Coming to a Boil

The front of my house - with torn up street

New sewer connection

And then came the new water lines

It’s been a busy week here in San Luis de Canete, my home town. Catching up from being away for a week. So many balls in the air –

wheelchairs, finishing all the paperwork for each recipient with Angel and going to pick up chairs next week

kids’ playgrounds, grant just approved – will now get posted to PC website for public funding. Don’t worry, I’ll give you all fair warning when it is ready for you to make a deductable donation !!

HIV/STD prevention, Got our funds in and meeting with classes and teachers to get the Pasos Adelante program going

biodigesters, #1 still kickin gas and biol – working on biol sales. #2 going well and making more gas than #1, working on extra storage bags and new gas line

burial grounds, still leading tours to Cerro de Oro and trying to find some agency interested in protecting the site – or even better – excavating it properly.

cocinas consulting, I’ve become the answer man for PCVs and still supervising local builders.

solar pumps, got my ECPA funding in and dealing with vendors in Lima – not as easy as buying in US – much higher prices and slow. The prototype (Thanks Cuz Jan) has been working well.

eco-bano rehab, still working with the Muni and the big milk company Gloria on funding method. Gloria go from the start, but PC rules prohibit my taking money directly from a Peruvian company – the end-run is difficult

work with water committees – La Quebrada just finished their new water lines, so time to go WATCH them do a cleaning/disinfection. Laura Caller contacted me about working with them – score one for handing out PC business cards!

Reports – being a part of a US Gov’t agency has its benefits. I guess the reports are small price to pay

WWS – old friend Fred Drake just hooked me up with one of the teachers at his school. We’re still working out the details of this cultural exchange between our respective classes of 16 yr olds

ALMA camp – this camp for raining self-esteem and leadership skills of teenage girls will be hosted at the goat farm – some improvements needed

And in the midst of all this, comes PROGRESS – so called. San Luis is getting new sewer lines. New orange plastic pipe will replace the old concrete sections. They had so much crud – pretty sure that’s a technical term – in them that backups were common. Not mention cracks and disconnects from earthquakes. No more. Howsumever, the whole town is torn up, combis rerouted, and dirt and concrete dust everywhere, not to mention a certain odor. The contractor they hired seems pretty good, good equipment (most Peruvian projects are strictly hand work) and well trained crew. A pleasure to watch them.

Not only that, but many residents are taking advantage of the plethora of sand and rocks, for making improvements to their houses. And to top that, the power company decided this would be a great time to install new poles and transformers and lines in town. Came home the yesterday to find no power, internet or water. Just like some PCVs. Now, I find out our sewer line is blocked until tomorrow. Glad I did my duty already – but what about in the morning? Margarita says I can go down the road to her aunt’s house – oh fun. Hope she gets up early.

I had a wonderful visit with my training buddy and fellow PCV Brian. He and his lovely wife live up in Amazonas. I always enjoy visits from other Volunteers – quite a family we have here. We visited the goat farm, where we were treated to samples of cheese and yogurt and got to see some of the production process. Plus learned more about goat breeding than I really care to know. Also saw the biodigester, Cocinas and solar pump. Then we did the Cerro de Oro trip. About all I hear up there is OMG and Holy Shit. It’s one thing to see the photos and quite another to be standing amid hundreds of skulls, bones and artifacts, looking out at tens of thousands more.