200 Soccer Balls

We take a break from our regularly scheduled TB updates to discuss some actual work. This video is a thank you to a group of donors from the States and all the Peace Corps Volunteers that helped in a simple, fun project that I organized in Mexico over the course of 2012 basically. We received […]

Camp Mariposas – the weekend finale

It’s time to wrap up the camp posts. I have to keep checking the calendar to convince myself that it has only been one week (tomorrow) since the end of the camp. What a week it has been. I’m so confused by what day it is and what is going on. So, the final weekend of […]

Camp Mariposas – Day 5

I really need to finish posting about the camp, because it gets harder and harder to recall the details as the days go by. I guess that is because so much as been happening over the last week. Like finishing service and moving back to the US yesterday. Oh, but enough about that. Back to […]

Camp Mariposas – Day 4

Health Day was a lot of fun, excluding the important the presentation about sexual health and contraception. It was interesting, and I was very happy that the girls were asking a lot of questions, but I’m not sure that fun is the right word. Taekwondo class was a blast though. A teacher from a local […]

Camp Mariposas – the Graduation

The only group picture known to exist with your truly included. Ah, the perils of being the designated photographer, a position that I love, but I did have to round up the whole group at the end of the picture-taking session because I didn’t have a single group picture with myself included. I am so […]

Camp Mariposas – Day 3

Well, as expected, I’m falling farther and farther behind in my efforts to edit and upload photos each day. The days are getting longer as we slowly pull out of winter and as each day’s activities and the evening drama of the camp extends into my sleep time. I’m actually taking the weekend off to […]

Camp Mariposas – Day 1

I’m going to repeat some Facebook information here because not everyone uses, or needs to use, that particular site (or be connected to me on that site). However, I can give more background and information here. For this whole week, I’m helping at a friend’s leadership and empowerment camp for young women here in Mexico. […]

Don’t forget me.

One more soccer ball distribution trip. One more soccer ball distribution trip! Whew. The end is in sight. Actually, I will probably be more sad than glad that the project is coming to a close. It has been a lot of fun traveling around and visiting all the different Volunteer sites to cause chaos (with […]

My favorite type of day

Full of good people talking about good things over great food, and I have a new certificate of appreciation for the solar stove and efficient cookstove work.

How to build a combustion chamber

The trickiest portion of the efficient cookstove construction process is assembling the internal combustion chamber. It isn’t difficult, but requires a few sets of hands and understanding how the interior pieces fit together. Two women hold the pieces in place while a third filled in around them with the sand/gravel mixture. This was the fourth […]

Gotta get out more

Thank goodness I have secondary projects outside of the office so that I don’t miss when the wildflowers explode into bloom.

Before and After

The stove installations are actually almost all done. I saw 4 yesterday and 1 today, and I look forward to going back and taking all the “before” and “after” pictures. The installation is a quick process, except for configuring the chimney. The women typically have to drill holes in the walls of their kitchens or […]