Eco Bricks and Garbage Cans

Life still goes on in the little town of Gral. Morinigo. I have started working with the other elementary school in my town. We are in the middle of two projects. One is making Eco bricks, which are 2 liter soda bottles full of trash until they are hard. These bottles can be used like normal bricks for construction. We are going to be starting small and making a bench. The other project is making garbage cans using smaller soda bottles. To give the students a little incentive, I offered a Paraguayan national team soccer ball to the grade who collected the most bottles and made the most Eco bricks. The 8th grade class won. I am hoping to start construction of the garbage cans soon. The benches are a little more complicated because we will need cement. Hopefully we can get that soon as well.

In the other school the vegetables we planted are finally sprouting, some better than others. Shortly after we planted we had a big rain storm and I think some of the plants may have gotten washed out. Now that the vegetables are growing, there are many insects that want to enjoy the fruits of our labor. The past couple of days I have been at the school making home made insecticides. Other activities I have done in the garden haven't gone so well. I have been getting frustrated working in this school, but fortunately the insecticide activity went really well. The process of making the insecticide consisted of smashing the leaves of a tree called "paraiso" and then letting the leaves soak for a few days. They kids really enjoyed smashing the leaves.

Students smashing the Paraiso leaves.

At the end of May I attended the Paraguay Verde camp. Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring any youth from my community because the didn't get their act together in time and the camp filled up, but I went anyway to experience the camp and have a better understanding when I become more involved in planning the next one. The camp was three days and was held in a Catholic retreat center in the city of Atyra. Atyra's claim to fame is that it is cleanest city in Paraguay. I don't know if it's true, but it is the cleanest city I have visited in Paraguay. There were about 110 participants, both volunteers and Paraguayan youth, from all over the country. There were different sessions about composting, worm bins, healthy eating, how to plan activities in their home communities and of course there was a bonfire and a talent show.  To end the camp we did a service project in a protected area in Atyra. Together we planted 100 native trees and made three benches using Eco bricks. 

Retreat center called Marianela

Tree planting

Eco brick bench construction

The nearly completed bench

Volunteers being volunteers

After the camp I visited my volunteer friend who lives near Atyra. She has a couple of worm bins so she gave me some worms to try again to start my own worm bin. The last ones I brought from Asunción escaped. It has been a couple weeks and there are still worms so it was a success. Now that I have a working worm bin I am hoping to start working with the women's group again to make more worm bins. Also, I have been going to their meetings so I'm hoping to get other projects started with them. They liked the idea of home made insecticides and making their own bread so we'll see. I just have be to be patient. If there is one thing I have learned while living in Paraguay is things just take longer here. My friend also gave me some seeds and I finally got around to making the seed bed and planting them. In training we learned a method called double digging which basically does what roto-tiller does, but using a shovel. I have a greater appreciation for roto-tillers now.  

Two volunteers who live near me are teaching a business class together in one of the colleges. One week the girl was out of town so helped teach it. I was a little intimidated to teach a college class, especially not having any kind of business background, but the material was pretty basic and there were only 15 students. The class was about 3 hours with a break in the middle. We had a pre-made PowerPoint so that made it easier. The class only lasts a couple months and the volunteer who is in charge of it is finishing her service in July so I probably won't have a chance to do it again.

We are getting into winter here. The temperature during the day has been around 70and it cools down quite a bit at night, probably around the mid 50s. Also, we have been having a lot more rain. It is nice for the gardens , but not so nice for trying to get things done in the community because it pretty much shuts down when it rains.  

My cat, Medi, is still doing well. Nobody spays or neuters their animals here and I really don't want kittens, as cute as they are. Another volunteer had her two female cats operated on and both times it went really bad so I decided to just give my cat a birth control shot which has to be done every 6 months. After two tries, and some blood loss on my part, I no longer have to worry about her having kittens.  

Medi being super spoiled and loving life.

The Paraguyan drier...hanging things behind the refrigerator.