HOT WATER!!! haha. I have made it here to Charleston for my month long homeleave. Things have gone well and its nice to be around family and friends.
There are lots of errands to be done while Im here though, so bit by bit I am working on getting things in order there.
Oh yeah, by the way, some of the outlying communities brought me some petitions before I left for soccer balls and cleats for their teams. The teams are about to start the yearlong tournament. So if anyone is interested in helping out there for a Christmas gift for a bunch of youth and other team members, I am looking for about 6 soccer balls (2 for each team). They run about 25 dollars each in El Salvador, but I havent checked here yet.
Always remember to help out in the frequent needs that pop up here and there in my rural communities that you can help out with the PayPal DONATE button on the right side of the blog. I always keep people informed on where and how it is used, photos and all... Or you can email me if you are interested in helping out in some other way.
"100% of the shots you don't take don't go in"
Wayne Gretsky
Friday, December 4, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Pictures of Recent Events
November 22, 2009
So I put up some pictures last time of whats going on here in my municipality, but I had a chance to visit with my community in the past week some of the more affected areas in the rains during Hurricane Ida. Its a different kind of disaster zone from what I have seen before. I have vague memories of Hurricane Hugo and the craziness that caused, and random flash flood areas. But land and rock slides..... these are my firsts. What happened was that large chunks of the highest parts of the volcano gave way and carved out new ravines on their ways down to these two main towns... Verapaz and Guadalupe in the Department of San Vicente, El Salvador. It brought not only mud and trash to fill the towns, but thousands of large boulders in the currents of water. Needless to say, now there are dry river beds, where originally there were sugar cane fields and neighborhoods.
In some other pics, I am helping concrete a floor at the neighbors house, and got to play in the first game of San Pedros Basketball tourney (I wont be there for the next 5 games).
Back in SC on Friday. Very exciting. Check out the pics.
"If you are not living life on the edge, you are taking up too much space."
Some of the guys working to take the mud out of the different houses... I bought them some sodas and we hung out
About to start the tournament
we still need to work on our picks
the base being finished on the neighbors floor
still getting there
a blocked road in one of the outlying communities
more blockedness
the shelter for the town of Verapaz
My community has made over 5 trips that I know of to leave certain goods to the needier communities... this is them handing out tamales to the people of the shelter
the shelter in the school
my community handing out stuff in a different school
more handing out
and more
So I put up some pictures last time of whats going on here in my municipality, but I had a chance to visit with my community in the past week some of the more affected areas in the rains during Hurricane Ida. Its a different kind of disaster zone from what I have seen before. I have vague memories of Hurricane Hugo and the craziness that caused, and random flash flood areas. But land and rock slides..... these are my firsts. What happened was that large chunks of the highest parts of the volcano gave way and carved out new ravines on their ways down to these two main towns... Verapaz and Guadalupe in the Department of San Vicente, El Salvador. It brought not only mud and trash to fill the towns, but thousands of large boulders in the currents of water. Needless to say, now there are dry river beds, where originally there were sugar cane fields and neighborhoods.
In some other pics, I am helping concrete a floor at the neighbors house, and got to play in the first game of San Pedros Basketball tourney (I wont be there for the next 5 games).
Back in SC on Friday. Very exciting. Check out the pics.
"If you are not living life on the edge, you are taking up too much space."
Some of the guys working to take the mud out of the different houses... I bought them some sodas and we hung out
About to start the tournament
we still need to work on our picks
the base being finished on the neighbors floor
still getting there
a blocked road in one of the outlying communities
more blockedness
the shelter for the town of Verapaz
My community has made over 5 trips that I know of to leave certain goods to the needier communities... this is them handing out tamales to the people of the shelter
the shelter in the school
my community handing out stuff in a different school
more handing out
and more
Saturday, November 14, 2009
DISASTER. dum dum dum duuummmmm
Yeah, so, this post is basically a short one about what is going on here right now. For those who don´t know, Hurricane Ida passed through here a week ago and dropped ALOT of water. People are wondering why it was so bad and it passed over in a matter of less than 2 days. Well, the Category 5 storm, Hurricane Mitch in 1998 hung around here for 5 days and dropped 400mL of water. Hurricane Ida in its best moment was a category 1 storm that dropped 355 mL on my volcano in 5 HOURS. What makes it worse, is that it had already rained here every day for 2 weeks on and off, so the ground was already pretty saturated. The mix of steep terrain and super steroided torrential rains, created the perfect conditions for disaster in my area.
So as far as results go....My community had quite a few landslides that blocked the road up to the main town. We got lucky though because the mayors office sent a machine deal in addition to a bunch of shovels to clear out the biggest one off the road. At that point they ran out of gas, and found out that the only exits down the volcano were blocked by a bunch of different landslides. So with no gas for anyone, the town hung out for a nother day of on and off rain with no power or water or exit. Eventually, in the next few days, they cleared out enough room to get a truck by and down the mountain, but the buses still couldnt run because there were huge boulders in the way. It took dynamite to blow them into small enough pieces to move off the road hahaha.
Today, on the 19th day without water in the main town and 9th in my community, both are now getting power and water back. The infrastructure damage though has been pretty bad. There are 24 bridges damages with 8 being wiped out. Just in my municipality we have 3 community that are still out of contact as afar as vehicles go. A few dont have water or power still (although some never did:) It will take a while to get things back in order, Id say a year for the whole region to get going. We should be back up in running in a few months though.
Our municipality had no deaths reported, although in a nearby river a 9 yr old girl was found. Most of the death were further down the mountain where basically two super large mudslides put a hurting on towns called Guadalupe and Verapaz at the base of the volcano as well as San Vicente. Also a nearby lake overflowed and wreaked havoc on the towns around it. There are even some neighborhoods that were completely erased. The death toll is up to 184 with 60 missing still.
In the good news, my home leave is now booked and I will be back Nov 27 to Dec 28.
Here are some of the few pics that Ive been able to get my hands on.
Washing out of roads was common.
This was the entrance to the community where the new volunteers had been placed.
Since there isnt water, the river is busy busy.
Some of the help that came in for the needy
Organizing the help.
Up the mountain towards San Pedro Nonualco
A small obstacle
Houses at risk in the outlying communities of San Pedro
A large boulder blocking the way down the mountain
Trying to head down the mountain. Govt workers trying to clear the way.
One of the hundreds of landslides in the area covering roads.
Another.
in the way.
The road washed out at the only entrance to Santa Maria Ostuma
People climbing the valleys to find ways to accesible roads and work
What used to be the piping to our community, the reason we dont have water. They hadnt fixed it though because it is right below where they were going to dynamite the boulders, haha.
People walking down the volcano to work in San Sal.
Clearing the way down the mountain.
More love.
More wash outs.
So as far as results go....My community had quite a few landslides that blocked the road up to the main town. We got lucky though because the mayors office sent a machine deal in addition to a bunch of shovels to clear out the biggest one off the road. At that point they ran out of gas, and found out that the only exits down the volcano were blocked by a bunch of different landslides. So with no gas for anyone, the town hung out for a nother day of on and off rain with no power or water or exit. Eventually, in the next few days, they cleared out enough room to get a truck by and down the mountain, but the buses still couldnt run because there were huge boulders in the way. It took dynamite to blow them into small enough pieces to move off the road hahaha.
Today, on the 19th day without water in the main town and 9th in my community, both are now getting power and water back. The infrastructure damage though has been pretty bad. There are 24 bridges damages with 8 being wiped out. Just in my municipality we have 3 community that are still out of contact as afar as vehicles go. A few dont have water or power still (although some never did:) It will take a while to get things back in order, Id say a year for the whole region to get going. We should be back up in running in a few months though.
Our municipality had no deaths reported, although in a nearby river a 9 yr old girl was found. Most of the death were further down the mountain where basically two super large mudslides put a hurting on towns called Guadalupe and Verapaz at the base of the volcano as well as San Vicente. Also a nearby lake overflowed and wreaked havoc on the towns around it. There are even some neighborhoods that were completely erased. The death toll is up to 184 with 60 missing still.
In the good news, my home leave is now booked and I will be back Nov 27 to Dec 28.
Here are some of the few pics that Ive been able to get my hands on.
Washing out of roads was common.
This was the entrance to the community where the new volunteers had been placed.
Since there isnt water, the river is busy busy.
Some of the help that came in for the needy
Organizing the help.
Up the mountain towards San Pedro Nonualco
A small obstacle
Houses at risk in the outlying communities of San Pedro
A large boulder blocking the way down the mountain
More of the road to where the volunteers used to be... totally blocked off.
Trying to head down the mountain. Govt workers trying to clear the way.
One of the hundreds of landslides in the area covering roads.
Another.
in the way.
The road washed out at the only entrance to Santa Maria Ostuma
People climbing the valleys to find ways to accesible roads and work
What used to be the piping to our community, the reason we dont have water. They hadnt fixed it though because it is right below where they were going to dynamite the boulders, haha.
People walking down the volcano to work in San Sal.
Clearing the way down the mountain.
More love.
More wash outs.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Picture Time!!!
October 19, 2009
Ok, so as I had said, with the death of the computer, things have become more difficult on the communication end, but no worries.... lots of photos to come. Also, I lost pretty much my whole documented lifes work the other day when my reserve external harddrive died. Now all I have, lucky for you guys, are my pictures that I had stored up on the camera. I feel like the harddrive dying was worse that the computer dying, because all my pictures since... well forever, all my college and other types of papers, all the information on my Peace Corps projects, everything I had accrued in life is gone unless I can recover info off it. Sigh, such is life....at least I dont have to worry about protecting anything now like I was doing with that external drive since the computer went downhill, haha. FREEDOM :(
Also before starting the projects, I got a chance to go camping up on the Santa Ana Volcano over looking the another crater lake Coatepeque with a group of volunteers. Our volcanologist volunteer had to spend 24 hours watching a portable GPS seismometer (which is in some of the pictures), so we accompanied :)......Super View.... here are some pics.
Group on the volcano
breakfast the next morning
early morning over looking the crater lake
hahahaha.
the seismometer and a nice view in the clouds
Now the fun stuff. Since the last post there have been lots of photo opportunities-projects etc. We have been working with the development committee (ADESCO) to repair a few parts of the street that were washing away. Well, actually we just prevented them from washing away until the rains go away and they can actually be fixed.
fun in the sun
Also, all of the different active committees and group off my community got together with me and we put into action a plan to build a communication system for the canton. In the middle of the community is a hermitage deal and the best place to put a PA system type deal. I used some donated funds on my end to cover half, we borrowed the other half, and got a 10% discount from the company for the materials and put it all into action. Also, we are going to be putting up some Event boards as well to help everyone keep track of the events. Check out the pics.
the finished product
puttin her in place
too many people?
hoisting her up
hanging out
getting ready
Oh yeah, so remember the community house that we were trying to put a roof on and all? Well we got all of that hammered out and started that project. At the moment, we have put the new roof on, painted it, put in the new lights, and bought the new chairs and tables and a dry erase board. In the next few weeks we will be finishing that up by fixing up the latrines and reinforcing some windows that in the medical dispensary that weve had some problems with. SO, the corollary to this project is also the "cultural beautification" hahaha, my terms, of the community. We are one of the communitys in which the area is pushing to develop an ecological tourism presence. So when we painted the Community House, we painted the base coat for a young artist in from La Comunidad to paint different local scenery of cultural heritage ideas on several different walls inside and out. Including a Community Map at the entrance of our Canton. Right now Im negotiating with various groups to see if by some miracle we get the other $700 needed to finish this "dream project".
the new roof
the neighbor mauricio sweeping the beams
the new boards
tearing down the old
The president of the development committee by the new board and with the walls prepped in the background for the murals that we are trying to get funds for
Another project is the potable water and bathroom project that we have started by winning two grants, one from the East Coast and one from the West Coast. We are finishing up this week putting a mens and womens bathroom, a drain and two sinks, and a 1,100 liter water tank in the parish medical clinic in the main town. More pics:
the sand and gravel awaiting the work to commence
pre work
pre work
Jorge starting the bathrooms
laying the groundwork
getting there
putting in the lights
making a mess of everything
the main black waters junction
Me and the engineer checking over things
I just barely fit.
more revisions
Preparing to plan out the water tank
This past week, the Development Committee ADESCO and I had a small ceremony before the board meeting to two local soccer teams who are entering into their respective tournaments this month. We won a Kids to Kids grant for balls, nets, and cleats among other things. Also this past week we turned in the final materials for the stove project in the last two communities... FINALLY. Now we just have to build the last 15.
the fun part.... this are representatives of the school of football
my soccer team representatives
the school of soccer from the main town
The biggest project, and to date only, that has remained out of reach for me is the fixing of the Potable Water System in my home community. You might remember that this was the project that we were soliciting from certain groups in Spain, but was close, but didnt work out. So, the mayors office is supposedly offering support for part of the project, but not all of it. I sent out an email to part of you guys asking for Rotary contacts, that is my next group to contact.
That brings me to talking about my future, because for those who keep track of time, you know that my time here will be up the end of November of this year. Well the Development committee, as I mentioned in the last post, solicited six more months for me here and in September I went to my COS (close of service) Conference to see how it was all going to work out. There I realized that the earlier time I could take the GRE would be in February, meaning that if I were to want to continue studying January 2011 would be the earliest time to do so. LEAVING all of 2010 open (not just the six months requested by my counterpart agency). Also, Peace Corps El Salvador opened up six slots for Regional Leaders around the country, each one with a different section of the country. So I applied and ended up getting the South region (go figure haha) which is actually pretty big.... it includes La Paz, Usulutan, and San Miguel (http://www.mapsofworld.com/el-salvador/maps/el-salvador-map.jpg). At the end of the day, Peace Corps extended my time here until Dec of 2010 as Regional Leader. The job entails basically helping the volunteers in my zone to better contact different governmental and non governmental agencies, execute projects, and have better communication with Peace Corps. Also we will be helping develop new sites for future volunteers among other things.
The only down side to this, is that I might have to relocate to a town more central to my zone, which means I will be in my community much less than I am now. However, I will be in and out a lot and will hopefully make more contacts to try and get the water project on the move.
So there ya have it, thats a small portion of whats going on in my life right now, enjoy the pics.
The TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language).... different volunteers from all over the country brought their english teachers to a Peace Corps hosted TEFL workshop
TEFL in action
The oiled up pig that everyone was trying to grab during the festivals here. If you can grab it... its yours.... they were chasing it all over for half and hour.
The judges at the costume deal
me in a fuzzy pic
The front of the procession with a mini Saint Dominic
ahahahahahaha
"...a true development is that which is conservative of its original, and a corruption is that which tends to its destruction."
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
p. 419
Ok, so as I had said, with the death of the computer, things have become more difficult on the communication end, but no worries.... lots of photos to come. Also, I lost pretty much my whole documented lifes work the other day when my reserve external harddrive died. Now all I have, lucky for you guys, are my pictures that I had stored up on the camera. I feel like the harddrive dying was worse that the computer dying, because all my pictures since... well forever, all my college and other types of papers, all the information on my Peace Corps projects, everything I had accrued in life is gone unless I can recover info off it. Sigh, such is life....at least I dont have to worry about protecting anything now like I was doing with that external drive since the computer went downhill, haha. FREEDOM :(
Also before starting the projects, I got a chance to go camping up on the Santa Ana Volcano over looking the another crater lake Coatepeque with a group of volunteers. Our volcanologist volunteer had to spend 24 hours watching a portable GPS seismometer (which is in some of the pictures), so we accompanied :)......Super View.... here are some pics.
Group on the volcano
breakfast the next morning
early morning over looking the crater lake
hahahaha.
the seismometer and a nice view in the cloudsNow the fun stuff. Since the last post there have been lots of photo opportunities-projects etc. We have been working with the development committee (ADESCO) to repair a few parts of the street that were washing away. Well, actually we just prevented them from washing away until the rains go away and they can actually be fixed.
fun in the sun
the finished product
puttin her in place
too many people?
hoisting her up
hanging out
getting readyOh yeah, so remember the community house that we were trying to put a roof on and all? Well we got all of that hammered out and started that project. At the moment, we have put the new roof on, painted it, put in the new lights, and bought the new chairs and tables and a dry erase board. In the next few weeks we will be finishing that up by fixing up the latrines and reinforcing some windows that in the medical dispensary that weve had some problems with. SO, the corollary to this project is also the "cultural beautification" hahaha, my terms, of the community. We are one of the communitys in which the area is pushing to develop an ecological tourism presence. So when we painted the Community House, we painted the base coat for a young artist in from La Comunidad to paint different local scenery of cultural heritage ideas on several different walls inside and out. Including a Community Map at the entrance of our Canton. Right now Im negotiating with various groups to see if by some miracle we get the other $700 needed to finish this "dream project".
the new roof
the neighbor mauricio sweeping the beams
the new boards
tearing down the old
The president of the development committee by the new board and with the walls prepped in the background for the murals that we are trying to get funds for
Another project is the potable water and bathroom project that we have started by winning two grants, one from the East Coast and one from the West Coast. We are finishing up this week putting a mens and womens bathroom, a drain and two sinks, and a 1,100 liter water tank in the parish medical clinic in the main town. More pics:
the sand and gravel awaiting the work to commence
pre work
pre work
Jorge starting the bathrooms
laying the groundwork
getting there
putting in the lights
making a mess of everything
the main black waters junction
Me and the engineer checking over things
I just barely fit.
more revisions
Preparing to plan out the water tankThis past week, the Development Committee ADESCO and I had a small ceremony before the board meeting to two local soccer teams who are entering into their respective tournaments this month. We won a Kids to Kids grant for balls, nets, and cleats among other things. Also this past week we turned in the final materials for the stove project in the last two communities... FINALLY. Now we just have to build the last 15.
the fun part.... this are representatives of the school of football
my soccer team representatives
the school of soccer from the main townThe biggest project, and to date only, that has remained out of reach for me is the fixing of the Potable Water System in my home community. You might remember that this was the project that we were soliciting from certain groups in Spain, but was close, but didnt work out. So, the mayors office is supposedly offering support for part of the project, but not all of it. I sent out an email to part of you guys asking for Rotary contacts, that is my next group to contact.
That brings me to talking about my future, because for those who keep track of time, you know that my time here will be up the end of November of this year. Well the Development committee, as I mentioned in the last post, solicited six more months for me here and in September I went to my COS (close of service) Conference to see how it was all going to work out. There I realized that the earlier time I could take the GRE would be in February, meaning that if I were to want to continue studying January 2011 would be the earliest time to do so. LEAVING all of 2010 open (not just the six months requested by my counterpart agency). Also, Peace Corps El Salvador opened up six slots for Regional Leaders around the country, each one with a different section of the country. So I applied and ended up getting the South region (go figure haha) which is actually pretty big.... it includes La Paz, Usulutan, and San Miguel (http://www.mapsofworld.com/el-salvador/maps/el-salvador-map.jpg). At the end of the day, Peace Corps extended my time here until Dec of 2010 as Regional Leader. The job entails basically helping the volunteers in my zone to better contact different governmental and non governmental agencies, execute projects, and have better communication with Peace Corps. Also we will be helping develop new sites for future volunteers among other things.
The only down side to this, is that I might have to relocate to a town more central to my zone, which means I will be in my community much less than I am now. However, I will be in and out a lot and will hopefully make more contacts to try and get the water project on the move.
So there ya have it, thats a small portion of whats going on in my life right now, enjoy the pics.
The TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language).... different volunteers from all over the country brought their english teachers to a Peace Corps hosted TEFL workshop
TEFL in action
The oiled up pig that everyone was trying to grab during the festivals here. If you can grab it... its yours.... they were chasing it all over for half and hour.
The judges at the costume deal
me in a fuzzy pic
The front of the procession with a mini Saint Dominic
ahahahahahaha"...a true development is that which is conservative of its original, and a corruption is that which tends to its destruction."
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
p. 419
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