January 22-26, 2007 We are still waiting for rain. Locals say that when it doesn’t rain until February, the rains hit all the harder. We’ll see. An occasional shower has allowed us to avoid having to water some days, and the delay in the real rains has afforded us more time to further prepare for the planting in the wet season. But at this point we’d […]
Ramon’s Weekly Bioregional Education Report January 17, 2007 We went to the Planet Drum greenhouse at the Catholic University to transplant trees. Some of the Planet Drum volunteers were waiting for us on our arrival. They carefully explained to the kids how to transplant and make compost. Then we split into groups to tackle the two tasks. The girls decided to transplant while the boys worked […]
January 15-19, 2007 It’s been another exciting and work-filled week here in Bahia de Caraquez. The dry season continues even though a few showers teased us, which suggests that the rainy season is close. With the real rain holding out on us, we continue to water our old revegetation sites. We are also making the final preparations in the greenhouse to get new trees for this […]
Clay Plager-Unger, Field Projects Manager Planet Drum FoundationReport: January 8-14, 2007 It is an honor for me to be representing Planet Drum Foundation as the new Field Projects Manager here in Bahia De Caraquez, Ecuador. This is an incredibly interesting time to begin work here as the dry season is coming to a close and we are on the verge of the wet season, when we begin moving […]
Ramon’s Weekly Bioregional Education Report January 10, 2007 On this day we were invited to work in the greenhouse at the Cerro Seco Reserve. We planted many different types of trees (Pechiche, Hobo, Suche). It was a very special day for the young bioregionalists since what they’ve wanted most is to be able to be a direct part of reforesting. We were well received at the site and divided […]
December 18, 2006 On Wednesday the Bioregional Education class identified and learned about the importance of the traditional types of food of the ecuatorian coast, such as corn (which had Originally been used by their ancestors), yucca (rich in carbohydrates), avocado (fat, proteins), pineapple, peanut, etc. They also played a game which consisted of finding 4 small pieces of paper in a park, on which […]
December 18, 2006 For repairing the Maria Auxiliadora park we needed more Muyuyo stakes, which we thankfully cut down in Ricardito Lopez` bosque (forest). We used them for building more steps and made it easier and safer to stroll around. We`re almost done with the basic improvements there, like installing stairs, handrails and clearing trails, and already plan on making it more useful by building benches […]
December 11, 2006 On Wednesday every student read about native species of trees of the Region. They were only familiar with the Ceibo. Ramon explained that their country’s flora is biologically extremely diverse, but is in danger because of people’s lack of awareness. He taught them about the importance of reforesting areas that had been cut down, in order to recreate natural habitats. On Friday we […]
December 11, 2006 Finally our damaged apartment roof got repaired at the beginning of the week. We’re really happy because after some overnight sprinkles we noticed little water puddles on the livingroom floor, and it won’t be long until the heavy rain starts. Unfortunately volunteer Sebastian has been sick for most of the week, but we still managed to complete the basic tasks and hope he’ll […]
December 3, 2006 This week’s Bioregional Education topic was Compost. On Wednesday they started off with a brainstorming on organic and inorganic waste, then Ramon taught them about the process, including different types and importance of composting. Further, he discussed the importance of separating organic from inorganic waste. Friday was a fun day when we all (Ramon, 16 Bioregionalistas, Jeff from Peace Corps and myself) took […]