Stoves!

The big theme as of late is the famous stove project. I've spent the last month here really pushing hard to get everything coordinated, materials bought, coordinating experienced volunteers to come to help with the first few, and get all the moving parts in place. Let me tell you - not easy tasks - however, fingers crossed, this Saturday should be the day that the first stove gets built. I have to say thanks to everyone for all their support, your donations to the cause, and the energy you've given me to keep moving ahead with the project. I will post some pictures later to show the construction and how everything turns out.

Other than the stoves life has been extremely busy and hence time is flying as always here. Here are a few updates from the last month or so of the goings on here in Guatemala:

1. I was invited up to Alta Verapaz during the end of May to help give a workshop on business plans. I did 3 presentations on products/services, promotion and marketing, and finally personality differences and working effectively as a team. The workshop went well overall. We were working with a tourism alliance called Viviente Verapaz, which has 11 tourist sites involved. The goal is to get more people up to this beautiful region and promote different tours and routes to help people see more of the area and stay longer.

2. Right after the business plan workshop I returned to site and the next day a group of 22 students and 2 professors came to visit from the University of British Columbia Vancouver. The group was here for 3 weeks, taking 2 courses, one in sociology and another in philosophy. It was great to have them here in the community and get to interact and learn all the updates of what is happening back in the US and Canada. I worked with the students, coordinating some volunteer projects, including painting the hotel, working with the families to collect macadamia nuts, and going out to haul sand out of the river to use for the stoves, along with some trail and bridge work. Plus, I helped out in the kitchen, supervising hygiene standards, and making up menus and doing some sous chef duties. The kitchen staff here is great - they work so hard and it all came off as a huge success. We pulled off 3 meals a day for 3 weeks for 22-26 people - crazy!

3. Other things going on while the group was here and while I was working on the stove project include...working on a work plan for Reu al Natural, a tourism alliance we have started here on the Pacific Coast to promote the area, completing a section of the Sustainable Community Tourism manual on personalities and effective teamwork, coordinating the arrival of 2 more groups (one this weekend and one the following), and getting invited to a stove workshop/conference down in El Salvador next week. As you can see, life has been busy!

However, after the group left last week, I decided it was time for a little R&R in order to gear up to the big stove project this week and the trip to El Salvador next week. I headed down to my little beach paradise and enjoyed a couple of days of surfing, hanging out with some local friends, playing some soccer, watching some soccer (Guatemala/Mexico during the Gold Cup, so sad to lose!!), and going to the community dance for Father's Day. All in all it was a great weekend of fun and relaxation - much needed. I came back to site feeling like a million dollars - as some time by the ocean always makes me feel.

I've got my birthday coming up on Friday. I plan to head down to meet the volunteers who are coming, buy some stuff to make a cake with my little oven and celebrate that night with the volunteers and my other friends here in the community.

Cheers!!
Tara