Day 5: Deliveries to Hacienda Nueva

Day 5: Deliveries to Hacienda Nueva

Monday, July 22, 2024

Last night, after Cecilia had gone to bed in the back house and everyone but me was in bed in the main house with everything locked up, I was sitting at the table when I heard a rattling at the back door. I was just wondering who was trying to get into the house when the door opened and Cecilia came in. She went to the far corner where the router was and opened the louvered window in the wall next to it. Then she looked at me and said, "El internet" while pointing to the place where she slept. She walked back out, closing/locking the door behind her. All the walls are concrete block and the doors are metal, so that would definitely block wi-fi. Maybe the louver glass is leaded, in addition to being very thick and also blocks the signal. In any case, I was hugely amused by the idea that she had to open the window to let the internet out.

Kathy is cooking bacon this morning. Apparently, she mentioned off-handedly at some point that she liked bacon, so the Team bought a package of it. However, it's not something that Cecilia (who does most of the cooking for delegations) has ever made before. Kathy opened the package and both Cecilia and Idalia were looking over her shoulder and watching it all with interest. The bacon was very thin-sliced and slightly less fatty than I'm used to seeing, but it tasted like bacon. Blanca commented that there isn't a lot of meat on it. It was a nice side to the pancakes with honey, refried beans, and eggs with onion we had for breakfast.

"Tocino ahumado" means smoked bacon. The brand name is "Fud,"
which in Spanish is sounds like "food." It made me think of
the Far Side cartoons where the dog writes "Cat fud" with arrows to
try to lure the cat inside a dryer. This bacon is 'people fud' trying to
lure us into eating it.

Most nights (all 2, so far) the power has gone out briefly during the daily rainstorms. It's the rainy season, so there is rain every day, usually starting between 5 and 6 pm. Typically, the power has gone out for a few seconds and come back on. Last night, they didn't come on right away so Cecilia got out some candles, lit them, and set them on the table where we were sitting. Then the lights came back on and Mike blew out the candles. Of course, the power immediately went out again. Cecilia broke out these battery-powered candles that they got at a Dollar Store in San Miguel. We could turn them on/off as needed and no matches required. They put out a decent amount of light and the "flame" was a piece of plastic mounted on a wire so it could 'flicker' when the light was on.

One of a set of 3 battery-powered lights that
Cecilila opened when the power went out

Kathy asked me to be secretary for the community meetings and gave me a larger notebook than I was using to keep my trip journal in. She will keep more-literal notes on the Spanish discussion and I'm specifically to get numbers and data to double-check her notes. Oscar will arrive from Perkin by motorcycle this morning to join us and will stay at the house for the 3 days of community meetings.

Hacienda Nueva (HN) is very close, maybe a 10-minute drive from the house. After Oscar arrived and Elmer brought the Kia truck, we all loaded up in the truck bed with the tote containing the health kits and set out.

This group is relatively new to working with the Pastoral Team and this is the first time they have hosted a group from the States. There are a total of about a hundred families in the community. Many of those have access to municipal water and electricity. However the group of 20 families we're meeting with do not. They formed this group to give themselves a voice in the community and other options.

In this case, their organization and collaboration with Des Moines Intentional Eucharistic Community in Iowa led to them getting water tanks. The 1,100-liter tanks were delivered to the church and when we arrived, they'd been moved to the road outside the church so we could meet inside. When it rains for 6 months out of the year and then not at all for the rest of the year, having a way to collect and store water from the wet season to carry through the dry is critical.

Nancy and Kathy heading up the road to the church,
past the water tanks that will be delivered later

The committee assembled in the Evangelical church, which was right across the road from the Catholic church. Here, "Evangelical" means "not Catholic."  It could be Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, or anything else...just not Catholic. The meeting started with Blanca welcoming the group, then we were introduced to the committee leaders, the delegation introduced ourselves, and we had discussions about the realities of life there.

Blanca addressed the Hacienda Nueva group

The group is all subsistence farmers. We asked how far their fields are from where they live and some have to walk 2-3 hours to get there. They tend to go for a week at a time, carrying their food for the week with them, and sleeping under a black-plastic makeshift "tent" in the field. None of them own any land so they have to farm where they can get land. They also don't own the land their homes are on. Sometimes they rent the land there and build whatever kind of home they can. Other times they have permission from the owner to build a house.

They have many serious health issues in the community. A lot of people have high blood pressure and kidney disease. Some have special needs. There is a public clinic in Berlín but it is first come, first served, regardless of how serious the health issue is. You show up and add your name to the list and if they get to you before closing time, you can be seen. If not, you come back the next day. Sometimes, if you are very seriously ill, you can talk someone ahead of you in the line into trading spots with you. If not...you wait. As it is, the clinic can only do basic things and give you a prescription to take to the pharmacy. The nearest actual hospital is in San Miguel, about an hour's drive away. Transportation and test costs are high.

Some have insufficient houses. When storms come and damage the lamina (corrugated metal) walls and roof, they don't have the money to replace what is damaged. As a result, most houses leak when it rains, turning their dirt floors to mud.

 Education is also a concern. They have a school in the community for kindergarten through 6th grade. To continue past that, students must go to the high school in Berlín. They either walk or have to pay for transportation. Many don't continue past 6th grade because they don't have the money or they need to work the fields to help the family. Picking coffee pays $8/day, working from 7am until at least 4pm.

There is municipal water and electricity to the community but not everyone can get connected, either because there is no wire/pipe near where they live or because their home isn't block wall. Sometimes, if a neighbor is connected, they will share with those who can't get it and charge them a share of the monthly bill. A big problem they've had with municipal water is that the pipes running to the community are PVC and the pressure in the line often bursts the pipes so water flows onto the ground and no one can use it.

We took a break from the meeting and they brought in bowls of fresh fruit for everyone. 

We passed out the health kits to each family. Juancito helped by moving the tote to the front of the room, taking the lid off, and handing a kit to each person as their name was called.

 

Everyone who was getting a tank signed that they were receiving it. Those who couldn't sign their name applied a thumbprint to the list.

Woman signing for her tank with a thumbprint

Tanks were loaded 5 or 6 at a time onto the truck that brought us to the community and taken to their new homes. Each tank came with a pipe and a bag of supplies...cleaner, spigot, screen, etc.

The community helping to load and secure the tanks onto the truck

Tank parts for each tank were put inside for transportation

While we were waiting for the tanks to be delivered, I was looking at a plant beside the church and wondering what it was. A boy came up to me and I asked him if he knew what the plant was. He said he didn't know. I said, that's ok, I didn't know either. I asked his name (Dani) and age (10) and that was enough to open the floodgates and he started talking and talking. I didn't catch all of it it. He was telling me where his house was (continue on the road in front of the churches and then something about lamina...whether that was his house or that was where you turn, I'm not sure), I think he was telling me the names and ages of his siblings, then something about school. I asked if he had animals at his house and he said only 3 chickens. There were more but they were killed for food. I asked him if I could take his picture. He said yes. So here it is. He did not like my choice of background.

My friend Dani

When all the tanks were delivered, it was time for lunch...a chicken soup with vegetables, a quarter-chicken, and rice with vegetables. When I got my soup, one of the women handing out bowls had another bowl in her hand and asked if I wanted an egg in my soup. She then took one of of the bowl she held and ladled it into my bowl. The eggs were collected when they butchered the chickens that morning. They're eggs that hadn't made shells or been laid yet.

We invited one of the women from the community to sit at our table and Sarai joined us. She is one of the community leaders. Her position is vocal (alternate or at-large) and she is the mother of both Juancito (who helped hand out health kit and has special needs) and Dani (my talkative friend, although his mom calls him Danicito). I think we were eating the chickens that were no longer at Dani's house.

She was telling us about Juancito. He was born at 8 months, weighed 9 pounds, had "water on the brain" (hydrocephalus) when he was born and some lung issues. She was told he probably wouldn't live and if he did, it was unlikely he would ever walk or talk. She takes him to San Miguel 2 times per week for therapy and is very happy with his physical progress. He goes to school; he's in a kindergarten class with other 6-year-olds. The therapy has moved to working on his fine motor skills (so he can hopefully learn to write) and social skills. She says he is very smart but he has trouble with sitting still and a tendency to act out when in a group of people. He still has some physical issues that need to be treated periodically and someone needs to be with him all the time. Her husband is in the States to make money. It's an economic necessity for them but she would rather he be with the family. They have a couple other children. The oldest is 15 and he really helps, especially when she and Juancito need to leave the house at 4am to catch the bus to San Miguel for Juancito's therapy and are gone all day. Her husband's family is also nearby and helps, too. She carefully observes what the therapist does and tries to replicate it at home. We told her we think that sort of dedication is why he did survive infancy and has improved as much as he has. She said she is thrilled with his progress.

After lunch we visited several of the homes and projects of the committee members. First, we walked behind the church and up a narrow trail to a fish project. The pond was made with a heavy black rubber sheet held in place with thick lengths of tree limbs. Beneath the algae-covered surface of the water are tilapia. The women eat some of them but the idea is to have something to sell. The fish were shy and the talking around the tank kept them in hiding.

Then we got in the truck and headed to the first home. Ana Ruth welcomed us to her house told us about her life. She has 3 daughters, aged 12, 9, and 5. The oldest will be going to school in Berlin next year. She will walk with her daughter as there won't be any other kids in the area for her to walk with. She did have a job as a caregiver but the position was eliminated and now she takes care of her children. She has an aunt who also helps. Her electric service costs about $8-$10/month. She's lived her whole life in this community. She said that a couple months ago she'd been wishing for a water tank. They only had 2 small ones and they emptied so fast. So she really appreciates the large tank and thanked us profusely.

 

 

Ana Ruth's new water tank and her lamina house

Inside her house. The blankets form room dividers
for sleeping. The rabbit is a pet.

Ana Ruth with Oscar (translator)

The second visit it to the home of Marta. She lives with her husband and 4 children, ages 22, 19, 8, and 2. The 19-year-old got a scholarship to attend high school. Their house has a bad roof and they have some lamina to fix it but the wooden supports underneath are bad and they don't have what they need to repair it. This is one of the places where water pipes have exploded so she has a faucet but there's no water coming out of it. Her son recently married and he and his wife are also living in the house so she moved her kitchen to make space for them.

The open door is to Marta's kitchen. She will install the
new tank where the chicken is, just outside the door.

 

 

Kathy in Marta's kitchen

The third home belongs to Luz Maria. She lives with her 3 children and brother. Her house doesn't have electricity, but they and 2 other houses borrow from a neighbor and the cost is divided among them all. They have two grain silos in the house. One is for seed to eat and plant next year; the other is for grain to sell.

The black plastic is around the latrine

 Maria del Carmen Lemus' lives with her 2 sons, their wives, and a 3 month old granddaughter. She is one of the ones who has a 3 hour walk to her field. The sons do the farming and she takes them food and watches the granddaughter while the parents work. The crop is doing well, but they have worms and will need to apply insecticide with a hand sprayer. It's a tank worn on the back with a lever by the hip to pump up the internal pressure with one hand and a spray nozzle in the other. In total, they farm 1.5 manzanas (1 manzana is about 2.5 acres). She hasn't decided, yet, where to put the tank.

All of the houses today were made of lamina with a dooway (may or may not have a door) and no windows. The temperature shot up at least 10-15 degrees when we entered. It was like walking into an oven. The ones that had the kitchen (with a wood-burning fire) inside were thick with smoke, too. Inside the houses was NOT a pleasant place to be.

When we got back to Berlín, we decided it was ice cream day. We all (the delegation and Oscar) walked to the town square to La Nevaría and Mike bought. I had what I always have here...the mango ice cream. We also got some ice cream to take back for Cecilia and Idalia at the house.

Mango ice cream... Yum!!!

When we got back to the house, I was the first to enter and startled 2 pigeons that had wandered in the door and had camped out in the front room. They freaked out and started flapping around, which startled me. I tried to duck through to the next room so they could fly out the door but by then Tim was there. One did manage to get out the door and the other flew into the bathroom. It perched on the shower curtain rod until Tim managed to get on the far side of it and shoo it out the front door.

Pigeon in bathroom

That evening, we had the Fruit Fiesta with most of the fruits we bought at the market on Sunday. Kathy documented all the fruits and my reaction to them, so check out her blog for that.

• Nances: Small, about the size and shape of a slightly flattened marble. The bag we got contained yellow and brown ones. The yellow ones taste like a funky cheese (not in a good way) and the brown ones are a bit milder in taste but still not something I'd want to eat if I had a choice.
• Guava: A palm-sized greenish-yellow fruit that is mostly round but sort of irregular in shape. I cut it with a knife and it had a texture like a cross between a slightly green pear and an apple, which is also how it tasted. There was a ring of seeds about a third of the way out from the center and some of them were like little rocks. The part between the seeds and the rind was ok, I think it wasn't quite ripe.
• Jocotes: They're the size and shape of an elongated cherry tomato. The bag we got had some yellow and some dark green. The yellow ones are ok, the flesh is kind of tart and juicy. The green ones aren't ripe...they're hard and astringent...pass.
• Lyches: I know these as rambutans or "hairy eyeballs." They're about the size and shape of a small egg, only red and completely covered with green-tipped red "hairs" all over it. They're super easy to eat, just put your thumbnails against the skin and pry apart. One half of the skin will pop off, exposing the smooth, slightly transluscent white fruit inside. The half that still has the skin attached looks like a milky eyeball with a fringe of the hairs around it...hence, the hairy eyeball fruit. It's sweet, juicy and has a single pit at the center. Yum!
• Mame: About the size and shape of a decent-sized orange, but with a brown slightly fuzzy-feeling skin. It was hard to cut and had a very big pit. The flesh between the pit and skin was sort of orangey colored...like ripe papaya. It tasted sort of like papaya, too but we think it wasn't ripe and was supposed to be juicier (per Oscar).
• Anona: About the size of a softball, it looked like a curled up armadillo or something covered in overlapping scales. It was easy to pull apart with fingers. Oscar says it's ripe. The inside is soft and fleshy with hard smooth pits scattered through it and surrounded by the soft flesh.
• Soncoya: This is the one they got at the lake that looks sort of like a durian fruit. We decided to table its tasting to another day. I was kind of fruited out for a while and it wasn't supposed to be ripe yet.