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

September!

September 9, 2009

I have found a nice slot of time to write down some stuff, so here goes.

Mid August I got to go on a little vacation with the parents to see parts of Panama and Costa Rica. It was a super fun experience and it was good seeing them. Although sad at the same time because they couldnt come to my community to check out my pad for various reasons. I still dont have a way to put pics on the computer because my camera doesnt have a cable, but Im working on that. The pictures on my camera are normally how I remind myself of what to write about on here, haha.

Also at the beginning of August we had the Patron Festivals of Santo Domingo of Guzman here in La Comunidad. Everything was lively with lots of events. I participated in the costume parade with a cowboy costume from college that worked out kind of nice. Our group even supposedly got invited to another towns patron festivals to participate because they thought it turned out pretty well. Oh yeah, and some kid stole my water gun at the very end and never gave it back.

Lets see, also we are slowly closing in on the end of the stove project in the rural areas of the municipality. I am about 3 months behind at the moment because the trash truck that I was using to take materials everywhere is almost consistently broke, but I think in the next two months that I will have it done, hopefully.

Oh yeah, also, remember that ambulance that I had been writing grants for back a while ago? Well, I was beaten by another institution, the European Union donated a new ambulance to each of the 100 poorest municipalities in the country, and we fell under that category. So, wahoo, strike it off the list.

We have won two water grants that almost cover putting water in the parish medical clinic here. Next week we should be ready to go buy enough materials to start and finish 75% of the project. Also, we have the support of the mayors office to start work on the Community House. The next few weeks should be exciting in that we will start to see concrete work on what has been a year of soliciting and organization.

Speaking of those, and the need of a continuing support in a few last projects here, I wanted to show yall the breakdown of funds of a donation that was given about a year ago through the PAYPAL here on the webiste. It was a donation of 200.00 and was spent in the following manner:

$64.00 went into the wood saving stove project....split between transport of materials and helping covering families that couldn´t cover costs. (right now weve built 67 stoves in my municipality)

$20.00 went into refurbishing two donated laptops, one which went to a school and another which went to the Parish Medical Clinic.

$54.00 went into two printers, one for the school just mentioned and the Parish Medical Clinic

$5.00 went to cover an Ultrasound of an elderly lady´s eye in my community during our eye campaign

$10.00 covered a pair of glasses for a mom of 10 children and leader in the Parish community

$40.00 went into the first phase of a project by my own community to put a speakerphone in the middle of the community to announce events, deaths, etc along the 3 mile ridge. We are still short on the second phase, but this $40.00 went together with the last of another donation to pay for the parts.

$7.00 was the amount that PayPal took out of the original $200.00 in fees.

The donation went a long way and Im sure had an affect on a much larger number of people than was expected by the donors when they donated. Well done by that fam.

I have been collaborating with another community on the other side of the municipality as well, and in the past year we have been petitioning for them their own volunteers and now they have arrived. They are a couple that will be working with the school and development committee for two years. The community is ooober excited about it all and happy that they are being remembered in the course of things in the world, haha. Speaking of this subject, my actual time here is winding down and technically ends Nov. 28, but my ADESCO is soliciting to have me stay another 6 months to finish up and get started some other projs. Im fine with that. There will be various volunteers doing that though, so I should know by the end of September if we are approved by Peace Corps or not.

For now this is life. And its good, I ate some tasty chicken wings and it passed through my mind that I could die now a happy person, but hopefully that will hold out until I finish my work here with the communities :). Ive begun to think about what my time here in Peace Corps has taught me and where I should begin pointing my life after its over. But more on that after I finish my closing conference COS here Sept. 16-18 and PC gives us more info on that stuff.

Keep fighting the good fight.

With all the doctrinal hooplah in the news in the Anglican-Episcopal-Lutheran realm lately, I found this quote from an at the time Anglican interesting:

"....In barbarous times the will is reached through the senses; but in an age in which reason, as it is called, is the standard of truth and right, it is abundantly evident to anyone, who mixes ever so little with the world, that, if things are left to themselves, every individual will have his own view of them, and take his own course; that two or three will agree to-day to part company to-morrow; that Scripture will be read in contrary ways, and history, according to the apologue, will have to different comers its silver shield and its golden; that philosophy, taste, prejudice, passion, party, caprice, will find no common measure, unless there be some supreme power to control the mind and to compel agreement.

There can be no combination on the basis of truth without an organ of truth. As cultivation brings out the colours of flowers, and domestication changes the character of animals, so does education of necessity develope differences of opinion; and while it is impossible to lay down first principles in which all will unite, it is utterly unreasonable to expect that this man should yield to that, or all to one. I do not say there are no eternal truths, such as the poet proclaims, 6 which all acknowledge in private, but that there are none sufficiently commanding to be the basis of public union and action. The only general persuasive in matters of conduct is authority; that is, (when truth is in question,) a judgement which we feel to be superior to our own. If Christianity is both social and dogmatic, and intended for all ages, it must humanly speaking have an infallible expounder. Else you will secure unity of form at the loss of unity of doctrine, or unity of doctrine at the loss of unity of form; you will have to choose between a comprehension of opinions and a resolution into parties, between latitudinarian and sectarian error. You may be tolerant or intolerant of contrarieties of thought, but contrarieties you will have. By the Church of England a hollow uniformity is preferred to an infallible chair; and by the sects of England, an interminable division. Germany and Geneva began with persecution, and have ended in scepticism. The doctrine of infallibility is a less violent hypothesis than this sacrifice either of faith or of charity. It secures the object, while it gives definiteness and force to the matter, of the Revelation."

pp. 89-91
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
John Henry Newman (later Cardinal Newman)
1834

Burial of the Computer

The computer officially is resting in peace until a new video card can be found and installed. This will create some problems on posting pictures on the site until it gets fixed, but hopefully Ill get one up in the next few weeks with updates on all the projects. In the meantime, I leave you with this site to check out in honor of the USA vs. Mexico World Cup eliminatory soccer game tomorrow (its going to be good... hopefully).

http://www.nike.com/nikesoccer/dtom/