Back in Action

Ok, so lets get started. Things have gotten back to normal pretty quick. Most important things first, I got back in time to have our second annual New Years Card Tournament.... a game they call "chucho" (dog), but its somewhat like what we know as spades, but without the trump suit. The points work in a way that every group of 3 face cards is a point, and the ace is worth a full point by itself. Anyways, there are some pics below of that awesomeness as well as a video, although my team got put out in the first round, I had fun. The prize for the winning team was a makeshift gift card to the other neighbors store.

Our Double Elimination bracket....I'm team 3, haha.

My partner focused on the game

The Final Table



A quick view of the competitors

Also, we had the community development association (ADESCO) Christmas Dinner, and it went well and there are a few pics of that too. We had beef, rice, salad, coke, and music..... well, after they gave their yearly report. It was a good time.

Christmas Dinner

Look at all those tortillas!!



Oh yeah, and before I forget, when I got back a month later, they were still clearing the roads up the mountain from the last bit of rains that came in November. The main roads are now clear, but the rural roads are still being worked on. The problem now though is that trying to clear the roads creates so much dust now that we are in the dry season, that it becomes a health hazard. So they have decided to wait and finish just before the rains start up again in May.

Before I start in the project that I am currently working on, I just want to thank those benevolent souls that responded in donating at the end of the year. I was able to attend the New Year's tournament and present each soccer team that had petitioned me a Mikasa soccer ball and net. It wasn't much, but it was something. They took some pictures, but I haven't gotten my hands on them yet, oops.


Many of you remember me talking about the bathrooms that we were building in the medical clinic here in the main town ("Picture Time", October 19, 2009). Well, all of the building process has been done for 2 months, yet we still don't have use of them. We have been waiting on the government water agency to do their part, but they are really slow. We still have a few options, and I am investigating some ways to expedite the process. We'll see.


Right now, I am deep into the Mural and Community Map project. We got some grants to support a local artist who has just graduated from high school do a series of art classes for the kids, to build a wall near the entrance of the community with a huge map on it, and to paint murals on the face, and inside of the Community House that we just renovated (you might remember that project too, from the post previously mentioned above). We just finished the map, and now I am trying to find the company that sells those metal park benches to see if we can clean up around the map and put a bench on either side. Also, we are seeing if we can get some locals to put a small roof on the map with some leftover metal that we have. The biggest hole that we have right now is labor costs for each mural. There are 8 squares inside of the Community House that we have prepared (about 5ft x 5ft each square), and each one will cost us $75 to paint. The young artist is doing us a huge favor in these prices, because as you all know, even in developing countries, these kinds of things go at a much higher rate. We have the actual paint, but now we are looking for sponsors for each mural. Right now, we have 3 sponsors and NEED 5 MORE brave souls :) I hope that we can find support in this, one of my last big projects. The advantage of this project is two fold. In that, I used the Community House renovation project as a teaching ground for the ADESCO of how manage funds and projects, and now they are in charge of everything, in colaboration with me, and then after each step we revise all expenditures and procedures. So far, so good. The second part is that the municipality has our community in mind to start developing Eco-Tourism, and so these are ways to make everything more attractive and people proud of their community. So if anyone is interested, we are looking for 5 sponsors!!! Please contact me at one of my email addresses if you are interested, or just donate at the paypal icon on the right with a note as to its destination. Thanks to all involved!!!


The front of the Community House (which actually still isn't finished.. the letters over the door and the white space to the right can be noted)

He's got some talent :)
The first stages in drawing the map

Side view of the almost finished product

Almost
Finished Product

The top corners are for the logos of the ADESCO and that of the institution that donated the paint. You can imagine it with a little rooflife tophat and a bench on either side, thats the goal.

Finally, phase two of that announcement system project that we had going on in the center of the community will begin (Picture Time, October 19, 2009). Some families from the Western US have donated specifically to build two latrines beside the local hermittage. This is the center point of the community where daily events go on, yet they still dont' have bathrooms. It is always necessary to look for the nearest neighbor's house down the street, and as well all know, that can be frustrating haha. We must keep in mind that the reconstruction after the earthquakes in 2001 have been slow here, and bit by bit the communities rebuild themselves, and now its time to help with public bathrooms. As far a manual labor goes, I am going to see if I can work out a deal with our scholarship students to work a few days for their service hours that we ask of them :)

Speaking of scholarship students, not to bore, people, but we had the honor of hosting some of our supporters of the San Pedro Nonualco Scholarship Committee from Louisiana this past weekend. They seemed to have a good time and even had a surprise waiting for them (and me) in the Mass on Saturday night. Apparently, someone had told Padre Tino that they were here visiting, so before ending the Mass, he was like, "William, William, where is William? Come up here" Of course I was sitting in the back, and so I had to go all the way up front, and then call them up front and say a few words about them and where they are from, and then the overfilled church gave them a huge round of applause for their work. They have helped the scholarship committee with 50 high school and now with what will be 8 university students this year. Good stuff. Sadly, I don't have pictures of that either, Dr. T if you are reading this, tell Mark that he will have to send me some pics, or if you have any send them to me and I'll post them.

Me and the other new volunteers hanging out with the visitors at Rolandos house

Rolando and Dr. T negotiating with the volcanoes behind watching

The university scholars with Dr. T on a hike to the top of the little volcano

All of the current scholarship students

The stove project is reaching its closing stages, and I am still in the searching stage for the big water project. And with that.... I close the project updates.

For those interested in helping out with part, or in some way, REMEMBER 5 SPONSORS, of course feel free to email me at rhettbwilliams@yahoo.com, which also appears in the profile above, or donate at the DONATE tab to the right with a description of where you would like to direct the donation, if you so desire. I'm usually pretty good about sending out pictures and info to the donors directly, or posting it here for everyone to see. Or, if you just have any great ideas, feel free to comment here or send it to me in email. The majority of comments people send straight to my email for some reason, but whatever floats your boat.

My new job as Regional Leader is also beginning to become more and more involved, I've been able to travel to one island here in La Paz, where they are asking Peace Corps for a volunteer, and I got to visit another island in Usulutan, with a spectacular bay view of three volcanos. I will probably have to move in February, which Im not too excited about, but I think it will all work out in the end. I know that its going to be a hassle with people to not try and overcharge me rent as a gringo, but oh well, we'll see how it goes.

I am taking the GRE the beginning of February as well so that will be fun, I have started looking over some vocab words, hahaha. I am also contemplating the FSO Test in June because its free, but that is still to be seen.

So, thats my life up until now, nothing too crazy :)

Here comes G.K.

"Being educated means reading the newspapers. Being properly educated means not believing the newspapers after you have read them."

G.K. Chesterton