Projects
This week we finished up our topic of the different zones of life in this bioregion (dry tropical, very dry tropical, humid tropical and mangrove) with seed art. We went and collected seeds from various trees around Bahia. We then learned from a local artisan how to perforate holes into the seeds with an ancient method of heating up a needle in a candle flame […]
May 30-June 5, 2005 Volunteer situation: Hannah and Montana arrived on Wednesday night, and Jackie on Saturday night. They will be staying through the summer, except Montana, who leaves mid-July. He is staying at the Bahia B&B. (Hannah was actually one of students in the group I led in a previous job to Costa Rica for the Experiment in International Living.) We now have 6 […]
Weekly update from Bahia. Sunday’s outing to Cabo Pasado was a smashing success. The walk was led by Cheo and was a challenge to many of the participants who aren’t used to physical exertion, but they loved the challenge none the less. We got to the beach and they were in heaven playing in the sea and in the sand. Then Cheo gave us a […]
May 23-29, 2005 This week we prepared and maintained seedbeds in the greenhouse, and kept up the regular activities of watering, transplanting, cutting bottles to make insect guards, and composting. The BEP (Bioregional Education Project) class also helped us out one afternoon, and sowed laurel, compoyo and guasmo seeds. We have an arrangement with the Dept. de Hygiene now to collect the city’s plastic bottles […]
I couldn’t be happier with the way things are turning out with the Bioregional Education class. It seems the numbers of students at different times in the class are resolving themselves and those that I am left with are really interested and dedicated. The majority are about seventeen which means they have lots of energy and enthusiasm and it is just a question of directing […]
May 16-22, 2005 I let the Civil Defense Force know that we are willing to work with them on the tree planting project, and am awaiting a response. It rained a few days this week. I spoke with Carlos Franco about fencing on the Dairy Farm and he is placing the final gate which will complete the proper fencing required (shoulder high barbed wire). Carlos […]
This week we talked about the dry tropical forest and had Marcelo take us to Cerro Seco to see first hand lichens, orchids, the mighty Ceibos and spiders hanging from their webs. We were thirty this time and it seems that slowly but surely there is a self-deciding process of those truly interested in the material and projects. For homework on Tuesday they took leaves […]
Report: May 9 to 15, 2005 This week we finished transplanting the Colorados, Ebonos, and the Guachapelí and Samango stragglers that were big enough. We also did a lot of work with the compost pile. That was Caitlin´s special project. She completely turned the entire thing to aerate it, as it was lacking air. It is now well on its way to forming good compost. […]
The education project is coming along with quite a bit of enthusiasm, perhaps too much. We still have fifty participants in the project, most of them from a tourism class at the local high school Fanny de Baird. It seems that their teacher has highly recommended, if not put quite a bit of pressure on them to take this course. This is both good and bad. […]
May 2 to May 8, 2005 The climate has been changing already – more breeze and cooler nights, and no sunsets. This week we planted and cleared at Inter-Americano and the Cherry Tree site. The school children at the Inter-Americano should soon begin to water twice weekly. We also began planting the new site, which will be called Hidalgo, the owner’s last name. He says […]