The last few months have been very busy around here. In April, my parents came to Guatemala for ten days. Our schedule was rather packed with jam. Well, my mom brought some of her (much appreciated) jam for me and the family I’m staying with. She also got to spend a day making strawberry jam the Guatemalan way (cooked all day without added pectin) with Rafaela.
Together, we toured the sites where Students International works in El Gorrión and Magdalena and met the staff.
With Mario and my trumpet.
Then, we did a family project (building wooden concrete forms for cylindrical water cisterns). 
Dad was very interested in the local wood industry.
For the second phase of their stay, we went to Tikal to see the Mayan ruins.
For the second phase of their stay, we went to Tikal to see the Mayan ruins.
We toured the park with its accompanying museums for two days, and for the third day stayed close to the hotel in Flores (an island in Lake Petén). We did go out on a boat to see a museum on another island, and my dad and I swam across the lake.
When we returned to Antigua my mom was beginning to get sick, so she stayed in their hotel room for most of the rest of their time here. However, my dad and I went out to climb the volcano one day,
and go fishing the next.
We caught a few dorado (mahi-mahi) and some small tuna, but then my dad had the opportunity to wrestle with a 300 pound marlin for over an hour. We also saw lots of turtles and dolphins.
It was great to see my parents even for a short time.
After they left, we received a team of Canadians for a very fast-paced week. They wanted to work longer hours than we normally do with teams. They helped Oscar and I put in our first cylindrical cistern, which came out looking great. We dirt-formed the outside of it, so we spent a little more than anticipated on concrete, as the hole ended up being about an inch too big. My new design for a lossy hand pump to get water out of the cistern was a complete success, though, with the whole thing costing less than $13. It is much easier to operate than the other suction pumps SI had been installing earlier.
The Canadian team also brought 10 square concrete sand filters from an orphanage where they work. We installed five of them after sifting and washing some black volcanic sand to go inside. The sand came off a rock crusher, so it is very clean (nothing organic), but includes lots of dust that we have to wash out. I drank from one of the filters, and didn’t get sick, so they really do work. Some of them weren’t very well sealed, though, so they leaked all the water out the bottom. We are in the process of replacing those ones.
Two weeks ago, a group of businessmen came for a week with 45 plastic sand filters in tow. One of them arrived a few days early to help set up. Together, we built more screens, mounted on stilts, to sift more sand faster. When the rest of the team showed up, it was a whirlwind week of sifting and washing sand, and installing filters. I lost track of the number we installed, but it was somewhere around 18.
Then, last week, with two teams from California, we installed 5 more filters. There were much fewer workers, and the hours were not as long.
We did have more workers than originally planned, however, as all of the schools in Guatemala have been shut down on account of the flu pandemic. Those students planning on working in the schools were reassigned to other sites, including mine.
We divided the appropriate technology site into two groups for the first time last week. Oscar led a team to put a floor in a house, while I led the other team washing sand and installing filters.
Neither the concrete filters nor the plastic ones have all come out flawless. Some of the concrete ones leak (but I have yet to try the ones we have been pouring ourselves) and the plastic ones were rather difficult to make seal at the bottom where the pipe exits. A number of them cracked while the team was trying to tighten them down.
I am back home in Canby until Monday to renew my visa, visit with family and attend my brother's graduation. I would also like to buy a camera; maybe then I could take some pictures of my own to put up on this site, rather than just begging and taking from others' cameras. My mom has suggested I get a camera for a while now; it has taken me too long to listen to her. I am excited to see her and the rest of the family.
It was great to see my parents even for a short time.
After they left, we received a team of Canadians for a very fast-paced week. They wanted to work longer hours than we normally do with teams. They helped Oscar and I put in our first cylindrical cistern, which came out looking great. We dirt-formed the outside of it, so we spent a little more than anticipated on concrete, as the hole ended up being about an inch too big. My new design for a lossy hand pump to get water out of the cistern was a complete success, though, with the whole thing costing less than $13. It is much easier to operate than the other suction pumps SI had been installing earlier.
The Canadian team also brought 10 square concrete sand filters from an orphanage where they work. We installed five of them after sifting and washing some black volcanic sand to go inside. The sand came off a rock crusher, so it is very clean (nothing organic), but includes lots of dust that we have to wash out. I drank from one of the filters, and didn’t get sick, so they really do work. Some of them weren’t very well sealed, though, so they leaked all the water out the bottom. We are in the process of replacing those ones.
Two weeks ago, a group of businessmen came for a week with 45 plastic sand filters in tow. One of them arrived a few days early to help set up. Together, we built more screens, mounted on stilts, to sift more sand faster. When the rest of the team showed up, it was a whirlwind week of sifting and washing sand, and installing filters. I lost track of the number we installed, but it was somewhere around 18.
Then, last week, with two teams from California, we installed 5 more filters. There were much fewer workers, and the hours were not as long.
We did have more workers than originally planned, however, as all of the schools in Guatemala have been shut down on account of the flu pandemic. Those students planning on working in the schools were reassigned to other sites, including mine.
We divided the appropriate technology site into two groups for the first time last week. Oscar led a team to put a floor in a house, while I led the other team washing sand and installing filters.
Neither the concrete filters nor the plastic ones have all come out flawless. Some of the concrete ones leak (but I have yet to try the ones we have been pouring ourselves) and the plastic ones were rather difficult to make seal at the bottom where the pipe exits. A number of them cracked while the team was trying to tighten them down.
I am back home in Canby until Monday to renew my visa, visit with family and attend my brother's graduation. I would also like to buy a camera; maybe then I could take some pictures of my own to put up on this site, rather than just begging and taking from others' cameras. My mom has suggested I get a camera for a while now; it has taken me too long to listen to her. I am excited to see her and the rest of the family.
