another day in the jungle: October 2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Preparing for Exams

Adelaida has been in the library every afternoon recently, studying and practicing for her upcoming exams.

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And Storytime

This is a vision I have had of the function of the library for quite some time. None of these children have books in their home or school, and thus, have never been read to, and their listening/attention skills are minimal. I think this is an excellent way to develop listening skills as well as an appreciation for books and stories. Georgia has been preparing well to keep them interested and attentive throughout the session.

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Break Time

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Monday, October 22, 2007

Making Name Tags

Although she has been helping out over the last few days of classes, today, Georgia Litherland, of Sheffield, England was prepared to begin teaching a multi-faceted class of kids from 6 to 12 years.

The first project today was to make nametags.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Happy Birthday Georgia!

Georgia Litherland and Bill Bevan arrived from England this past week, and plan to be here volunteering for the next 6 weeks. It was Georgia's birthday a couple of days ago, so we whipped up a vegetarian feast and a carrot cake to celebrate!

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There's One in Every Class

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The Results

Eva used a Project Ix-canaan stamp to make cards for each of the Recycled Paper Post Cards to give the kids an idea of how they can make this kind of product and put it out for sale.

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Making Paper Part 2

As usual, the class size grew from about a dozen on day 1,
to about 20 on day 2,
to over 30 on day 3!

Eva helped all the kids cut the edges of their paper to form rectangles.

Then each child was given paints or colored pens to create an art piece that reflected their surroundings.

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Making Paper

On the second day, Eva blended up old pieces of paper and gave each child a small cupful.

Each child used a spatula to spread out the paper mash on a piece of gauze and fold more gauze over the top.

Then all the pages of wet recycled paper were hung up on a line to dry.

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An Environmental Class

I synchronistically met Eva Oleksinska on her way to Gringo Perdido the other day and discovered that she was open to various volunteer opportunities. I invited her to visit Project Ix-canaan, after which she decided to delay her trip for a few days to offer a program to some of the neighborhood kids. She decided on a class that would focus on the protecting the environment, while instilling a dose of creativity.

On the first day of her three day class, Eva took the kids around 1 block of our neighborhood to pick up all the garbage they could find along the edges of the road.

Then they made it into "garbage art"

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Recycling

We, here in the jungle try to do our part to combat global warming. It would be difficult for most of my neighbors to "reduce" since their purchases are quite few already, but they are imaginative experts at "re-using" and "recycling". Here, a bedspring has been recyled into a front gate.

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Beautiful Jungle Bird

One of our neighbors recently acquired a pair of toucans. She gave one away, but the second has become a member of the family. She feeds it maza (ground corn) and a variety of fruits. She had been leaving him with unclipped wings so he could fly about freely, but last week someone shot him down with a slingshot and clipped his wings to keep him. Fortunately, they left enough wing that he was able to flutter home.

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A New Volunteer

Meet our newest volunteer, Carolyn Bedford, from Calgary, Alberta. Carolyn plans to be with us for an entire year!! She will be in complete charge of the library ... overseeing daily operations, setting up programs and helping other volunteers.

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Cactus Flower

The grounds of Hotel La Mansion del Pajaro Serpiente are full of a huge variety of orchids, bromeliads, cactuses and lots of other local plantlife. Nancy gave me a slip of this cactus the other day, and I am going to try my hand at reproducing this gorgeous flower!

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The Graduate

Mayra Cheguin, one of the two young women that are being supported by Project Ix-canaan through the generosity of several donators (Kathleen Gleason, Laura Bunting and Linda and Ruth Keirnan of Alberta, Dina Hanson of B.C., and Valerie Rothwell of England), is graduating! Here she is wearing her graduation outfit. Mayra has applied to attend University in January, and has been accepted upon successful completion of her entrance exams. If you are able to help with the "education fund" so we can continue supporting these two determined young women, please contact me.

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Getting Acquainted

Sandra gets aquainted with Gandalf before preparing to return to Guatemala City and Calgary.

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The Inauguration Ceremony

Sandra Van den Brink from Calgary, Alberta was on hand to represent the Ayudamos Foundation, the Wild Rose Foundation of Alberta and Friends of Ix-canaan (all of Calgary, Alberta). She spoke to the assembled group, and with Doña Juana Melendez, the President of the Grupo Feminino, cut the ribbon, officially inaugurating the new building.

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The Lunch

The women served a fantastic lunch of Pollo Guisado to a large group of invited guests.

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Breaking in the New Kitchen

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