Lots of Projects

September 5, 2008

Lots of programming for events and projects going on recently. We had a big to-do in the main town at the parish church this past week. It finally came to the point to hoist up the bells to the top of the façade. The story behind them is that a group of Franciscans came to the parish in the early 20th century and really solidified the place as a parish and in 1951 they had 4 bells made with the connections back in Italy and somehow got them over here and to the parish church in San Pedro Nonualco. It was said that you could hear the bells some days from quite a few municipalities over. In the earthquakes of 2001, the façade was critically damaged, so the parish brought them down in an emergency so as to save them if the façade came down in the aftershocks. The bells have been in storage since then….well, until this past Saturday. The parish sent out over 1200 envelopes to people all over the parish to get the funds to bring the hoist truck up to San Pedro Nonualco and everything came off as mostly a success. There were a few complications in the installation of the bells due to some size changes, but two were installed and rung and this week they are working on finishing up the other two.
Padre Tino told some funny stories of old people talking about how they had been sad the past years because they thought they were going to die before the bells ever got put back up. Now they said they can die happy because they know the bells will ring at the funeral mass. Tear.
For all you donors out there on the church reconstruction deal, you will be happy to know that your donations helped make that event happen. The facade should be done by the end of the year, wahoo!

Prep Work.

More Prep Work.

Padre Tino doing his baby thing with the bells. (the tiny bell hasn't been brought out yet.)

The St. Peter bell

What are they all looking at?

In other news, I invited as much of the community as I could this past Sunday to a meeting the Casa Comunal for information concerning trainings in different areas of agriculture. All morning it rained, and then the soccer game that I thought was for the morning was actually at the same time as the meeting, so I actually took out two chairs in the Casa Comunal… literally expecting that many people. But in the end some 15 showed up with a few who told me ahead of time they wanted to come but weren’t going to make it. The goal is to use some grant money that we almost have, haha, now that the meeting is over I can finish my part of the proposal, to go to the National University for Agriculture to take some lessons in grafting and other minor things. I hope it all works out.

Some of the members of ADESCOSAPEN, the parish volunteer group that heads of the church reconstruction.

lots of people.

a further back view

Finally, I held a meeting of all the ADESCOS (Community Development Associations) for the municipality to bring the stove project to more people, so that was fun. The guy in charge of the NGO gave his presentation on reforestation and these stoves that improve health, protect the environment, and cost the families less in firewood. Seeing how 80% of Central American families cook with wood burning stoves, I think this project could help a lot of families. Also, it should be good training exercises for the ADESCOs.

You can only see a few of the people, but there was actually representation from all cantones.

A foto of the stove we are promoting.

Work continues with the Medical Dispensary, Isabel is recouping from the death of her father and her and Consuelo are back in action. They have started a mosquito campaign starting with the water basins and are planning to fumigate now that they have supposedly killed the majority of the eggs for the next few months. That should be fun.

The group from all over the country that met in San Vicente the past week at our Project Design Seminar.

My group from San Pedro that attended the seminar.

Oh, almost forgot, I went with Juan Jose (Don Raul’s youngest) to Olocuilta, a city in my department of La Paz, where he participated in a Departmental Math Contest. He won his grade in the municipality and ended up getting third place in the Department…he’s really good at math, haha. We were reviewing the day before the stuff, and he was pretty quick with it all. I think he’ll get better as the years go by. The school that hosted it was a parochial school that is known as a “complejo” or complete school here. That just means that it has all grades…..1 through 12. Apparently it had some big donors from Spain from what I was reading….nice place. The more that I see get around this country, the more I see that Europe in the name of the EU and especially Spain, Germany, and Switzerland are super involved and invested here. Go them.

The school was really nice.

The baller himself

Juan Jose after having received his 3rd place in the Dept on stage.
agreed.... this tie is terrible!

As far as my eye deal goes, the first few people have completed their process with FUDEM and are getting their dates lined up for the surgeries, wahoo! Like I said before, if I get just one actually done and successful, I will be happy.

September 9, 2008

So I forgot that I had promised to go to a get together hoorah in El Tunco (the pig, haha), La Libertad at the beach, so that was fun, but I really didn’t want to go because it is going to make things financially this month. But, if I hadn’t have gone it would have raised the prices for the rest of the volunteers in my group, so….. oh well, it was all good. Apparently El Tunco and the beaches around it have like worldwide respect for its surfing. Few had enough money to rent a board but one of these days I am going to learn how J…..in a place that won’t kill me haha. Like I said though, it was good to get away for a day, we met some Brazilians, Israelis, Canadians, a large sea-turtle came up and we watched him lay his eggs (kind of), and we were told by some guards the next day that some thieves came up that night that we were there with machetes looking for some gringos that they heard were at the beach. Luckily the guards had guns, haha…. They said they shot at them and they ran off.
Always fun in El Salvador.

A pic of the place we were at.

Tomorrow I have to go to El Sal to meet with the Wood efficient stove guy, and then turn in this grant proposal at the office. In the evening I got to come back to San Pedro to dig my hole that I’m going to live in until the first of the month.

the new pups at Don Rauls
the mama tied up so she wont run off and leave the things

“Do not say, ‘It was the Lord’s doing that I fell away’; for he does not do what he hates. Do not say, ‘It was he who led me astray’; for he has no need of the sinful. The Lord hates all abominations; such things are not loved by those who fear him. It was he who created humankind in the beginning, and he left them in the power of their own free choice. If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, and whichever one he chooses will be given. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he know every human action. He has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.”

Sirach (or known in early Christian times as Ecclesiasticus, “belonging to the church”) 15:11-20