- Visited all 5 schools, met with sixth grade teachers and students, gave each their respective part of the application, and instructed them how to fill them out.
- All sixth grade students and their parents will come to a meeting in San Jose Centro on 10/27 at 1pm. They will meet members of the brigade, hear about the requirements of the scholarship program and fill out the parent part of the application. This will be the final part of the application process.
CURRICULUM MODULES FOR LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
- Teachers from all 5 schools will talk at their meeting this Friday and decide the best day for the seminar about the new curricula. Teachers from El Horno will be attending this time!
PIPED WATER DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM IN PORTILLON
- These guys are good! In five days, they cleaned, laid, connected and buried all the tubing from source to distribution tank.
- Distribution tank is overflowing with water from the three springs.
- This week they are digging the trenches for the distribution lines to the homes, in hopes the brigade will fund the next portion.
- All 31 families that will benefit showed up for a day of communal labor yesterday, preparing the road so the brigade buses can get down.
VIP LATRINE PROJECT
- The first latrine will be built on 10/20 at the house of Maria Sanchez, in San Jose.
- 1-2 recipients from each of the communities will come to learn from the man himself, "El Doctor Douglas".
- Following this, construction in other communities will begin.
- Recipients are aware they must do 2 days of communal labor before receiving their roofing sheets and have been out in force the last 2 days working on several community projects.
IMPROVED COOKSTOVE (FOGON) PROJECT
- El Doctor and Apolinar will give the first workshop on 10/24 at the school kitchen in Guanacaste. All recipients from Guanacaste will be in attendance. The community will provide all local materials.
- El Doctor will also experiment with a new stove design at the Guanacaste school.
- Recipients are aware they must do 1 day of community labor before receiving their chimney cap.
- Materials for both latrines and cookstoves will be here by the end of the week.
CENSUS
- The idea was discussed at the community meeting. The community thinks this it's a great idea, but volunteers weren't quickly forthcoming. So far, three people have volunteered to participate. There will be meeting about this at 1pm on 10/21.
AGRICULTURE
- Community members are very interested in the prospects of help in avoiding large swings in the market price of fertilizer. They like the idea of the brigade buying fertilizer when it is cheaper, storing it until needed but more expensive, and then selling it at cost to community members.
- I expect a large turnout at the Agriculture meeting at 8am on 10/21.
MIDWIVES AND MADRE GUIAS
- Will meet with Elia and Dr. Lindsay at 8am on 10/22
MICROFINANCE
- All applicants have been notified about the status of the loan (17 declined, possibly 3 accepted). Microfinance committee, you owe me an ice-cream Sunday when I get home for breaking such bad news to so many desperately needy people!
- All applicants were told of new loan terms and encouraged to attend the microfinance meeting on 10/23 at 1pm. I expect a large turnout.
POTTERS FOR PEACE FILTERS
- Elia is on board to provide the community health worker follow-up starting in December.
- I will begin visiting every house in San Jose and Guanacaste, starting November 2nd, to take a baseline survey, weigh children under 2, take a water sample and "sell" the filter.
- A workshop and filter distribution day will occur on every Saturday of November.
- We currently have 50 filters in San Jose and are still waiting for 50 more.
BLOGS AWAY….
Wow, before writing that "business" part I was trying to figure out how the last week and a half went by so quickly… now I know!
So yes, I'm back and busier than ever. It was a crash landing, once again, with language difficulties, lots of rain, a perpetually drunk foreman and the unavoidable "culture shock." But all's good now!
My Spanish is back with a bang. I actually understood several jokes today, which is a big step.
It rained pretty steadily for the first 5 days I was here. In the last 5 days there has been very little rain and lots of sun… everyone keeps telling me "here comes the summer." It won't rain a drop from the beginning of November until April.
Here I am on my porch chatting with a neighbor and Manual (The brigade's community point-man and also perhaps the fastest speaker on earth). Note the rain. Concerning the drunk foreman… The culture around alcohol in rural Honduras is complicated and unhealthy. To curb the drinking problem, the government decided to make the state where I live "dry," ie, no one can legally buy or sell alcohol. So, of course, cheap, high-proof alcohol gets smuggled in and a culture of "all or nothing" is born. Apolinar, my neighbor, good friend and our latrine foreman was drunk for my entire first week in San Jose. Prior to this, I had only seen him drink once before. No one ever could, or would, explain to me why he went on this sudden binge, except to say "when he drinks, he usually goes for while." Figuring out how to act, and not act, and what to say, and not say, was quite a cultural challenge. Fortunately, he decided to stop drinking on the morning of our big meeting, for which he was needed, and was able to participate despite his clear withdrawal. Since then he's been his normal, wonderful self, as if nothing happened. I'm glad to have my neighbor back.
Speaking of the meeting, we had another big (80 people) community meeting one week after my return. It was a huge success! In addition to organizing all the projects listed above, we made some great strides in terms of sustainably organizing the community.
We evaluated and modified our current methods of communication: The phone/foot tree we designed last time reached about half the people, a solid result. The signs I walk around and hang up reached the other half of the people and were something that people wanted to see continue. At my suggestion, they designed a system for the communities to distribute and hang them themselves in the future.
Also, in order to satisfy their work requirements with the projects, and to help Manuel prepare for the brigade, each community chose a day this week to come and do community labor. The last two days Mangal and Portillon have come, bringing 15 and 33 people respectively! It has been an incredible show of community solidarity.
To the great amusement of everyone at the meeting, I took this panoramic while Manuel was facilitating the discussion. I love this photo. This is what it's all about. These are the people it's all about. They are here, they are involved and they're ready to make it happen. 
And in case you don't believe that I'm actually doing any of what I say, here's an action shot from the meeting. As a final note, since returning, one of the biggest changes has been how the kids respond to me. As I mentioned before, standing at a distance and staring used to be the norm. I don't know if it was the photos I brought back for a few of them or if time has quelled the weirdness of the Gringo, but suddenly I'm the coolest thing this side of the Rio Negro. Greeting me warmly, talking to me, and generally being fun is the new norm. Also, whereas literally one child wanted a picture before, now they can't get enough photos. Quite a reversal. My favorite, though, is when I'm walking on some random path and suddenly I hear a little voice yelling "Mateo!" in that distinctive way that only Honduran schoolchild can. It's been a fun change.
Here's one of my new-found friends. Definitely note that he is ridiculously cute (and I have no idea why he decided to pose that!), but also note a few statements about life in San Jose: The stick is firewood for the volunteer mothers to use while cooking the government-provided lunch, likely his best meal of the day. The plastic bag contains all his school supplies: A notebook and a few pencils. He is barefoot. You can't see his teeth, but trust me, you wouldn't want to. Would you want you child learning like this? With no further ado, let me sign off with a few other photos…
In my kitchen with my 4 year old neighbor, Wilson. He and his brother (the photographer) offered me a very warm welcome back. 
Did I mention there was a huge tarantula in my kitchen? Well, there was. Here's how he measured up against my machete…. that puts him at about 4 inches in diameter!
I already miss you all and look forward to Christmas-time reunions,
-mateo
