Toady was a little different kind of day but very rewarding in a little different way. Today we met up with a representative of Behrhorst. Behrhorst is a foundation that raises money to bring clean water, restrooms, and cooking stoves to remote Mayan villages up high in the mountains. The representative was going to take our group to two remote villages. The first village would be one they were still trying to raise money to help, and the second one would be a village that they had helped about three years ago. Heather and I were very excited to get to go see the villages because that quite possibly could be what it was like where Karter was born. We loaded the bus and headed up the mountain.
Our journey was a couple hours long so we ate sandwiches on the bus because there would not be anywhere else to eat. As we climbed the mountain, the view was absolutely amazing. We began to get into more of the farming areas and could see the work that went in to raising their crops. We saw small fields of lettuce, cabbage, carrots, peas, corn, squash, watermelons, as well as other crops... all planted, cared for, and harvested by hand. We would see workers out in the fields with hand tools taking care of the crops. When they saw out bus, many of them would stop, smile and wave to us. Again, there was no hint of complaining, frustration, or felling sorry for themselves. They were simply doing their job and taking time to smile and wave to some people driving by.
We continued up the mountain as the road turned to stone pavers and then to dirt. After a couple hours, we arrived at our first destination. A small village of about 60 homes. We got off the bus and we were greeted by the President of the village who would show us around and explain some of their needs and ways of life. He took us to a large concrete "pool" that was probably 3 feet tall, 8 or 9 feet wide, and 10 - 15 feet long. It was filled with water and had some concrete "pads" on the top. There was another structure much the same right behind it. As we approached, we noticed a lady there washing clothes on one of the pads in the water. Then, they began to explain that this was the only water in the village. They used this water for everything including cooking, drinking, cleaning, washing clothes, bathing, watering crops, drinking water for animals, and anything else they needed water for.
The water supply came from a spring higher up on the mountain and was brought down to this "pool" by what appeared to be a garden hose. Where the water entered the "pool" there was a small PVC pipe. This is where the women filled their jars with water for their homes.
The President had one of the women come fill a jar like she would twice a day so we could see what they had to do to have water in their home. She came in with a child strapped to her back (which is how they normally carry their children) and a water jug on her head. She them filled the jug and put it back on her head to show us. Then she removed the jug and invited any of our team to come put the jug on their heads to see what it was like. We found out that this jug, full of water, weighed about 25 pounds. I cannot imaging walking around with that on my head, and she did it twice a day, everyday, and had to walk up and down the mountain to get from her home to the pool, and back to her home. And don't forget, she also did this with a 20-30 pound child on her back. Then, we found out that this was just the medium sizes jug she uses... There is an even bigger one.
She told us that sometimes the jugs will fall off of the women's heads if they stumble or something. When this happens, she said many times it will hit their babies they are carrying and hurt them. I am sure that makes these women very sad, but there is no other way for them to get the water right now.
Then the President showed us how a man would carry water when he comes to get it. A man came walking in with a jug that looked to me like one of the gas cans you might see strapped to the back of a Jeep. I am not sure how much water it held, but I would guess 10 gallons or more. There were a couple ropes fastened around the tank to form a kind of sling to hold it in. Then there was a small pad on part of it that we learned wrapped around the forehead, and that is how he would carry the water. No hands, just all that weight around his forehead with the tank on his back.
After watching how they have to get water, we went to look at one of their homes. It was a one room home made with adobe walls and a tin roof. As we approached, I noticed smoke coming out from under the roof. It actually looked like the home was on fire, but when we went in, we observed a woman sitting on the floor in a completely smoke filled room, cooking in what we would call a fire pit. There was no chimney, or any way for the smoke to get out. It just filtered out through whatever cracks there were in the celling and walls. The smoke was so bad, that some of our team members could not even go in. Back home, if I rolled up on that sene in our firetruck, we would not even consider going in to a situation like that without an air pack on so we could breathe! Yet there sat this little lady cooking away. It is what she does every day in those conditions. This cause a lot of long term damage to the people including problems with their eyes and lungs.
Again, I was blown away by the face that these were happy people! This lady who had absolutely nothing began offering us fresh avocados from the tree by here house. She smiled and made sure to welcome each one of us. I have found myself whining about my DVR not recording a show properly, or burning my popcorn in the microwave. We have so much more than what these people could probably even comprehend.... Yet time after time, these people continued to be happy, thankful, and wanting to share what they had with us.
We then visited their school to deliver a suitcase full of school supplies and a couple boxes of Legos for the kids. their playground consisted of a few tires, A wooden slide (even the slide part was wood) and a 2x4 with a couple other pieces of wood attached that I am guessing was supposed to be a teeter-totter. Again, we saw children smiling, laughing and having fun.
Before we left this village, we began asking what it would take to bring them water, restrooms, and cooking stoves. We found out that they have been raising money and they are only $8,000 away from being able to do all of the projects. I hope that when I return, this village is done and they will be raising money for another village.
After all the good bye's, we got back on the bus and headed to the next village. It was even farther up the mountain. In fact, it was pretty foggy at the village. Not because of fog, but because we were actually in the clouds.
This village already had clean water, restrooms, and cooking stoves as part of the project that had been completed about 3 years ago. It was amazing to see the differences between the two villages. The people still had the same smiles, they welcomed us just like before... but you could see that they were much healthier. They had good clean safe water to drink, a restroom (instead of just going on the ground somewhere), and wood stoves to cook on so their homes were not filled with smoke. Also, with the clean water part of the project, they run water to every home and give them a sink. Then they take the water that goes down the drain and run it through pipes that will take it to the fields to water the crops. It has completely changed this village. The women have been able to be more a part of the village instead of carrying water all day. That has also allowed the school to better teach the children. In fact, at this village we found that they are even teaching them some English.
So, how much does it really cost to completely transform a village? That is a good question. Of corse every village is different because of the number of homes and how spread out they might be, but for this village of 90 homes it took around $45,000. Now, that is a lot of money to be, but when you compare it to how much work is done for that price... I think it is actually very cheap.
Then it was time to head back to Antigua for the rest of our day....
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