To everyone who is reading this blog and who took my project and my request for money seriously, THANK YOU! The money was just rolling in. We have already met the required amount, and will now be able to start construction on the toilets! Updates on that to follow.
And now for a little update:
For the last 5 weeks I have made my new home in my little house in the jungle, among the most heartwarmingly friendly people I have ever known. When I wake up in the morning, it is often to someone yelling my name through the walls of my house to see if I'm up. I don't respond, for the sake of creating SOME semblance of boundaries, but I secretly love it. Children here are always testing my boundaries, often poking me or touching me and then looking guilty to see if I'll do anything about it. Mostly, they just have nothing to do, and need some structure. Which is why I have taken to giving them little chores to do if they come to my house. It keeps them out of trouble. Kids can be sent to do your dishes at the river (but bewarned, the little ones aren't very thorough), to throw things onto the trash pile in the "jungle" behind the house, to sweep the porch, and other things. They are very eager to do chores here. It's one of the few things a kid here can do to get some positive reinforcement. Mostly they get yelled at, which is understandable, as there are far too many kids and far too few adults hanging around this village. (Work opportunities often exist mainly in the city, or require you to move around.) And, well, people here have lots of kids.
Since I've been in my village, I have experienced so many things that I would have loved to have shared with people back home. I've gone to "Baka Seei" (grounds, for subsistence farming) with three separate families. Around here, the female head of every household is in charge of her own "kondre" (country). If you follow a path into the jungle, the kondre's are scattered on little hidden paths off of the big path. Your kondre is a little home away from home. You might walk about 2-3 hours to get to your kondre. Barefoot, carrying everything you'll need on your head, wading through creeks, and balancing on logs, or pushing a wheelbarrow on a log over a river. Four-year-old's have been outperforming me in this department. Once there, you will find two or three little structures. One for sleeping, one for cooking, and sometimes one that is a little raised off the ground for food storage. You'll also build a little shade-structure in the middle of your fields for mid-day cooking and shade. You probably have a hammock and some dishes and food waiting for you there too. When you go to your grounds, you might go for a couple of hours, or you might stay there overnight a few nights. I have done both, every time an adventure. Right now is the season for harvesting rice, so I learned how to do that, and how to find potatoes in the ground, and which okra to pick and which to leave. Needless to say, I am learning a lot.
I have also been fighting the good fight against the evil mice. Even when mice can't find anything edible in my house, they will find something plastic to destroy. The things that I have had to part with due to mouse-destruction include: my wallet, gardening gloves, a mirror (really?), several articles of clothing, a dishrag, the lids off of several plastic containers, and they even chewed the buckets that I keep my food in (which they're not supposed to be able to get into). I have decided to get a cat to join forces with my side. Wish me luck.
And so, everyone, it is time for me to part with you for now.
Talk to you soon!
