I'm sitting in my “office”, a coffee shop with WIFI, about 40 minutes from San Antonio. I come here about once every other week or so to catch up on email, get new NPR and BBC podcasts and generally detox. It's quiet, calm and air conditioned! here so I can actually focus on getting stuff done. Here's an update on what I've got going on right now.
Currently we are in the middle of a teacher training here in San Miguel. Together with 4 other PC volunteers, we are teaching teachers about participatory teaching techniques – dynamic activities, and how to run mini-field trips. The trainings seem to be going well – the teachers are responding and participating, and when we debrief after each session, they also have good pointers and suggestions about how these techniques can be incorporated and modified to fit the realities of each individual school! (success!) We finish up this Saturday with a mini-graduation and presentation of diplomas. We are also planning a larger teacher camp in May where we will go to the northern pueblo of Perquin and do daily field trips and excursions to help teachers see how easy it is to incorporate outdoor experiences in their daily teaching. I was super excited because a couple weeks ago, two teachers that I had invited to a similar teacher training we did last November, wanted to take their second graders on a walk to the river nearby the school and do activities and such there. They invited me to come and participate and I was so happy to be there and super proud of those teachers for doing something new!
Also, we are moving forward with the stove project in the school. We have received funding, and are now in the process of ordering materials, and planning the renovation of the kitchen. We are planning to do most of the work during Easter Break so as not so disturb the preparation of the school provided snack. I am very gratefully to everyone who donated and promise to include before and after photos!
My woman’s group has successfully made their first batch of soap and they are very interested in keeping it going. This first batch was just to test out the recipe and see if they like the product. Also to experiment with different ingredients. The only bummer is that the product requires a month to fully set up, but I told them that if they make soap every week, after the first month of waiting, they will have product becoming available every week! Hopefully they jump on that. They have been very successful with making shampoo, but the main ingredient can only be purchased in San Salvador, a 3 hour bus ride away. For soap, all the ingredients can be purchased in San Antonio! so super easy!
With the eco-club in the school, we are assisting with the school-wide recycling initiative. Before I arrived in San Antonio the school was recycling (selling) soda cans, but this year they have also started selling plastic bottles, paper and also composting. The eco-club is helping remind people to classify the garbage and put each specific type in it's respective place. We have been making posters to put up around the school. It's definitely an up hill battle because habits die hard and most people here are used to just throwing trash on the ground wherever; very rarely does it make it in a garbage can, and almost never is the garbage separated, but we are trying!
I've been helping write grants for two exciting book projects. One is a coloring/activity book all about the environment. Alicea (http://aliceacock-esteb.blogspot.com/) is making the book and has word searches, connect-the-dots, mazes, matching, at-home activities, easy math, and lots of fun coloring! Another volunteer, Nicole, is doing some beautiful picture books with story lines related to the environment – a curious water drop goes on a trip through the water cycle, a melancholy tree learns his importance in the web of life, an intelligent worm helps his fellow worms understand their role in helping a farmer's soil be healthy. Both are incredibly talented and creative artists and we are all very excited to get these books published.
Some trainings are coming up where I have the opportunity to invite some community counterparts to learn about small business development, as well as product elaboration. I have invited two members of the woman's group who have been involved since the beginning, and really the driving force behind the group's energy. Each has great ideas for future projects – aquaponics, selling shampoo in other communities as well, setting up a little cafe in San Antonio etc. So I really want them to attend these trainings and learn how to make the most of their energy, time and investments.
Man it feels good to be working!
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