Thursday, January 15, 2015

Building community with the villagers

When there are no more seats, no more standing room, and no more laps to sit in . . .you improvise!

One of the first homes built three years ago. The proud homeowners somehow find time to tend their yard after cooking and working in the fields 

Some people have a natural knack for language

Who needs a bat to play baseball?

The parable of the farmer and the seeds . . .

. . .and the attentive congregation

The long path to the coffee crop

The coffee plantation

The many new buds mean next year's crop will be bountiful

Only the red beans can be picked, and it takes the entire season for all the beans to mature, meaning at least four passes through the plantation every year to harvest the entire crop

Not a bad harvest by the gringos!

The day's work yields about 100 pound of beans, which are carried on shoulder up the path to the village. This bag, worth about $100 US at the market, allows the purchase of clothes, shoes, medicine, tools, equipment, and the money to repay the Argos mortgage on the land 

The village President, Israel, explains that the next project for the village, now that the latrines are finished, is to try to build a road to the fields, but Argos has no funds for a road. When asked what he would do if he were "King for a day" and could do anything he wanted, Israel replied, "A better life for the people in the village"
 (Note that yesterday's blog incorrectly identified Henry as the Village President. Henry is the Vice President)

This is the path to the fields that the villagers want to rebuild as a road

No caption needed here

Waiting in line for fingernails to be painted. . .
 . . .
. . .and more people keep arriving for fellowship

This is the correct way to limbo

This is not the correct way to limbo

And more people wanting their nails painted (Special thanks to Lori Senft for the donation of the polish!)

The long lines for nail polish put a new meaning to all hands on deck!

And another line!

But it wasn't really the polish that made them come.

This is why they came.

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