another day in the jungle

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Volunteer Group from North Carolina State University

We recently spent 10 days working with a group of volunteers, mostly students from the North Carolina State University who organized two programs to benefit the local people. The first of these programs was a Diabetes Awareness Day. Shown above are Julie Mikus, Emily Soli (a woman who just happened to volunteer at this same time), Avani Javer, Anushri Deshai, Roshen Edathil, Jessie Kruse, and Brandon Dixon with Dr. Enrique and the early-morning line-up of patients who were interested in participating in this program.

Diabetes is a huge problem here in the jungle. This is a result of diet (heavy on sweet coffee and soft drinks and low on nutrition) in combination with the hot humid climate. Since there are no programs for the jungle poor who have this disease, many, often women, lose feet, then legs, then their lives at a relatively young age.

The volunteers had brought information for the patients, which they passed out while they prepared to do individual testing.

Anushri and Emily kept records of the patients ...

Jessie began by taking blood pressure and pulse

Anushri was in charge of height and weight ...

Avani took the temperature for each patient ...

Brandon prepares to help with the patient intake, also at the temperature-taking station ...

and the two nurses of the group, Roshen and Julie, were doing the glucose testing on each patient to determine if they have high blood sugar content, an indicator of diabetes.

The Diabetes Journey was a huge success. Many diabetes patients were identified, and all were given information about how to manage their condition.

Here at Project Ix-canaan, we are continuing with a program for diabetics ... to identify those who are having problems, and to counsel on how to manage the disease. We are in great need of ongoing donations of testing strips to check for blood sugar levels.

Solar Lighting

Thanks to Light Up the World, who donated this small solar lighting system, and Dr. Bob Dickson, who volunteered to bring it down with him when he was here in April, we now have solar lights in the Ix-canaan office.

The system includes a small battery, as well as a small solar panel

which we have placed on the edge of the lamina roof, where it gets relatively direct sun all day, and two small but powerful lights that each have two settings and about 10 meters of wire for each one.

The office is dark and cool, which is great for the climate, but lighting is required in order to work during the day ... we left the electric lights hooked up, but haven't had to use them since putting in the solar lights, thus cutting back on rapidly increasing electricity bills. IT WORKS GREAT! WE LOVE IT!! Now, all we need is a solar system to run the refrigerator, the satelite dish and a device that will charge computers and cell phones, and we can get off the grid altogether.

Adelaida Finishes her "Practicas"

Here is Adelaida in her uniform in the morning, getting ready to go to her "practicas". For the last month, she has been going each morning to work at a company in Ixlu. She has done well ... and this week she will formally graduate from her course in "Perito Contador" ... Junior Accountant. Adelaida's schooling (and that of 3 other young women) has been supported for the last 3 years by a small group of 4 Ix-canaan supporters (coincidentally, two sets of sisters) ... Dina Hanson, Laura Bunting, Linda Kiernan and Ruth Bieber.

Adelaida will now be seeking employment and will not need educational support, but not only do we still have the other three young women who are working towards their basic junior-high education, but I have had applications from another 6 young women this year who would appreciate support in being able to return to school. All of these young women, like Adelaida, were forced to quit their educations when they reached grade 6, and would now like to return, with the goal of becomming secretaries, teachers or accountants.

Please contact me if you are able to make a one time donation to our Scholarship Fund, or, if you can (even better) donate on an ongoing basis throughout the school year. We do give tax deductible receipts for donations to this worthwhile cause, as well as quarterly reports.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

A Successful School Year

Both Elsa and Aracely are bursting with pride as they near the end of their successful first year back at school. Below are their reports, that they brought over to show me. Both of these young women were unable to attend school past grade 6, but have gone back to school with the goal of becomming teachers. They are enrolled in a special program in Santa Elena on Saturdays. It is specifically for mature students and the students are able to earn the three years of grades 7, 8 and 9 in just 2 years. Elsa and Aracely are hoping that we are able to continue the scholarship program that has enabled them to attend this program. Please contact me if you are able to make a donation to our Scholarship Program for Women so they can prepare to continue to work towards their goals.

October Volunteers: Joe Moore and Juleen Rodakowski

Meet Joe Moore and Juleen Rodakowski, who have been volunteering here for over a week ... teaching and working with a group of local children.

Joe and Juleen prepared an excellent program for their daily class, consisting of a variety of different activities, interspersed with time on the playground.

Literature, reading and comprehension figured strongly in their teachings.

Part of each day's class would consist of a craft session focussing on an aspect of education. On this day, the children are making a mobile that illustrates what they dream of accomplishing, what they are working towards, when they finish school.

For the children, the highlight of each afternoon was their English class ... they love it ... and they participate with great enthusiasm, not only repeating the words, but writing them in the notebooks that several of them began bringing after the first day's class. Most kids here know that a working knowledge of English will move them rapidly up the employment ladder if they are lucky enough to obtain work in tourism when they finish their educations.

One of the modules that Juleen and Joe taught was on garbage and the importance of keeping their neighborhood clean. They made a game of cleaning up the entire block to see which team could find the most garbage, and made badges to say that they are members of the "I Do Not Litter" Club.

It was a great week!! Thanks Joleen and Joe!

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Beberly Reads

On the most recent trip that Rose and Beberly were here, Beberly took time out from their busy schedule with the women's group in order to read some books to the children.

Rose and the kids were enthralled as Beberly entertained the group with animation and laughter.

This is an activity that is really important for the kids here. They do not have books in their homes or schools and seldom hear a story read aloud to them. We are always looking for volunteers who would like to share this type of activity and help to birth an appreciation for literature amongst the young kids.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Meet La Chatona ...

Meet La Chatona ...

y el Caballito (little horse)

Adelaida dropped by the other day to ask if I would like to see her school project before she passed it along to its new owners. I gladly assented and we walked over to her house where I saw these colorful giants waiting up on her porch.

Wow! What kind of project is this? Adelaida jumped into the Caballito costume

and proceeded to give me a spirited description of the meaning behind the large characters.

As near as I can understand, it seems that la Chatona was a famous woman of the jungles of Petén who would come riding her little horse to the dances and always be the life of the party. She is now a fixture at all parties and dances in the province ... so much so that on December 6th, 2007, the dance called El Baille de la Chatona y el Caballito (The Dance of Chatona and Little Horse) was declared by the Minister of Culture and Sports to be "a part of the intangible, cultural heritage of the nation for its expression of the history, culture and art of the region".

Apparently our local school children were saddened that they did not have a Chatona and Caballito to liven up their celebrations. And Adelaida had been assigned the task, for her main project of the year, of creating something lasting for the local school district. She made an excellent mark on her project ... and the school now has its own La Chatona y el Caballito.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Only in Petén

This is the MAIN STREET in Santa Elena / Flores!! If you look straight ahead, you will see the island of Flores ... the capitol of Petén ... and this is the corner of the main intersection in town. Months ago the muni ripped up and dug out the main road from this intersection to the island capitol ... and the road to the right which is the main route out of town. They worked long enough to get a good deep hole which promptly filled with water, at which point they closed down the operation and left it as you see it ... with grass growing right up to the intersection.

You can only imagine what this has done to our traffic patterns!!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Volunteering with the Children

We have just finished a fun-filled two weeks with volunteers Cadie Powers (left) and Theresa Caballero who have been doing a variety of activities with a group of children ranging in age from about 5 to 12 years.

For 3 hours every afternoon, about 25 kids have been coming to the Ix-canaan Library to do a daily project,

followed by reading, game playing,

art work

some lessons in photography

and fun in the playground.

On their final day, Theresa and Cadie even brought a cake to be shared by all ...

Monday, April 27, 2009

The Wall

Violette asked shortly after she began working with the kids if it would be possible to paint a "group mural" on the end wall of the library/computer center building. We gave her an enthusiastic YES ... and this is the happy result!

She made stencils of various types of flowers, and let each child choose their flower, color and location on the vine.

Simon and Violette, Volunteers from France

Simon and Violette Berger, from France, have been here volunteering with the kids for over a month. In that time, they've done a variety of things with the kids ... most notably ...

THE WALL: (check next entry for more details on this incredible work of art!)

Amongst many other things, they also taught the kids how to make juggling balls and how to juggle.

They taught them some magic tricks!

They worked at puzzles ..

and games ...

and miscellaneous other arts and crafts.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Lots of Volunteers

For a short while, we had a large number of volunteers all active in the village at the same time. They are not all here for this picture (missing Simon, Violette and Aleta) but the ones that are here are ... Dr. Bob Dickson, co-ordinator of Friends of Ix-canaan in Calgary, Alberta; Dr. Andrea Hull, working on a water and sanitation program and a diabetes program here in the village; Jan Raymond, supporter of library programs; Allison Haynes of California, volunteer working with the women's group; Ok Namgoong of Korea, volunteer teaching cooking classes for NUFED students; Francisco Mendez South America, teaching an art class to the NUFED students; and Anthony Nugent from Campus California who volunteered with the labor of the NUFED bathrooms.

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Dr. Andrea Hull

Dr. Andrea Hull is here from Canada for a month, volunteering with Project Ix-canaan. Andrea is focussing on two main areas ... Water/sanitation in the village and Diabetes Care.

Shortly after her arrival, we scheduled a meeting with the village Water Committee to discover what is being done re purification of the village water supply. It appears that the Chlorination machine was disconnected within a month of its first operation (10 years ago) after complaints that the chickens in the village were dying of chlorine overdose. Since the water of the lake is not REALLY bad, and those with enough money buy their own drinking water, it has never become a priority to purify the water.

Andrea is now doing a survey of the village inhabitants to determine what services of water and sanitation the houses have now and what the people believe is most needed.

She has also been working closely with the Nurse's Aid of the Puesto de Salud in the village, and with a group of women with diabetes, to develop a care program that will prevent the worst of the repercussions of diabetes (loss of feet, legs and life).

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Monday, April 20, 2009

Determining Educational Needs

One of the first things Dr. Bob did while in El Remate was to meet with the Director and teachers at the NUFED school to discuss the needs and goals of the school over the short term. Later, he met with the Directora of the public elementary school, who are in need of funding to finish the cement floors of two new classrooms (I don't know how I missed getting photos of that day).

He also was excited to talk with Don Sebastian (right), the contractor in charge of the new bathroom construction.

NUFED Bathrooms Completed!

The students and teachers of the NUFED School are really happy to finally have bathroom facilities.

Thanks to the untiring efforts of Bill Horne of Calgary, Alberta (shown here with Don Sebastian, the contractor for the job, back in October when this idea was discussed) this idea has become reality.

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Jan Raymond

Dr. Bob's travelling companion, Jan Raymond, has been an active supporter of Project Ix-canaan for a few years now. As an educator, Jan has been instrumental in gathering together and sending a variety of excellent books, as well as art supplies and other library materials. This time, we were fortunate that Jan was able to come herself to deliver another huge bag of educational supplies.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Delivery of Medicines

Dr. Bob, the Calgary coordinator of Friends of Ix-canaan, arrived the first of April to bring down much needed medicines to the clinic.

It is wonderful to once again have medicines in the pharmacy.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bathrooms for the NUFED School

Last week we began the construction project at the NUFED School. The project in its entirety will be quite a bit more extensive, but we are beginning with the student bathrooms. Here are Henri (Nufed teacher), Sebastian (contractor), Julian Mayen (President Parents Committee) and another teacher from the school, in front of the present bathrooms. As can be noted, there are only two bathrooms with doors (those two have toilets inside) and although those two toilets are drained to a septic tank, there is no running water so water for flushing has to be carried by bucket from the water source several meters away. There are also no sinks for hand washing. The plan is to construct a cement wall in front of the present structure and a dividing wall in the middle between the 4 bathrooms (creating a boys side and a girls side), with doors on either end that can be locked. The building will be properly plumbed (water in and waste out) and 4 toilets and 2 sinks installed.

By last Monday morning, the basic materials ... cement block, sand and gravel (and cement that is not pictured) had been delivered and the project was ready to begin.

Since this is a technical school, the plan is to teach a mini-course in several aspects of construction ... primarily plumbing, block/cement work and painting. About 35 students from all 3 grades (7, 8 and 9) have opted to take this mini-course. The construction project began with a class given by Don Sebastian in how to do an estimate for a job.

It was decided that 7 students would participate each day in the actual construction. Immediately the young men were directed to the smashing digging door removal type jobs ...

and the young women to cleaning the old toilets.

I pointed out to those in charge that this might be a bit of gendrification ... they agreed, calling it "machismo" ... and before I knew it, the labor jobs were more equally dispersed.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Gardening Again

Our new volunteer, Allison Hayes, has been having a wonderful time helping the women to get their square foot gardens back up and running. Aleta Leigh, who has been working on a variety of projects since her arrival, has volunteered to help with the garden building and to translate when necessary. Here are the two women with Gloria Mejia, whose garden they have just finished planting.

Type rest of the post here

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Volunteer Teacher at the NUFED School

Aleta Leigh, our first Alaskan volunteer, (shown here with some of her students), has been working as an Ix-canaan volunteer for over a month now teaching English at the NUFED School. The NUFED School is a technical institute here in the village that teaches grades 7, 8 and 9 to students who have little chance of furthering their educations. English is a very important subject for them, since many of the jobs locally are in the tourism industry, and their services will be much more in demand if they are bilingual.

The NUFED School meets for full day classes every second week (most Guatemalan schools are in session either in the morning or in the afternoon) so that the students do not have to pay for transportation or rooming fees for the entire month. During the weeks when the school has been out of session, Aleta has found time to act as the interpreter for the group of dentists that were here for a week, she helped out with the unpacking and organizing of medicines that the pre-med group brought down, and now she is working with the Women's Group to reinstate their garden initiative.

Here she is with her Grade 7 class. (Note that the school building has no doors or windows, unfinished walls and a dirt floor).

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Breakfast in the Jungle

Dusk, Dawn and Brother (I'm not sure who's who in this shot) eagerly munch up their breakfast up on their shelf, while Tzolkin, the chou chou, crunches his up outside on the patio.

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Angel in Her Element

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The Sun Oven

Dana Machovec visited El Remate for 10 days and while here, was able to demonstrate the use of this Sun Oven that she then donated to Project Ix-canaan to use as a model for building others here in the community.

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Mirror Image

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