It's almost the end of February?!

Time has been flying by... and by that I mean I didn't realize it's been two weeks since my last post- but by no means does that mean there has not been some extremely long drawn-out days in there.

After my last post, I spent a week or so in Chiquimula. I learned a lot about stoves and biofuels during my time spent with Boston. We spent the first few days preparing the materials that we would use to make the briquettes. Basically, in order to make an effective briquette, we needed binders and fillers. Binders were fibrous materials that, when broken down, can be mixed and compressed to hold all other materials (fillers) together for efficient burning.

We made different combinations of binders and fillers. Our binders were: newspaper, cardboard, decomposed banana peel, decomposed corn husk, and cow dung. Our fillers were: coffee husks (the shell, not the fruit husk), saw dust, and charcoal. Unfortunately, by the end of the week when it came time to burning them and testing their efficiency, only one combination worked decently. From what I have learned, the concept of briquettes is not only hard to instill among locals, but the briquettes themselves are difficult to create and use efficiently- it is not just a matter of having the ideal briquette, but having the ideal stove.

After the briquettes were complete, we traveled slightly outside Chiquimula to our technicians home to test them. We attempted to burn some of the briquettes in a comal, traditional Guatemalan stove, but the briquettes acted more as smoke bombs rather than fuel. Stoves must have a certain air flow to burn briquettes correctly and the comal could not do that. We then went next door to use the neighbors stove. The neighbors lucky enough to have just received an ONIL stove- a much more efficiently stove, which is also much better for health- which is why Save the Children is giving them to all families that have children under the age of 5...for free! Though the ONIL burned one briquette combination well enough to make tortillas, overall the briquettes were not a success.

Although the briquettes weren't as successful as we had hoped, we still were able to make solid conclusions and I learned a lot. This trip also helped me realize the importance of understanding, patience, and empathy. If you want to help find solutions for the poor, it is essential that you understand the parameters, resources, and other circumstances in which they live. It is easy to do tests and research and form conclusions and "solutions" but it is all in vain if you don't factor in outside factors. And I'm not saying that one must empathize to truly succeed in this field, but in my opinion at least...they should go hand in hand. In my opinion, empathizing (not sympathizing) and truly wanting to understand what the poor need and how they themselves can get access to it is the only way you'll find a sustainable solution.

We returned to Guatemala City midweek and I continued to work on numbers and what not for Eco-Creativas and Kask'i. I was feeling a little under the weather my whole time in Chiquimula and all last week as well. I stayed home Friday and rested up and felt better by the end of the weekend. I booked my flight to join my school's Social Enterprise Institute in Nicaragua the first weekend of March. The Advanced Social Entrepreneurship class is traveling to Nicaragua and Costa Rica to gain some first hand knowledge on agricultural programs. Since they will be visiting the TechnoServe office in Nicaragua, I decided to tag along- it'll be great to compare countries.. and see some close friends!

So far this week I am still doing some odds and ends for Kask'i and Eco-creativas to pass some time. The coffee program is still delayed so there still isn't much for me to do, but I should be talking to my boss this week to figure out a game plan for the next few months.

Beginning of Chiquimula

We left for Chiquimula today. To be completely honesty, I had no idea where I was going exactly until about an hour before I got in the car. Around that time I was also able to meet Boston, a recent Masters graduate from Boulder currently working for a non-profit called Burn Design Lab. I will be assisting him this week as he researches to find the ideal biofuel briquette, using corn husks, coffee husks, binding materials, and other decomposed matter.

We left around 3pm and arrived here around 6pm. Just as we were about to arrive we stopped at the garbage dump right outside Chiquimula to get an idea of the accessibility of cardboard and other binding material for the briquettes.

You may remember me writing about the dumps I saw near and inside Guatemala City. The situation was heart-wrenching, but I wasn't able to actually witness what went on directly inside the dump. But here I did. We pulled over to the side of the road near the entrance to the site. There were three young girls sitting on huge bags of collected cardboard, glass, plastic, and other various items. As we began talking to the girls, their mother came out. Michelle asked a few detailed questions about the dumps and the people that collect the items.

As they're speaking with each other, I see her son (no older than 6 years old) begin to walk towards us. I can see him playing with spool of string from a kite with a tin can tied to the end- he was having a blast. He knew no better. To add to it, this boy's skin was completely blackened by spending his days in the dump. It was evident that his skin had a very think layer of ash on his entire body. Flies were swarming him and his family. Upon talking to the mother more, we found out that he and his sisters do not attend school and spend their days collecting garbage, as their mother is the buyer of the dump. This means that number families, totaling about 200 people, come to the dumps every single day to collect trash from the dumps that they then sell to this woman. She pays them 15 Quetzales (a little less than $2) for collecting 100 pounds of cardboard, with an average of about 200-300 pounds per week . I believe she also said she pays 18 Quetzales for about 17-20 pounds of plastic. The woman then resells it to buyers that come from Guatemala City.

Let's calculate this with very rough numbers...We'll be generous with the numbers and say that each family is about 5 people, which means there are about 40 families in the dump every day collecting trash. On average 200-300 pounds (30-45 Quetzales worth) of cardboard is collected in a week. So... Q45 of cardboard divided amongst 40 families? Given they also receive money for collecting glass and plastic, but still...hundreds of people are spending their days in a dirty, toxic, and dangerous dump and barely making any money. It's devastating.

As we walked through the dump a little, I noticed that the boy was now in a whole the size of his body with a pick digging for garbage. Turns out the dump is 8 years old, but people just started scavenging last year... so, there is literally layer upon layer of trash that they dig through. Once they collect the majority of the valuable materials, they ignite the dump so that it is easier to dig through the unwanted material. We stood on a ledge and looked out into the dumps..vultures everywhere, dogs attacking each other for food, and flames and smoke creating a haze across the entire area... Now the boys skin color makes a lot more sense....

After the dump we checked into our hotel and went to get dinner. Michelle began reminding Boston and me of how dangerous the town can be at night, and what to do if robbed. This was all very comforting of course? But either way, I'm still looking forward to this week- Boston and I will be doing some interesting work and I think I can learn a lot from him and his organization. Plus, (although people in the office do know English there's still a huge disconnect at times) its a total different experience having a guy from the states here, around the same age, with similar interests and sense of humor...it's sort of be a nice break from four weeks of solitude.

End of the fourth week, already?

This week was the longest so far- not that it was a bad week, but long and tiring.

I was in the office on Monday, didn't have too much work to do. Half the reason I was excited for this trip was that I had 6 months to immerse myself in books and research. Not going to lie, that really hasn't been my top priority these first few weeks. However, after spending more time in the office without much to do, I decided it was time to start creating my own work. I began an outline for a paper I figured I'd write to take up some time.. researching poverty in Guatemalan, specifically rural poverty and an analysis of TechnoServe and how it attempts to address the issue. I also outlined a few reports that I plan to put together for Kask'i and Eco-Creativas.

Tuesday I was out the door around 5:30 in the morning and on my way to some avocado farms with one of our technicians, Nestor. We met up with the Project Manager, Alfredo, in Antigua and headed to the farms. The day consisted of Nestor and Alfredo speaking to a group of male farmers on proper avocado farming techniques, in addition to basic concepts to improve sale/export value. It was a pretty long day, we ended around 3 but then Nestor asked if I would go with him to another farm (unrelated to TechnoServe) since we were already in the area and he had some work to do. I didn't mind whatsoever, it was nice to spend time with him- he doesn't speak any English so it was great practice and he even enjoyed helping.

Wednesday I was in the office for the first half of the day then returned to Junkabal, where I was the week before, to visit the actual women making the products for Eco-Creativas. We had actually showed up just as they brought in a new group of women to start teaching them how to make the products. I won't lie, when I was there I felt a little defeated. Here I was watching young girls to old women learning a craft to hopefully increase their income, yet completely unaware that TechnoServe is finished with them at the end of the month and Junkabal does not have the funds to keep them going. Although it is not going to die out immediate- there is a decent system in place with Junkabal- it is still by no means sustainable.

However, I had a complete change of heart on Thursday when Maria, the director of the program, sent me their financials and sales in my attempt to put some order to it and create a plan for the women, products, and prices to make them more sustainable. After looking through the numbers all day.. it clicked. These women spend most of their time tending to their homes (if they have them) and families. They and their families struggle to survive, but fortunately now, on their spare time, they know how to make recycled products into beautiful new products. As I went through the sales, I see women bringing in bag after bag, some up to 65 Quetzales (around $8). And although that may not seem a lot to people in the States, its a drastic increase in income that they wouldn't normally have.. it's of no cost to them- a 100% benefit. Although the organization itself is not sustainable just yet, hopefully the work I do the next few weeks with Junkabal will help because these women NEED this money.

Friday I traveled to San Lucas Toliman to see Kask'i, the natural juice company I mentioned in previous posts. They too are having difficulty becoming sustainable, so I sat with the women running the office and gathered all their financial information since TechnoServe did not already have it. Hopefully, with this information, Michelle and I will be able to create a better long term plan for them. They are in far better shape than Eco-Creativas, but definitely still need help- I'll know more after reviewing all of the information that I was given.

After our short visit to Kask'i, Michelle took a longer way home- through the mountains along Lake Atitlan. I saw the Lake briefly on my way to Quiche, but it was from a distance. These views were absolutely remarkable. Fun fact- Lake Atitlan apparently started off as a volcanic crater many many many years ago. We also stopped at Panajachel, a small town on the lake, high in tourists and full of markets and great food. I've been seeing so much of the country through my field visits, and so much extra from the pure generosity of my co-workers and them wanting to show me their country!

I leave tomorrow to do the research on biofuels with the man from Boulder that I also discussed in a previous post. I honestly don't know that much about where I am going or what exactly I am doing, but I will be gone all of next week and some of the next. I'll definitely be busy the next few weeks!

One person's trash is another man's treasure...

It's hard to believe I have only been here for three weeks- it seems like I've been here forever! Not that that's a bad thing- but hard to grasp another 5 months! It's exciting- I've already seen and learned so much! With that said, I figured today would be a good day to see a little bit more of the city. I've seen a good amount around my office and apartment, but wanted to get a better understanding of a little bit more.

I started off my day by dropping off some laundry. I brought a book to read while it washed because I thought I'd be doing it myself. But, since I had to leave it there for it to be done, I

ventured a little and found a little "park" and by park I mean a cement patio with a few trees. I read for a little bit, but naturally found myself craving some gelato over my book. Afterwards I stopped home for lunch and decided I'd walk to the Oakland Mall. I've heard a lot about it from co-workers (it's one of the largest shopping centers in the country) and I needed to exchange some USD.

After a quick glance at google maps, I figured out my way there. However, during that quick glance I planned out an "easy" way to cut through some roads to bring me straight to the laundry place. Well... that failed. I found myself in areas that I probably shouldn't have been in.. at all. So after about an hour or so of being lost, I somehow ended up at the hotel I stayed at when I first got here. Thank God for a photographic memory...it came in handy as I attempted to figure out how to get from there back to my apartment. Please keep in mind.. at this point I have my passport (needed to exchange money), about 1,500 Quetzales (USD 200- which will probably last me the next few months!), and a sun setting. This combination, in addition to the tinted window issue recently discussed and being lost.. I was DEFINITELY fearing for my life- yet I was laughing at myself the entire time. Ohhh positivity.

So the rest of of my week went well. The second day of training wasn't nearing as defeating, and I even got a certificate at the end. Naturally when they called my name I laughed, as I only understood about 1/2 of the training... but irrelevant I guess?

Yesterday, I went with a co-work to visit the programs that work with the garbage dumps inside and right outside the city. For those of you that do not know, Guatemala City is home of largest and most toxic and dangerous landfills in all of Central America. We first went to Sumpango, where there is a dump and a small business that TechnoServe is helping. Local women salvage through the dumps and collect plastic and cardboard which they clean and organize for buyers to purchase.

The woman also produce organic-fertilizer by collecting food and combining it with cow dung and other natural ingredients. They then use California Red Warms to break down everything, eventually creating the fertilizer. The program does great work and provides an extra income for the women. Conveniently, these women only have to work twice a week which is perfect, as they have to spend the rest of the week collecting water and wood and taking care of other household/family needs. I have been learning for some time about how micro-finance and micro-enterprises aim to empower women, as they are more likely to support the entire family. It great to finally be able to witness this fist hand! After this site, we travel inward toward the city and saw another fertilizer site, but this one was much more organize and experienced.

Afterwards, we returned to the city and visited the dump in Zone 3. This garbage dump is literally in the middle of the city and is home to thousands of families. While driving through surrounding areas, my coworker encouraged me to keep my window closed and not take pictures or take out my phone. The only time she had even been able to exit her car in this area safely was when she has 3 social workers with her with protection. We attempted to enter the actual dump site, but we weren't allowed in. The government has control over the entrance, and only allows the dumpers inside, in addition to the 1,500 people that are issue permits to enter. The entire community surrounding the dumps survive off the garbage. Garbage is money. As we drove by, every single house had bags of trash stacked to the ceiling and even on the roof. It was truly mind blowing, and definitely heart-wrenching. My coworker discussed the dumps with me and she told me that many think there are things going on inside the dumps that the government is trying to hide.

But, before we visited the site, we had stopped at Junkabal, the organization that TechnoServe works with for the organic fertilizer and our other business, Eco-Creativas. TechnoServe and Junkabal have been working together to provide Eco-Creatives funding and tools to establish their business, which entails local women collecting plastic bags from the dumps, cleaning them, making them into "yarn" and creating bags, purses, hot plates, etc. Over the next few months, I will be working with this organization in an effort to make Eco-Creativas financially self-sustainable. (www.eco-creativas.com)

This week was an incredible learning experience and I look forward to everything else in store! I am going to an avocado farm on Tuesday, and possibly somewhere else later in the week!

Pochuta!

I told myself yesterday that I would do a post tonight about my trip to the field Monday and Tuesday. I'm going to be honest... it's going to be a struggle. Not from lack of content...but rather lack of brain power. Today.. we had a training in the office... "Entrenamiento del Entrenador." It was 9 hours of nonstop Spanish (minus the 30 minutes for lunch). I understood 98% of the content in the morning- I was on cloud nine! Then the second half of the day came... and my brain STOPPED translating Spanish completely. I wouldn't be surprised if my co-workers caught me drooling. It was a rough situation. But I digress... now onto the trip...

I spent my Monday and Tuesday in the field with my co-worker Willy. We traveled about two hours outside the city to Pochuta. I definitely enjoyed this trip a lot more than my first one only because I was able to get a more comprehensive understanding of the area, its people, and the project. The only downside (and I'm surprised I felt this way) was that Willy knows English. When I'm with people that do not speak English, my Spanish comes out a lot more naturally. In this case, Willy preferred English because its easier for him to Speak English than to dumb down his Spanish. The English definitely drew even more attention to the fact that I was a "gringo" as I heard several jokes made about me throughout the two days. Although, I was lucky enough to have Willy tell me when they were laughing at me...AS IF I COULDN'T TELL lol

Many families live on this particular farm...they even have a small school and church there as well- it's a small community! Anyone who grows coffee in this area utilizes the plant, and earns a portion of the profit. The people also grown papaya, pineapple, bananas, green beans, coconuts, and probably even more! However, TechnoServe works solely with the green beans...for now. The farm has recently built a warehouse to clean, sort, and package the green beans. TechnoServe assisted with some of the logistics, but mainly has supplied materials for the warehouse uses. As of now, TechnoServe's main objective is improving the quality of the green beans to increase the value of the products in order to export higher amounts.

Anyways, so Pochuta was a great area, though unfortunately it was quite obvious that the people were struggling far more than the people I visited in Quiche. At the end of a long, bumpy, cobblestone road was farm with a coffee plant slightly run down. The main objective of the farm used to be coffee. Though the plant can no longer be used to its fullest potential, it still is able to do basic coffee processing while utilizing the local rivers (about six) as a means of electricity. The coffee is taken from the tree and put into a machine that dehusks the coffee. The husks flow down toward the end of the plant, outside, where someone lays it out to dry (for potential future use like fertilizer or biofuel briquettes). The actually coffee then flows through the rest of the process, being cleaned and separated. Upon reaching the end, the coffee is laid out on tarps to dry. After drying and raking the coffee for about four days, it is then brought inside, bagged, and ready to be sold. The farm processes both organic and non-organic coffee.

(I took pictures of all the products and the coffee process, but there are so many that I'm just going to put them on Facebook!)

The first day was mainly spent touring the farm and seeing the various products. Afterwards, we met with the group leaders and crunched some numbers and went over new material. From there (around 6pm) the men were done collecting their beans. The men are split into about 12 groups that are responsible for farming their portions. At the end of the day, every group weighs their amount and then organizes it to be picked up and sent out. The farmers income is based upon the amount weighed each day. The second day we simply set up the warehouse for practice runs until they are able to get electricity.

This trip definitely gave me a better understanding of how these types of TechnoServe programs work. That was the one plus of having Willy speak English- I was able to ask him more in depth questions about TechnoServe and the logistics behind all the projects.

Tomorrow I have a second day of the "Entrenamiento del Entrenador." It's only until 12:30 so the day is looking hopeful aka hopefully I won't end the day with a huge desire to cry from lack of Spanish in front of 8 people... Classic Rob.

On another note, I heard back from a local orphanage- "La Luz de Maria" and they said they'd love to have me volunteer on the weekends! I'll be working out logistics the rest of this week and hopefully get to go this weekend!

Rim of Fire

Not much to really update about since my trip to the field. Thursday and Friday was spent in the office. They are still getting me settled and figuring out exactly what I'll be doing so I wasn't too too busy. They did however give me a rough breakdown of my next few weeks which was pretty exciting...I am going into the field Monday-Tuesday again, TechnoServe training in the office Wednesday-Thursday, in the field Friday, again on Monday, again that Wednesday-Thursday, then I join a man from Boulder in the field doing research on biofuels for most of February! It's definitely going to be an exciting few weeks!

I think the most crucial update I need to share is my seating arrangements in the office. The first day I came into the office, I worked in the kitchen as they did not have a desk yet. By the end of the day, I had a desk that was conveniently placed in the dead center of the office. My initial thought was- this is great! I'll be right in the middle of everything and it'll help my Spanish! Well I was right about one thing- I definitely am right in the middle of everything. I am strategically placed essentially in the middle of a circle- with 6 Spanish speaking employees surrounding me. Still don't know what they're saying a decent amount of the time, but here a few samples of what I have gathered:

Coworker: spanishspanishPELIROJOspanishspanish
Office: HAHAHAHAHA

Coworker: spanishspanishROBERTOspanishspanish
Office: HAHAHAHAHA

Coworker: spanishspanishELNOHABLAESPANOLspanishspanish
Office: HAHAHAHAHA

For those of you whose Spanish is worse than mine...that's "Redhead" "Robert" and "He doesn't speak Spanish." Now these are SLIGHT exaggerations, but definitely on the right page. It's an office that is always cracking jokes about one another and having a good time, including me at times... soo I just smile and laugh and hope they think I know what's going on. These people will be like family come June? lol

Other than that, nothing else really going on! Relaxing this weekend since I have a lot in store the next few weeks. I was laying in bed this morning- around 12:45 and my bed began to shake... a lot. I looked at the large mirror on my wall and it was about to fall down. My tv was shaking.. Everything was shaking. I begin to think I'm going absolutely crazy.. or that there's an earthquake. To be completely honest..for the 45 seconds this was going on I literally laid there thinking about the jokes made about getting shot, stabbed, mugged, having a volcano erupt, etc. etc. and began to laugh as I convinced myself the walls would soon cave in and I'd be dunzo. Never would have seen that one coming! Ohhhh the ways I entertain myself these days.

In case this has left you curious- no big deal... there was a 6.2 earthquake near the Guat-Mexico border which sent tremors through Guatemala, even reaching El Salvador. Upon looking into it, I learned that Mexico lies on the Pacific Rim of Fire, which causes tremors quite regularly. Basically the Rim of Fire is the

area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. It all actually makes a lot more sense now- Staurdo loved showing me the volcanos earlier in the week and actually showed me the view of the volcano (Pacaya) that can be seen from the neighboring office. Right afterwards, he tried explaining to me how all of the volcanos are all aligned with each other. Naturally this was all in Spanish so I only gathered that much but now I'm sure he was telling me about the Rim of Fire! Earlier in the week I had even been talking to Carla about the 2010 Pacaya eruption. It could have been far worse, but it did kill three people and injure 59 others. It also destroyed 100 homes and left about two inches of ash in Guatemala City.

Conclusion: I'm alright with a few tremors, but I'll pass on any volcanic eruptions.

Field Trip anyone?

My first day in the office was on Monday. The day did not entail too much- I was given a few business plans for our projects, in addition to some budget sheets and whatnot. Most of the information was on two business that I apparently will be working closely with- a natural juice business started by three women that need help becoming sustainable, and a recycling business that searches the garbage dumps throughout the city for useful material to recycle and sell.

After reading a few hundred pages, I was then given some proposals (all in Spanish, yay) that TechnoServe prepares for outside organizations in order to receive the necessary funding and support. At the end of the day I was told that I would be joining my co-worker, Stuardo, in the field Tuesday morning until Wednesday evening. Although I did not expect to be able to work in the field so soon, I was stoked!

Stuardo picked me up around 8, and to my surprise, he also brought his wife and 16 year old daughter. It was definitely a relief because Stuardo doesn’t speak any English! It was a good balance of languages and great learning environment because his wife spoke a little English and his daughter spoke just a little bit more. So, between the four of us we were able to have pretty fluid conversations in Spanish, with the help of a view translations.

We headed to Cunén, a small village about 6 hours from the city. I won’t lie to you, I got in the car thinking I was going for a 2 to 4 hour ride! The first two hours were great…the remaining four hours were a little rough! It was essentially four hours up and down mountains, speed bumps every 30 seconds, winding roads beyond belief, and small villages with two way roads that felt as though they could barely fit one way! Bascially… it took my carsickness to a whole new level. I’m sure I’ll be overcoming that by the end of this trip!

We finally arrived around 2:30 and Staurdo and I had to go straight to a meeting with the group of farmers working with TechnoServe and AIDA. Unfortunately this project was not one they

had me read up on before I visited, so I had to gather the information from the meeting and talking with Stuardo privately. Basically, it is a business for farmers (about 95) growing French Beans and Snow Peas. I believe (which I will clarify this week in the office) that TechnoServe is working with them to ensure they are using government funding on pesticides, sanitation, and exportation. The majority of them will be exported to the United States and EU.

In the future, I will be able to share more specifics on the program and area, but like I said I wasn’t able to read up on this one and was sort of just thrown in it. Plus, it was a lot harder because it was not just in Spanish; it was in their local language as well- some Mayan dialect. So attempting to follow it all was a little difficult. Not going to lie…had no idea there were so many languages in Guatemala. Whooops. Stuardo said there are 14 main languages, and upon looking it up I found out there are 55 known languages- 53 that are actually spoken.

On a more positive note, my Spanish is improving dramatically! This trip definitely helped. Dinner consisted of the four of us talking for about 3 hours. Comparing both languages and sharing new words. I attempted to explain Social Entrepreneurship…they got it at the end but it took a while. I just figured an employee of TechnoServe would understand easier… but I was wrong.

After dinner, I headed to my room. It was nice to have no Internet or anything. I was able to just write down some thoughts and mull everything over. In the morning, we met with the group leaders and walked through the bean fields- so many beans! After seeing it all, we headed back to the city. Though this first trip to the field wasn’t the most informative…it was great to get a general feel for the projects, but even greater to be completely immersed in Spanish with people willing to help me improve- almost made me wish I was staying with a host family. On the way home Stuardo wanted me to experience traditional Guatemalan food and Antigua.

The meal was delicious and Antigua, “the second capital of Guatemala,” was absolutely beautiful. NOT TO MENTION THE VOLCANO ON ITS BORDER. I saw so many volcanoes the past two days. They’re absolutely mesmerizing.

Anyways, overall it was a great two days. Stuardo and his family were so genuine and truly wanted to show me their country. It’s crazy to think this is only my third day at TechnoServe. So much more in store the next few months!