PROYECTO SANITARIO

Hi All

Im back with details of the project I mentioned in one of my previous posts. As stated previously, I visited a school in the rural community outside Tactic, North Guatemala. The school building itself is very Basic and is quite small for the attending 600 students. This being said its adequate apart from the existing Bathrooms, which are located right beside one of the larger classrooms.

Please have a look at the video below and see for your self as no words of mine can describe their condition. Its appalling! 600 boys and girls have to share what are no more than concrete pots. The waste falls directly into a small tank below and the smell is terrible. The students then have to share 3 taps situated on a wall outside the toilets. These conditions are just horrendous. The school has been given a grant in the past but the money was used for new classrooms. I find this hard to understand as proper sanitary facilities should have been first on the agenda.

Anyway, the way I see it is that we have the opportunity to greatly improve the conditions for the students of this school. Its was obvious from what I gave been told and from what Iv seen that school is the one ray of light and hope in the lives of these kids. For most of them its their only source of food as they receive one meal a day there. Afterwards, its not uncommon to see most of them (6 years up) picking up their machetes to go to work.

My proposal is simple. I have already made contacts with small contractors in Guatemala who I know are hard working, skilled and honest people. I have received two quotes for the cost of the new Bathrooms which I have designed myself (see plan on the video provided below). The lowest quote came in at approx 5000 euro. The new bathrooms are still not up to European standards for the amount of students at the school but due to space restraints and costs, they are a vast, vast improvement to what exists today.

I am hoping that with your help, we can raise the funds needed to construct the new bathrooms. I am in Guatemala for 5 months and I will personally supervise the works. You have my guarantee that unlike larger Charitable organisations, all funds raised will go directly to material coasts and construction.

I understand that times are tough for most of you at the moment but I know that if these were your children, nothing would stop you from making sure that they had the very best to ensure a bright future. Unfortunately for these kids all we can do is ensure a basic level of comfort and security in order for them to receive a beneficial education.

I have posted a donation button at the top of the page under the map of Guatemala. All donations are greatly appreciated and will be put to the best of use. I will also be contacting some of you directly with the hope of carrying out fundraising events. I have also placed a status thermometer under the donation button with the amount of funding raised to date and the amount needed. This will be updated each time I get access to the net.

Thanks a million for reading and I hope all is well back home. Ironic to think that I moved to a country with over 20 Volcano’s only for one in Iceland to erupt and ground planes in Europe :)

If you have any questions regarding castings or anything at all, you can contact me via email at mcleanjoseph @gmail.com

Hasta Luego

Joe

DAY 26

PACAYA

Hey All

Just a quick update with a few photos. Things are going well so far. My Spanish is improving slowly and I'm now able to speak to my teacher Alex without using English (more or less!!!).

The weather over here is crazy at the moment and I think that the rainy season is starting a month early!

I visited and climbed the active Volcano Pacaya last Saturday. It was an interesting experience to say the least. There are two tours a day (6am and 2pm) from Antigua (1.5 hours by bus). I chose the 2pm tour. Bad Idea!! Going up was grand but coming down, not so grand!! Have a look at the photos below. There was no health and safety of any kind to speak of and on our decent, the heavens opened up on us. It was pitch dark and we had 3 torches between 12.

All that said it was an amazing experience but if anyone ever tells you they're going to climb Pacaya, tell them to opt for the 6am tour! A guide and a tourist were killed the day after I was there!! Scary stuff.

BLOW HOLE, PACAYA STYLE ( WOOD BURNING OVER IT)

GOING UP!

SCARY!!

THE CARAVAN


HEALTH AND SAFETY?

MAGMA!

ANOTHER BLOW HOLE (VENT)

LORD OF THE RINGS!

Summary of my first two weeks here

Im not up for writing much at the moment so heres a little compilation i put together for you all. Hope you enjoy! If your intersted the backing track is from a Guatemalan band called "Bohemia suburbana" and is called "los sueños de tansú". Great tune



O.K well maybe I should write a bit. First two weeks have been interesting to say the least. I am as you already know currently studying Spanish 4 hours a day for 4 weeks. Its not easy by any means so all those of you who told me spanish was an easy subject to learn, baaaaaa, I understand now that yee didn’t have a clue yourselves ;-)
Though in saying that, I think im slowely getting there.

I arrived in Guatemala during Samana Santa (basically a very holy week in Guatemala), in which the locals come out on the streets in big numbers to celebrate/morn the crucifixion of Christ. If you look at my first movie attempt above you´ll see examples of Processions held in Santa Tomas (where I currently live with my host Family the Liche´s) and in the city Antigua. The Procession itself is an enormous wooden creation that must weigh a serious amount and is carried by the locals through the streets. You will also see many examples of very decorative saw dust carpets (Alfombras). The people actually used the insides of a specific plant, then lay this "sawdust" on the ground and then place the color. It is very skillfully done as you can see from the videos and photos but during the Procession all the Alfrombras are all destroyed by the crowds!!

My daily routine for the first 4 weeks is as follows

7.30am Breakfast and 30min walk to Santa Lucia for School!!

8.30am to 12.30 Spanish Classes

12.30 to 1pm Lunch

1.00 to 2.00 Lucky to get use of the schools computer and internet(this will end in just over a week though!!)

2.00 to 5.00pm I work on a local project down the road. Its the construction of a school building for 150 kids. I will have more photos and vids of this in the coming days. The building materials and construction are funded entirely by donations and I think they´ll be needing more cash soon.

5.00 to 10.00 Walk home, wash, eat me din dins (the food is very good in the host family im with at the mo), study!!!! and then go to bed. Its weird that it might sound early but I have no trouble sleeping. I think that trying to adjust to the new language is very tiring.

As you can also see from the video above, I visited a school in Tactic. The school itself is one of the better ones in Guatemala but the toilets (if you can call then that) are not fit for dogs. I am currently in discussions with local builders and am trying to get an approximate price for separate boys and girls toilets. I will be providing all the details including plan drawings and costs of the proposed Toilets and photos of the originals. I am hoping, with the help of some of you, to raise the funds required to build the new ones. Again all details to follow.

Well that’s about it. I have another week and a half of Spanish lessons and construction work on the school down the road and then I’m off to Chiantla for my permanent placement.

Thanks for reading and please try and circulate this blog to everyone you know. The more people whop subscribe to it the better. It only takes a few seconds and its free!!

Adios for now

Starting Out!!

Hi All

This is my Blog which I will hopefully be updating on a regular basis. This will of course depend on the availability of Internet Cafes during the 24 weekends of my stay.

As most of you already know I am volunteering for 6 months in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. (Have a look at the map posted on the home page if you would like to get an idea of the location). I have been placed by an Irish non profit organisation called EIL. The work will involve aiding rural communities in the construction and maintenance of Wells, Greenhouses, Rainwater Harvesting, Latrines and Crop Irrigation.

While There, I will be staying with a host family who will have to put up with me for the duration (God Help Them!!)

My plan is provide regular updates to this Blog with photos and videos and I am happy to answer any ongoing question you may have. I will also be providing details on the various projects I will be involved in.

As soon as I get established and comfortable with my surroundings, I am hoping to use the funds collected in Ireland to fund some of the projects mentioned above. Again, if needed I will be hounding you for more donations. I have placed a donation button under the map above and I would also like to sincerely thank you for your support to date.

Thanks for reading and keep checking in on this blog. I should hopefully have a few pics and video entries on my next post. Feel free to pass on the post details to your friends.

All the best

Joe