Panimacac

Hello friends and family!

What a week! I spent four days in a small village called Panimacac. Me, Kari and Cali went to survey the families for an upcoming water project our volunteer place is going to do. We surveyed all 44 houses in the village and marked with a GPS all the points of separation in their water system. Basically, we did a ton of amazing work. Many of the families only have water a few hours every week. They have to make it last. The water system there is crazy. I can´t believe that any of the people have water. We will send a report to Engineers without Borders to see if they can help with the situation.

We stayed in their elementary school because it is the only building in their town that has a door that locks. Women from the village took turns bringing us three amazing meals a day. They always brought coke or ´coffee´ as well, which is really just brown sugar water. We would ask them all sorts of questions about their water system, their house, their health, etc. Then we would tell them about the trash bottles. Here at Long Way Home, they stuff all their trash into plastic soda bottles and then use them in construction. They have already built a house out of tires and trash, they are going to build a school. In return for help with their water system, the village needed to start putting all their trash into bottles. I somehow became the one who at each house would explain, in a very animated and Kaela-like manner, how to stuff the bottles really full and why we needed them. It was so funny. My Spanish is terrible, but with a lot of noises and hand motions and actions, I would explain everything. We also explained to them a new way to purify water. Keep in mind that maybe only half of these families spoke Spanish, the rest speak Qaachikal (I have no idea how to spell it). A guide from the village named Mercedes came with us everywhere and would help translate. Mostly we talked to the women, because the men were all working in their farms. It was amazing. By the end of the three days I knew everyone in the village. We had mapped every last inch, and had so many adventures. I wish I had time to recount them all, but we´re paying for internet. This is a picture of kids stuffing their trash into bottles for us. They would sometimes get really into it. They were very proud when their bottles were super compact. Usually they just throw all their trash in their yards or wherever. Many familes even burn their trash, all of it, even the plastic. Their ´stoves´are fire pits in their houses, no chimney, nothing. We explained how the fumes of the plastic burning in the fire was harmful for them to breathe. These kids are picking up trash from a huge pile of it that was in the school yard. The trash bottle project helps us and it helps them. It´s a pretty cool system.

This is in Panimacac. This guy on the left was really nice. He had one of the three flush toilets in the village, I think. It was red.

This is Mercedes, me, Kari, and Victor. Mercedes (on the left) was a huge joker and was cracking us up all day long. It made our days go by really quickly. Victor was the community´s health representative, helping children get vaccinated and such.

This is me and my friend Flor Sylvestre... that´s right, her name is basically Sylvester Flower. I thought it was hilarious. She was adorable and followed me everywhere and brought me jocote fruit everyday. Jocotes are these fruits that they grow there on trees. They taste kind of like mangoes, only different. They are about the size of a key lime.

This is a traditional weaver-woman, a tejadora. Lots of women in Panimacac weave, actually most of them do, but only some sell them in the markets.

The trip was so so so much fun. Jason stayed in Comalapa and worked, that was hard. But it was so good for me, I´m so happy I went. Everyone was sad when they found out that I would not be returning.

More news, we just bought our tickets to Ecuador. We are flying on November 2nd from Guatemala City to Quito. We will be meeting up with Jordan (one of Jason´s best friends) and his girlfriend Randi. They are running a hostel three hours south of Quito. So many many more adventures to come! We´ll be celebrating Jason´s birthday in Ecuador!

Jason writing: Hello, I am having a great time. Before I say more I wanted to quickly mention that with my birthday and holidays coming up if anyone wants to send us financial gifts the best and safest way to do it is to write a check made out to Jason or Kaela Asher then mail it to my Papa´s address, below, where it will then be deposited into our online account. He has the same online bank so it works out great.

Leonard Krause

PO Box 50755,

Eugene, Oregon 97405

Of course we do not expect anyone to send us anything.

I am doing good. I am really enjoying the good times with all the cool people we meet from around the world and surprisingly most of them are from The Great North West. This trip has been great for me and Kaela. I am learning more great things about her that I would not have in normal conditions back home. Like she is a work horse when she wants to be. She spent three hours yesterday washing clothes by hand. She can work a power drill very well in building a bamboo fence. I am learning a lot about myself as well. It has been a growth experience on all levels. Love you all and thanks once again for your comments. We love to read them. It means a lot.