any. At the homes I saw, chickens were plentiful, and some caged wild turkeys were kept. I saw one cat at Pastor Sebastion's home, and Mary saw one that apparently had mousing duty at a home with a corn bin.