Guatemala - Habitat for Humanity

Well, this was definitely a trip to remember!

Some of our business associates have been going to Guatemala for Habitat for Humanity for several years now, and while it's been on my list of "to do's", it's just never made it to the top... until this year.

For those of your who don't know, Habitat for Humanity is a world-wide organization that helps families to build houses who would otherwise not be able to afford to do so. There are millions of people world-wide who are either living in tents, cardboard boxes, or living 10 people to a 2 room house. Most of those people have no way to afford a house with electricity, water, and indoor plumbing, but Habitat makes it possible.

Why Guatemala you ask? Why not help those people in the United States who homeless? Well, to be frank, we've got it easy in the U.S. Even the lowest level of living in the U.S. is much better than what the majority of those in Guatemala face. The average income per person is only $1,680 U.S. Dollars, and there is a housing deficit of about 1.5 million people there. That's a lot of people without homes!

So, what did I do? Well, there was a group of about 60 of us that went this year. We worked on building a total of 10 houses, and I helped build a new house for a wonderful Guatemalan couple, Nery and Lucia and their 1 month old baby boy Nery the 3rd. The colony we worked at was in Zacapa, in the town of Teculutan. We actually worked more with Nery's father, Neddie, since Nery worked a full-time job and couldn't get off (or be fired). We completed about 3/4s of the house, and the next group to arrive will finish it off for them. The house is nothing fancy, just a 4 room cinder-block house, but compared to where they're coming from, it's a palace!

It's really hard to express in words what it means to help someone in this way, and all I can say is it's something that everyone should experience at least once. They warned me when I went that you don't just do this once. Once you've done it, you'll be back to help again.

One of the things that impressed me most about the Guatemalan's was their pride in their community. When I think of a poor country, I think of streets littered with trash, and run-down dilapidated buildings everywhere. And while there was their share of run-down buildings, the towns and streets were relatively clean. Giving someone the hand up that Habitat does, and not just a hand out, let's people take pride in their community and their home. The quote from the unknown author "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime" is evident in the lives of these people.

And it wasn't all hard work while we were there, either. We visited the Mayan ruins in Quirigua as well as some beautiful waterfalls. We also got to enjoy a lot of the local food and culture, including an art museum and natural history museum, as well as dancing and singing from local artists.
















So, will I go back again? I definitely want to! The colony in Teculutan is just about finished, so there won't be any more houses to build there. But they are already looking at other land, and there are other places throughout the world that I'd be happy to go to as well. Just the experience of working with the caliber of people who volunteered their time and money to do this, and the sincerity and happiness it brings those that benefit from it, make it more than worth what I put into it!

What have we been up to lately...

This month started off with Jon going to Guatemala. Diane and I did not go, as neither of us does well heat. Guatemala gets much hotter even in March, than either of us can handle without becoming ill. You can see Guatemala on the map - it's in the lower right section.

As soon as Jon got back, we pushed in to high gear on our projects. We finalized the colors for about half the house and got the paint. I am hoping we can start painting before the end of the month.

We have been in contact with the contractor for the barn and that is moving forward. His team will put up the outside and we will customize the inside. Llamas have some similar needs as horses, but many are different. So we decided it would be easier to do that part ourselves.

The garden is moving forward. We got the lumber to make the raised beds, and our seedlings are looking good (they'd look better if Diane's cat would stop sleeping on them). She's all for sharing as long as she gets the best sunbeam. Our biggest concern is that all this white stuff is gone before we transplant the cabbage in 3 weeks. Another good reason for doing raised beds - the ground won't be frozen.

Diane's cherry tomatoes are doing well, as is her cabbage. The first set of onions is up, and the second should start sprouting any day. The broccoli is also doing very well, even though it's not in the picture. Diane's herbs are doing so so. The three that chose to grow are doing really well, the other three aren't growing at all even after a second planting.

Knowing that Diane's chickens should arrive Mon-Wed; we spent yesterday getting ready for them. She has wanted her own an egg business for about 5 years now. Back in January we got them ordered. She got 4 each of Buff Rocks, White Orpingtons, Spangled Hamburgs, and Araucanas (Easter Chickens). A neighbor agreed to fill out her order (she needed 25) and got 9 Rhode Island Reds. They are all supposed to be females, but we will see. The deal was though, that he couldn't take them now, so she will be raising his chicks as well. Here is the expandable hatchery we set up for them yesterday. It's in the basement as the barn isn't ready, and the garage and mudroom are not insulated.

With this being Maine, we wanted to experience a real Sugaring (collecting of maple sap and making it into syrup). We had hoped to have some maple trees on our place to do our own. We have the trees but they are too young. I found a place about a half hour away where we can help gather the sap, and then return another day to boil it into syrup. We decided this would be a great chance to hit the hardware store and get the extra lumber we need for the bookcases and the chick feed.

Just before we left the house, the post office several towns away called. Her chicks had been delivered to them, since the closest post office to us was closed today. We canceled the Sugaring and headed out to get her chicks (picking up some feed on the way). In case anyone has ever wondered, no, chicks do not like taking a car ride. They told us about it the whole 45 min's on the way home.



We know better than to bring an animal into the house without introducing it to Freya. It completely stresses her out and makes her ill. So we very carefully showed her the chicks. She decided they were too small to eat and they smelled funny. You have never seen a more unimpressed cat. It was very much - call me when they are big enough to eat.
We also very carefully showed the chicks to Amore - Diane's cat. Amore didn't know what to think of them. She backed away quietly. She wasn't afraid, but definitely confused by them.

Next step was the put them in the hatchery. But you can't just release them. You have to "drown" them first. You hold their beaks under water until they drink.
Not wanting dehydrated chicks we drown them.

After that we released them and let them wander about finding their food and getting warm under the heat lamp. The reason the pictures are so red/pink is because of the red light in the heat lamp. I've included one sepia print here as to make it easier to see the chicks.

At one point, Amore came down into the basement with Jon. I held her and let her observe the chicks for bit. Then Diane picked up one and let her sniff it. Amore gave it a good sniffing and decided right there and then - it was evil and to be avoided at all costs. After all she had lost her basement privileges and her Diane in one puff of fuzz. To make matters even worse, Jon was late starting the fire in the wood oven for her. Needless to say, she has spent the rest of the day pouting.

Diane has spent most of her day down with the chicks - singing and playing her zither (lap harp) for them. And reading chemistry to them.

February's News

February is always the longest month of winter. Everyone is sure we are doomed to the cold forever and there is no hint of spring in the air. Cabin fever also starts setting in. So we try and make Feb fast and furious. We don't have many pictures this month, so I stuck in a bunch of Diane's snowman's life.

We went to the 25th anniversary of Cats for early valentines. Jon and I had seen it when we lived back in Texas. It was a good production even if it did take place in the civic center in Augusta, where they play basketball. The seating could have been better though. The stadium seating ran along the side with the stage being at one of the short ends. So it have elevated seating you had to sideways to the stage. If you sat on the floor you had to dodge around the person's head in front of you.

In the middle of the month, we went to tryouts for the summer musical of the community theater. This year the musical will be Carousel. With all the other things we have going on this summer, we decided to aim at small parts or the chorus. Diane will be one of the Snow's children. Jon will play the part of the captain. And since there aren't any small women parts - I'll be in the chorus. They do try outs now to get in as many local people as they can. In June will be the "summer" people's tryouts and callbacks.

We attended a miniature show, with plans on building some of our own mini's next winter. I doubt we will have time before then.

The garden planning was in its 5th or 95th revision by that point. But by the 23rd, we started some seeds indoors. We are planning on following the square foot gardening method and using raised beds. The dirt here is mainly clay and not soil. It seemed smart to go with raised beds and bring in good soil, than to spend a year or two trying to fix what we have.

We came up with several layouts and decided on a compass rose plan with a bed of strawberries in the middle. On the north end, we will have trellises and an arbor for grapes, as well as corn. Diane will have her own squares and she is planning on have mainly purple veggies. We can't wait to see what her purple dragon carrots will look like.

We are also participating in PAR - plant a row. Except for us, it will be plant a square (actually several squares) - we never have been very good doing things the same way as everyone else does them. The idea of PAR is you plant extra seeds, and the veggies you get from them go to the local food bank. This will also be what Diane will be using for her community service project this summer.

Jon was able to nearly finish the bookcases. We need to get some more wood for some of the shelves and to make the doors. But other than that, they are finished and looking great. Here they are at various stages, including the mocked up doors for the front.


Jon and I debated over several things in the barn, but we finally decided where to locate it. It will be back behind the garage. And after several drafts we finally have a good idea of what the barn may or may not look like. By the end of the month, I had picked out the colors for painting the house, and was trying to decide if that is really what we were going to paint.

And to finish this update up - since it is rather light, we decided to share a picture of one of Diane's science projects. It's the best of the bunch, for some reason they didn't come out. But she made several elements from the periodic table (she's studying chemistry) using homemade dough. This is fluorine.


The protons are brown, electrons green, and neutrons are blue.

January's News

I’ve fallen rather beyond. It’s amazing how busy we can get and have very little to show for it.

To start things off – the rash Diane and Jon had turned out not to be the chicken pox. It lasted about a week, was gone a week, then came back. It left for two weeks then Diane got it again. We are pretty sure it’s from the hot tub and are working on resolving the problem. Otherwise the hot tub has been wonderful and we use at least every other day/night.

We have had a lot of snow this year, and it has yet to melt away so we can see the ground. There are some places under the trees that have melted off and we see patches of pine needles. So we are hopeful that spring is coming. Even so, looking out the back doors of the dining room – all you see is white, white, and more white.

As for January, Jon had an unexpected business trip to Washington, DC come up. Diane and I went with him. He had one day of meetings and one day of sight seeing, and Diane and I had two days of sight seeing.

Diane was in charge of the camera and she took pictures of the White House and the Washington Monument. She also took lots of art pictures. Here is one from the sculptures outside the “new” American Indian Museum.

The big red piece is on the mall itself and the black on is outside the Hirshhorn Museum. Unfortunately we don’t have the names of the pieces. Diane had taken pictures of the plaques, as she always does, but they were too blurry to read.

We came back and I celebrated my birthday. Nothing big, out to dinner and family games at home. The next week we went to a Chihuly exhibit. For those of you who have not seen his work, you really should check him out. He and his team do HUGE masterpieces in blown glass. We also discovered one of the disadvantages to traveling around the country so much. We have been able to see whole exhibits of just his work. We have seen room and room after room stuffed full of these organic looking glass pieces that look directly from the sea or Mars or something. So the quiet, but very nice, exhibit of modern glass blowers was a bit of a let down. There were probably 30 pieces total and less than 5 were Chihuly’s. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but you can see a lot of his work on the Internet.

We finished off the month, we a weekend cruise to Nassau. It was for business, but with time to go into the city on the day we docked. Here’s a picture of the ship and one of the Governor’s House. Since she got to baby sit a younger friend, she had a great time. Life’s rough when you spend most of the day at the pool.

Jon also started taking Spanish lesson from a lady who was in The Emperor’s New Clothes with us. He wanted to get in as much as he could before his trip to Guatemala in March for Habitat for Humanity.

The bookcases were coming along, but with so much other stuff going on, they were not completed as soon as we had hoped. We also rounded the month out with making plans for our garden – both fruit and veggies, making plans for the barn, and picking colors to paint the inside of the house.