03.26.10
Posted in Central American Adventure, Gardens, Guatemala, Making a Difference, Travel at 11:45 pm by Administrator
Today is the 1 year anniversary of building the first garden in El Remate…. That was an amazing day. First, it was my birthday. Then, while working in the garden with one of the fist 15 women, with my hands in the dirt, I realized I was doing something to end hunger – my wildest dream…. And then, when I went up to the bus stop to meet with a new group of women who wanted to work with me…. 25 women showed up, each wanting a garden. It was the beginning of an amazing year. I am so grateful to everyone that has participated in my growth, success, and contributed to my life. Things are moving in interesting directions that I never imagined…. Who knows what I’ll be doing next year, but the journey sure is fun!
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03.21.10
Posted in Life in General, Travel at 3:18 pm by Administrator
I just surpassed 100 countries, to which I have travelled, or at least touched down…. Those are only a few – Iceland, Nigeria, Bulgaria… the rest I have travelled, and worked, and had the pleasure of getting to know the local customs and people. That is the most amazing lesson – that ultimately, people are people, and if treated with respect, they will respond in kind with humility and genuine willingness to help you out.
Perhaps the exception to that is in the souks – the marketplace – where hawkers vend their wares day and night, and the competition is so stiff that they are lucky to have a person enter their 8 X 10 stall once a day. In those cases bargaining is essential… and I have been taken advantage for my share of the “ tourist” contribution to the economy. However, in most cases what I am buying will be displayed or used back home and I will look upon it with fond memories of the experience visiting that country.
In the Blue Mosque in Istanbul I covered my head and took part in the call to prayer and walked into the women’s section of the mosque. Although my cultural background bristles at the segregation, in fact I understand that it eliminates the nature distraction when men and women are together. I came to see their custom of prayer 5 times a day as an offering of gratitude – and where would we be if we did the same for all the blessings in our lives?
In Guatemala I rode the chicken buses around the country, squeezing between infants and mothers, grandmothers, and farm workers. In all cases they moved to give me more room, taking less for themselves. With a smile and Hola!, I would break the ice and inquire about their lives. In most cases they had rarely left their villages, let along left the country.
In Brazil I ran in the park, marveling at how the trees and flowers reminded me of India. In fact, the flora and fauna between the Latitudes of the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn seems to be very similar around the globe…. The smells of humanity are recognizable – burning trash, exhaust, and of course the local spice of choice – curry, cumin, cardamom, cilantro, mint….
Morocco was number 101… actually my new address in San Clemente. I am on my way home, where I will continue to plant and grow my roots. I live on Avenida del Reposo – Avenue of Rest – and there I shall do just that, preparing for the next journey. Where in the world that will be is anyone’s guess! Actually, not true, it’s Mexico in May, and Guatemala in June. But having just been on 4 continents in 2 weeks (Europe and Asia in Istanbul), Africa (Morocco), and soon I will land in North America. I only have 3 left to have visited all 7. My goal is to do just that before by March 2011… 1 year – Australia, South America, and Antarctica – that should be a breeze!
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Posted in Central American Adventure, Gardens, Guatemala at 3:05 pm by Administrator
The gardens continue to grow, as we all do in our own way.
I am organizing a trip to El Remate in June 2010. The purpose is to work with the women in the gardens, and to share our lives with them. This is not the rich coming to give to the poor. This is a partnership in which we each learn from the other as we live and share our lives….
The lives of the women of El Remate do not change dramatically from year to year. They may experience a marriage, a death, the birth of a child, but they still live in the same village, and rarely have a sense of where or how they will pay for the next month’s rent, or perhaps even the next meal… Life is different. There is a calm in the routine and slowness to the pace of life. And a basic trust that there will be enough – enough to eat, enough to live.
Don’t get me wrong, they would all love to have the money we work and strive for in the developed world. For me it is a question of what I want versus what I need. Then again, I have the opportunity to make a living and to choose how I want to live. I suppose that having the choice is what makes it possible to have an understanding of the perspective.
At any rate, for the past year since I was last in El Remate and started the 2nd group, Brisas del Itza, the women have continued to meet twice a month, and plant their gardens. The government of Peten, the State in Guatemala (like California in the US) is building a women’s community center near the village. The mayor has dedicated a plot of land where they can have a community garden to grow vegetables for sale. That will create an income stream that they can use to invest in other projects.
One day I was talking with Rose, the other volunteer that started the gardens project 5 years ago. We were discussing how to move both Group 1 and Group 2 forward. An idea emerged to build gardens in each of the villages around the lake. If we can figure out a way to pay the women for the work they do in training the next group of women to build gardens we can create a self-perpetuating cycle that has the potential to take the gardens worldwide…. What an amazing vision!
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