3rd Wave Reprezent!

Now that the 2nd wavers are gone we have busted out the fun! We went to Xela this last weekend and had a blast. There´s a lake there in the crater of an inactive volcano called Chicabal. It was a long hike but it was so worth it.

We payed for the stoves that the LDS Welfare grant is buying for us and they are in production as we speak. There are a ton of communities who want to do the stove project and hopefully we can get to everyone before time runs out.

The pink and green house is doing great. Now that the sun is back out we can do our laundry and it drys the same day. Sooo nice.

TEAM GUATEMALA

Sickest Paint Job Ever...

You haven´t lived until you have ridden one of Guate´s chicken buses. These chaotic vehicles give you mere seconds to jump on and off but will take you any and everywhere. The money takers will actually climb on top of the bus while it is navigating canyon corners and come in through the back door to collect a few cents from you. Vote for the sickest paint job!

Bus 1
Bus 2

Bus 3

Bus 4

All is well in the pink and green house!

When the cats are away...

This last week Sam & Genevieve took off for Honduras Bay Islands for vacaction and the rest of us were left in the pink and green house running the show. Amy, as offical Assistant (to the) Country Director was in charge of the team and did a great job, i.e. there were no broken bones or robberies. We´ve been trying to get a lot of stoves done so that we can use the grant we received from LDS Welfare Services. Kat´s dad and brother came to help us out. We also have Janet and Chelsea here doing a site visit and we´re enjoying their company too! And we are excited to have the 3rd waivers here in just a few days. It´s going to be a full house!

We also got to go with Enterprise Mentors and a National Geographic photographer out to some villages where we work to take some pictures. It was pretty awesome. Another great project right now is the new library we are going to be putting into the KASTA JIBAL school here in Chimaltenango. Phillis, the HELP Librarian, hooked us up with some book money and we just happened to come across this school that needed help with their library.
Coming soon: Best Chicken Bus picture!

All is well in the pink and green house!

Things are really rolling...

Greetings from another fantastic week in Chimal. The team received some excellent news this week - we have received funding from LDS Welfare Services for 400 Adobe stove chimneys! We are definitely going to be busy until the end of August.

Stoves are keeping the team very busy. We reviewed over 60 stoves last week and most of them were better than our demonstration stoves. The women really do a great job - all we have to do is explain the process and help them understand the value of removing smoke from their homes. In other project news, Nicole´s hand washing stations are starting to take off. She taught a very effective lesson that ended with ten women building their very own stations.

To celebrate the fourth of July five volunteers went to Honduras, spending time at the magnificent Copan Ruinas and the playa. The rest of the team headed to Antigua for a little souvenir shopping and some site seeing.

Some volunteers found mysterious bird droppings on their beds. The culprit was finally found and volunteers have learned their lesson - they are now keeping their bedroom doors shut.

Yes all remains well in the pink and green house! Until next time,

The HELP Guatemala Team