It seems in youth, at least in my youth, I had the feeling/illusion I would live forever/young.  As I reached middle age, I realized my invulnerable youth had now passed, but I didn’t feel old.  I just passed my 60^th birthday and I still feel youthful and vital, although I am not certain I appear that way to others who don’t know me.  I am now looking ahead to the next 50 years of my life realizing that I certainly will not feel quite so youthful at some point in the future.

So even if living past 100, what in the end will I consider as valuable in my life?  The things of this world, like money and personal possessions never gave me much of a thrill and I chose not to pursue them as my focus.  It seems what I have expended a lot of time and energy toward is building community, which included friends and family.  I have had my share of ups and downs in this arena, but the lows, regardless of the heartbreak, never dissuaded me that building community is a valuable life pursuit with many collateral benefits.

I experienced early in my life that “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” or in the words of Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I participated in a variety of community endeavors over the decades, where I became convinced that synergy is a tangible and potent energy to amplify people’s individual efforts of working together.

From my view, this worldly life is about relationships and joining together with others of like mind in a meaningful purpose.  It holds great satisfaction and is well worth the inevitable struggle.  An altruistic pursuit, in one way, is actually selfish because the apparent giver is also a receiver – “as you give, so shall you receive.” The giver’s benefit may be a subtle gratification that feeds more generosity. The catch is if one gives from an egotistical place, what comes back only echoes the smallness of that self-centered giving.

If one participates if the circle of giving/receiving in a selfless way, the whole universe arrives on your doorstep.  Rumi says, “Here’s a bargain, give your life and receive ten thousand.”  What I can offer on a daily basis is my time (being present), my talents, my capacity to think critically and creatively, and the passion of this heart.  What reverberates back reflects the potential greatness of every human being.

When I draw my last breathe in this fragile world, whether tomorrow or in 50 years, I know, with certainty, I will have personal shortcomings to face, as I am a human being.  My hope is that I have wisely invested my life in this world, so my time and efforts provide some benefits to those around me.  For me, the answer to the question, In the End What Is of Value??? – the value is in theapplication of the depth and width of the relationship of love you have with those around you.  Simple, but not easy – but those details are for another time.

Synergy of a few to make something of value

Best to You,

Greg

This Children’s Village is a big project and the work is vast, as most are aware. There are dozens of facets to keep in mind as we work day to day. One of the things I personally know so little about is homesteading. Okay. I know nothing about it. I can make my own bread and granola but beyond that, I’m a nothing more than a techy-city girl. And so, I’m getting more and more intrigued with homesteading.

Ploughing fields

Why am I intrigued with homesteading? Because in part, our project is about homesteading. It’s about children growing up on a beautiful piece of land. It’s about growing fresh organic yummy fruits and veggies on that land and filling the bellies of those beautiful children with that food. It’s about letting the kids play in the dirt, plant seeds and then to pick the fruits (and veggies) of their labour. It’s about learning to care for ourselves and each other and  making that an essential piece in the educational component of the children’s upbringing.

I’m fascinated reading about others’ moves from the city, “back to the land” lifestyles and with parents raising organic, muddy, happy children. I’m excitedly anticipating capturing photos of our kids playing on this gorgeous land with their faces stained with blackberry juice or standing underneath big sunflowers, or picking peas and milking goats.

A garden in waiting

Two of my favourite homesteading/family type blogs at this time are Soulemama and Cold Antler Farm. They are both great writers who share wonderful stories of their day to day lives. They also inspire me to be a better, more regular blogger! Thanks Amanda and Jenna!

-Heather Alicia, homesteader-wanna-be (but mostly too busy communicating, raising money  and running Project Somos right now!)

From my perspective it is clear that every one of the volunteers who arrived at our door in Guatemala could develop the capacity to envision and, in time, bring into this world, a humanitarian project that is already dwelling in their hearts and minds.  I am convinced of this because they all expended the time and energy to come the distance to assist us, and each and everyone have been intelligent and compassionate people with humanitarian intentions.

Alicia and I, when we first began, did not have all of the requisite skills, experience or finances to embark upon developing a Children’s Village. We now discover that there were people who thought it was a good idea, but didn’t give us much chance of getting it off the ground. We were fortunate to have supportive family and close friends who also felt the need to do something for our hemispheric neighbors in Guatemala and joined us in the vision.

In closing for those who do not feel empowered to embark upon a heartfelt vision, I would encourage you to abandon doubt and begin to move toward realizing that vision by thinking about it, talking about it, and dreaming about it.  Do not let it slip away easily, hold fast to what is whispering to you, and moving you to assist our fellow human beings. It may be a long road to realizing your dream, but it will be worth it and the journey is amazing.

-Greg

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

I was amazed at how quickly our 10 local workers and foreman learned the art and science of earth-bag construction.

The walls rose so fast that our volunteers had to work long and hard to complete the door and window frames before the construction team reached that level. 
They were laying down 3 complete revolutions of earth-bags of the 1400 square foot house everyday.  They became a motivated and unified team. It was impressive.

Once they completed the walls, the task of choosing the roof truss and roofing material loomed before us.  After researching the best, locally available materials, we decided on large bamboo roof trusses (6”-8” diameter – 33 feet long) with a thermal blanket sandwiched between an opened/flattened bamboo ceiling, and steel corrugated roofing. 

Skylights were also included in the design.  The completion of this stage of construction, although aesthetically beautiful and structural sound, in my assessment, was painfully slow and too expensive.  We have made design adjustments for the third family home.

With the walls and roof complete and the plumbing and electrical systems installed, our team turned its attention to the stuccoing, interior and exterior, the result of which was it covered the individual curves of the earth-filled bags.  As charming as the bag shapes were, the stucco walls unified the individual bags into a single wall.  Even better, final coat of the exterior stucco carried the warm, earthy terracotta color. 

The interior plastering covered the 7000 plastic garbage-filled pop bottles that insulate all the interior walls. The positive collateral effect is that there is NOT 7000 pounds of garbage in the streets and canyons in our surrounding area.

A memorial garden area, in memory of Alicia’s mother, was designed and built with the assistance of her family.  It now has earth-bag benches for 128, four gardens and a raised rock center for a fire pit.  This area will be known as, Punto de Reunion (Gathering Point) and will serve as a focal point in the Village, for outdoor meetings, presentations and performances.

A team from Agua Para la Salud, came from Quiche and taught our team how to construct our 10,000 liter rainwater cistern and the septic system.  The cistern will collect 5000 liters of rainwater from four sides of the roofs with only 1 inch of rainfall.  This will eliminate our need to use our electric pump from our well during 6 months of the year of the rainy season.  At 7000 feet the sweet rainwater doesn’t fall through any city air pollution.

So here we are, after being here a year and a few days.  The construction is satisfying, and yet I do remember that the Somos Village is about abandoned kids having a loving and secure home and I realize that we have a distance to go to reach that first benchmark. I also have to remind people, because of their alterative building enthusiasm that we are a project, for and about children, first and foremost. I am working to be present and patience in every step and yet I am eager to receive the children.

I am so grateful for all of you who have travelled beside us in this journey with your generous spectrum of heartfelt support and encouragement.  Truly, it would not be possible for Alicia and I to do this without you – practically, emotionally or mentally.  I can testify in the reality of the saying,

“It takes a village to raise a child and a community to build a village”.

The Best to you, one and all,

Greg

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

-Heather Alicia

I was unexpectedly hit with a ton of grief that day. It was my first birthday without my mom. I had been warned about these “firsts” but I seem to have no clue when they will hit me. This one hit suddenly and it hit hard.

I was struck with the fact that this is not just my day. The reality is, I don’t even remember the day. It really was my mom’s day. It was the day she became a mom. It was the day she became my mom. Amongst some of my belongings I brought with me from Canada, are a few birthday cards from my mom. I re-read these, shed many tears and was reminded just how much I was loved by my mom.

On Thursday night we had our first bonfire in the Gathering Place we built in honour of my mom. I’d requested this as a day-after-my-birthday gathering with no focus on me, kind of event. It was a magical evening that I will never forget. We picked up Nicolassa and the kids and headed to the land before dark arrived. Antolin was there along with some of the workers who wanted to partake.

Marshmallow sticks were sharpened and put to work right away. Antolin shared a story about the skies and stars. I was inspired to show my “Star Walk” app on my iPhone and this kept Antolin and the guys enthralled for about an hour!

We talked, laughed and shared stories under the twinkling stars and the warm fire. On the way back Nico and I talked about life and death, sharing the feelings we have both experienced in losing a parent. I felt complete peace in that moment and was overcome with gratitude for this life that was given to me 47 years ago. Thanks Mom…

-Heather Alicia

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

-Heather Alicia

This Moment this week

Loca Pizza Goodbye Party!

Our first El Camino group of 2012 has come and gone. They were such an enthusiastic and hard working crew and we are so grateful for all that they accomplished during their days on the land! We had a lovely going away dinner with them last Wednesday when we filled the upstairs of Loca Pizza (crazy pizza).

Celebrating a great volunteer experience

Gin and Roberto’s time here is coming to an end on Monday. Saying goodbye to them will be a tough one. Gin and I go back 21 years and she is one of the most loving friends a person could have. It has been so sweet having her here in Guatemala at this time. As expected, she and Roberto worked their buns off with endless enthusiasm and hearts full of love!

Gin and Roberto

The daily progress is visible around here these days with all the extra hands working so hard. We have road ways being made, dirt being dug, tinted plaster being smoothed, coloured stones put into place, and flowers being planted!

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!

Gin preparing hanging baskets

-Heather Alicia

The new roadway

Plastering with colour!

This title is a well-known principle in the world of construction and cabinetry.  I experienced it many times while in the renovation business in Vancouver.  Often, when I was in a hurry or had too many measurements in my head, I made mistakes and had to re-measure and then recut my work.  It was a waste of materials and time.  The small investment of time to measure the second time was always worth the effort.

Over the years since the initial vision for the Children’s Village, we had had many planning meets about design and construction, child development, education, sustainability, social enterprise, culture, agriculture, community development, fund raising, and organizational and community governance.  All, yes, all of these brainstorming gatherings have been useful and productive to bring us to where we are today.

There is another saying, “no one plans to fail, they just fail to plan.”  How true!  Although we have had many planning sessions, and they are ongoing, it has not inhibited or eclipsed our ability to move ahead in the real world and accomplish our goals.  This planning has assisted us to put, “first things first”, as Stephen R. Covey details in his books.  We are moving ahead step by step – evaluating and making changes when indicated.

We are now engaged in strategically planning our agricultural design for the coming years.  This includes the sustainable food production for the Village and the commercial production aspect that will provide revenue.  It is a very exciting process and we recently visited Caoba Farms in Antigua and met with the owner/operator, Alex.  It was inspiring, and reassuring that we are proceeding in the correct direction.  We look forward to collaborating with Alex in the future.

I want to assure our numerous willing and generous volunteers that have devoted their efforts to planning sessions that it is now paying off with interest! We are moving ahead with clarity and making few mistakes in activating our goals and accomplishing specific tasks.  In particular, I want to thank the current Ag team who have been patient in our planning sessions while all the while, I know, they are hearing the call of that wonderful landscape and soil in the Children’s Village. I hear it too.  Thank you – Gin and Roberto, Corey, Morganne and all those in Vancouver who contributed before.

- Greg