Update and Request for Help

Things are going well in Cantel! Our bottle inaguration ceremony was a success last Friday, with the mayor pledging support for the project, a women's group that I just started working with coming out and bringing almost 30 filled bottles, and about 40 architecture university students lending their construction expertise. My Peace Corps program director came to visit on Tuesday and it was great to be able to show him our progress and get his advice on what to do in the future.



Besides filling bottles, I've also spent time this week teaching a women's group to make banana bread using a pot on top of their wood-burning stove as an oven, attending middle school graduation, and doing an HIV/AIDS workshop with a group of 24 midwives at the health center. The Peace Corps AIDS workshop is very participatory and a lot of fun. I've done it several times now with groups of middle-schoolers, but it was the first time I've done it with a group of women, the majority of whom couldn't to read or write. It was interesting to see how the dynamics played out a little differently but all of the women seemed to enjoy it and were very excited about recieving their diplomas at the end.



Kate and I are also busy planning a theater camp, 'Adolescentes en Accion', for the month of December. A couple of weeks ago, we dressed in costume to present the idea at four Cantel middle-schools. So far, we have 30 kids signed up and are hoping for about 20 more. Beginning November 30, we are hosting theater games, auditions, and rehearsals on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Then on December 19, we will perform 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' for the Cantel community. Of course, you are all cordially invited too! :)



I had a great time on speech team in middle school and can personally attest to the success theater has in inspiring self-confidence and public speaking skills. It isn't something taught in schools here, either, so we are hoping that by offering a unique opportunity for middle-schoolers we can help promote these as well as creative expression, leadership and teamwork. We are also throwing in some environmental themes and making sets and props out of recycled materials!



I'm very excited about this project and have my fingers tightly crossed that it will be a success. This is where you come in... we need your support to make camp possible! Without funds for paint, cloth to make costumes, and a few other materials Dorothy won't be able to make it to Oz. Just a few dollars goes a long way in Guatemala and Kate, the kids of Cantel, and I would all be incredibly grateful for any help you can give.



To make a tax-deductable donation, you can write a check made out to 'Friends of Guatemala' with 'Rebecca Allgire-- Cat. II' written on the memo line. Checks can then be mailed to:

Friends of Guatemala
P.O. Box 33018
Washington, D.C. 20033



The 'Friends of Guatemala' fund is run by a former Peace Corps volunteer who now lives in Guatemala. He will then deposit the money in an account that Kate and I can access to buy theater supplies.



Thank you so much and feel free to leave a message or send me an e-mail if you have any questions at all. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!







P.S. Whenever I explain Halloween to people here, I always tell them you have to tell a joke to get your candy-- St. Louis style. I still can't get over that other places don't do that. Take care and enjoy the chocolate!

Under Construction

Construction is underway on our bottle wall! On Wednesday, the school director, an agriculture teacher, and I went to present the project at the Universidad de San Carlos here in Xela. Two sections of architecture students and their professors are going to come and help us out with the more technical aspects of construction. I was nervous about presenting to a lecture hall of students in Spanish but it went really well.

Afterwards, we ran errands for the director and went out for cake and coffee, even though the teacher's class was just hanging out at school not doing anything. I don't think I'll ever get used to the Guatemalan school system where it's no surprise at all if teachers just aren't there for class ....

Yesterday and this morning we've then been working on digging a trench for the wall's foundation and making sure the bottles are especially full with plastic bags. It's great to be able to see visible progress on this project!

My good friend and sitemate Kate, who lives in one of Cantel's surrounding communities, was nice enough to say that I could post a link to her blog on here. She's much better about blogging than I am and has some great pictures of Cantel. Her blog is: www.katalinachronicles.blogspot.com. Thanks, Kate!

Environmental Education Workshops

Last week, our office sponsored workshops on environmental eduacation with Cantel's elementary schools. We had about an 80% participation rate from schools, with 120 teachers representing 18 primary schools. Each day was a little different-- some days were a bit stressful with 40 teachers, some days were small with only 8 or 12, and on the last day a preschool gymnastics competition was going on right next door making it difficult to even think. Overall, though, they were very well-received by the teachers. We had a good time and I think it's a good start. Unfortunately the school year here ends in about two weeks, but when classes begin again in January I'm hoping to get more involved with the elementary schools and do follow-up activities on what we talked about in the workshops.

I've been attacked by people more than a few times who ask me what I'm doing here teaching about the environment in Guatemala when it's really developed countries, and the US in particular, doing the most damage. It's sort of difficult to explain, and in some ways its a fair point, so I was grateful when a teacher asked me instead what differences I saw between the environmental situation in the US and Guatemala. I thought that was an interesting question and made me think about it myself as well.

The way I see it, it's true that the states are doing more damage, and what is needed there are huge advances on how to reduce and recycle trash, cut down on car-usage, etc. However, because waste management doesn't exist in Cantel or in most parts of Guatemala, and because of deforestation of the nearby mountains for firewood and more space for agriculture, you can see the environmental problems more strongly here-- and right now, if we don't teach kids about how to manage their own trash by at-home recycling, compost, etc. and the importance of protecting the trees, rivers, etc., it's only going to get worse here.

I also joined a basketball team last week, but our first game was cancelled because the other team didn't come. Hopefully this week, we'll get to play!