No electricity is no excuse for me to have gone this long in updating the banana project. Of course so much has happened and usually while it is happening or immediately after I think to myself how perfect it would be to write about and tell you. I’m spending a couple days off the island to work at Hotel Backpackers during Semana Santa as the Holy Week brings in a ton of people, both locals and tourists to the area, and the Bar-Hotel is one of the main money makers for Casa Guatemala so I am happy to help for a few days. Plus this way, I can have hot showers, change the meals a bit from the usual rice and beans, and use the computers here to reconnect with a lot of you, my friends.
My dad just got done with an intense and jammed packed week of visiting. I picked him up in Guatemala City and we paused for a long moment to hug, but then it was back to back adventures and travel to fit everything possible into the short week. Holy Week Processionals in Antigua, hiking and active volcano, surviving ‘nascar -like’ driving through switchback single lane pot hole filled Guatemalan roads, 12 hour hot sticky bus rides from one side of the country to the other and then a 20 minute boat ride to get to my Orphanage, fusion foods, sleeping in and getting the opportunity to show dad where the kids learn, live and grow…and where I have, for the past 3 months, lived, learned and grown each day ten fold. It was filled with laughter and emotions, and I’m happy to have had his support and strength for this project.
Hey dad, ilyu2!
AS FOR THE KIDS…MY KIDS is what i like to call them… They are great as usual. We’ve been working on a few projects with the money from the Banana Project and it’s all going very very very well…
* I want to give a special thank you to my hard working cousins and Yaght Clubbing for Charity Fundraiser in Chicago, IL. for raising some serious money while raising your glasses and drinking some serious alcohol, all in the name of the niños. You raised $2,100 which will be applied to current projects to ensure their completion and upcoming projects as well (which without your donations, wouldnt even be possible)
Muchas Muchas Gracias mi amigos!
* I also want to give another shout out to Missy Callender and NIKE for sending a box of p90 soccer balls for the kids. After living here with them for 4 months I think it`s fair to say that they live, breathe and eat the game of soccer as much as the beans and tortillas for dinner. Giddy up kids, lets kick some balls!
Thanks a mil Missy and NIKE! Way to just friggin do it!
YOUR DONATIONS through the Banana Project have done the following so far (and there is still more being done each day!)
- bought supplies for the Manuelidades class (art class is hard to teach when there isn’t even paper or glue or simple supplies like a pair of scissors)
- bought Education Fisica material, mainly new equipment including basketballs and soccer balls. Hula hoops, new rims and nets for the basketball court. Cones and materials to sew together flags for American flag football and a ton of other great games that incorporate teamwork.
- 15 2 1/2 ” new pipes to repair and improve (”modernize”) old segments of the irrigation drip system of the sustainable farm and garden at the Orphanage. In spanish its called Riego por Goteo de Gravedad…google it for some more incredible information on drip irrigation.
- materials (lumber, cement, supplies to make rebar, and labor) to finish building the new classroom in the garden for Agricultura classes.
- cement and labor to build a pathway over a dangerous portion of the mud walkway throughout portions of the orphanage grounds.
- personal needs for the kids, including toothpaste, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, underwear, new shoes and tops.
- supplies to make enough pancakes for 150 niños for breakfast one Saturday morning, and for Pizzas one Sunday night. Most of them didnt know what pizza was so it was so fun to see them try it and LOVE it!
Current and Upcoming projects include:
- Camino de Cemento: finishing the cement pathway through the entire grounds of the Orphanage.
- Estufa de tortillas: buying a new stove for the kitchen (specific stove for tortillas). Which we`ve only been able to findin Guatemala City (8 hour bus ride from Guate City to Rio Dulce, then a 20 min boat ride to the island where the orphanage is)
- buying materials and labor to repair the holes in the roof of the girls house. ( Where rain and pythons have made their way in on several ocassions)
- 4 Pilas: 4 laundry tubs to replace the old ones in the washhouse where the kids and volunteers do their laundry
- 5 Cilindros Grandes and 3 Pequeños: 5 big gas tanks and 3 small ones for the kitchen. Currently there are not enough gas tanks, and ideally it would be more efficient to have 1 extra of each size.
-3 Lavaplatos : 3 Industrial size kitchen sinks for the kids to wash their plates after each meal. Currently there is only one small sink for over 250 plates and cups to be washed in 3 times a day…not very hygenic or efficient.
- supporting the children who live at Casa Guatemala but are going to school in town at the Secondary school.
-more underwear and bathroom needs
- a peanut butter and jelly sandwich party one night in place of the typical and mundane rice and beans…nothing makes a better smile than sticky mouths with PB and J from ear to ear.
- and much much more…..
As always, thank you all for the continued support and strength send my way!
NONE of these projects could happen without all of your donations…so the kids and I thank you and send you our smiles.
Paz a ti ( Peace to you)
Besos,
Stacy