another day in the jungle: September 2006

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Landscaping #4

Today, Gonzalos's landcaping crew finished spreading the fine gravel throughout the paths and public areas, and painted the dividing walls.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Landscaping #3

By last night, the bright red sawdust of mahogany that cushions the "floor" of the playground, completely changed the look of the yard.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Volunteering in the Library

My 16 year old niece, Larissa, arrived on Saturday to spend the next two months here, working as a volunteer with local kids through the new library and studying Spanish.

Playing

By Monday afternoon, the neighborhood kids were enjoying the playground around the piles of sawdust that await spreading as a base for the playground area.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Bit by bit the landscaping for the property around the playground is progressing ... this week Gonzalo's team planted grass in several areas, plus lots of jungle plants that, once rooted, will grow without much daily care.

Unearthing History

Every digging project in this area will unearth piles of 1500 year old Mayan pottery shards. These pieces were some we saved as the landscaping team were moving earth.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Relocating the Wildlife

This morning I took the time to relocate two tarantulas who had lost their homes in the ground because of the landscaping project. Tarantulas are beautiful, furry, gentle creatures ... and contrary to popular belief, do not have a poisonous bite.

Ready to Play

By nightfall, they had finished, and left the community with a fantastic new playground!!

Playground Assembly

The muchachos worked hard all day, taking only a quick break for lunch, while an ever changing group of neighborhood children watched.

Playground Arrives

Yesterday morning the crew from MonKids arrived bright and early to begin installation of the new prefabricated playground that is being donated to the children of El Remate by the Alberta Ix-canaan supporters.

A Stage for the School

Thanks to the generosity of the Ix-canaan Alberta supporters, the local elementary school now has a new stage for presentations and school events.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Landscaping #1

The landscaping of the yard between the clinic and the library started on Tuesday morning. By this morning, Salba was laying cement block around the stightly raised playground area, and the gardens are marked out with lime.