Praying for rain.

April 4, 2006

Greetings from the land almost down under. 

In these parts, the heat is having some interesting effects on our operation. This week we have been unable to plant trees as the ground is hard as a rock. As such we have been keeping busy in the greenhouse, maintaining sites that are becoming overgrown and praying for rain. There has been none in a week roughly. As such, many of the water tanks in people’s houses here are dry. Ours is one.  The city is hoarding water and delivery for all but the rich is becoming difficult. As I left to send this email we had finally convinced a water truck to fill our tank for a small fortune ($15). Most people are paying $25. We had become very good at conserving water as we have had no running water since Saturday night. River water was boiled and iodine added for dish water. Wash water was then used for for toilets in our house and bottled water was used for cooking. It has been quite an eye-opening event for everyone to see just how much water each task uses, especially when it involves 3 trips a day to the river!

So that was yesterday. My first day alone as Field Projects Manager…one for the story books!  We also had a cat sneak it the house, followed by a bat.

I went on the tour with the Municipio yesterday and will include the details of that incredibly productive trip (4 planting sites secured), in another email.

ciao for now,
pat