Eco-Semano parade

February 21-27, 2006

This week we transported another load of trees to the sites and planted in three places – La Cruz, Bosque Encantado y El Toro (on the other side of the creek although we don’t know who the land belongs to). We got rained on and it was very slippery!  We had help from both Jorge and Blas this week, who came to work one day each. 

There was also plenty of transplanting to do in the greenhouse, and we changed the cover of the compost storage area as it had fallen to pieces. The compost in the hole is soaked right through and we are thinking of ways to get it to air out. Perhaps we can construct a simple roof with bamboo poles and plastic sheeting.

We also cleared out and maintained all trails at El Bosque in preparation for the Eco-Paseo, but unfortunately nobody showed up—it seems like the publicity was bad this year. Plus the bus that Johnny had arranged had a problem with the battery that morning and never made it. He thinks people didn’t come because the event coincided with Carnival. The garbage bin at the entrance to El Bosque had been burnt to smithereens by the way.

The sesión solemne (presentation in the Municipio) went off okay, although there were less people than last year, and it seemed as if not much progress was made in the past year towards eco-city goals. Planet Drum and Peter’s name were mentioned by the mayor a few times, and he mentioned the conference in San Francisco in his speech. Planet Drum had a display downstairs in the Municipio which looked quite nice. The volunteers helped redo parts of the posters and fix them up, while I made a new one with photos that were graciously printed by Ricardito, our “honorary volunteer” as he calls himself (land owner – Bosque Encantado). He’s also been helping us transport the trees.

The Eco-Semano parade was a success, since it was part of the big parade for Carnival. We all marched together with Blas, Marcelo Luque, Baron Cevallos and his three adorable children, two of which held the banner. We gave out fruit trees from Jama (which we couldn’t plant) and put mud on people in the spirit of carnival!  I had an interview done for a local TV station in that muddy state!  Also, I was on the radio, La Voz de Los Caras, talking about Planet Drum and the Eco Semana.

Well, that’s all for now!  See you soon!

Heather