The Cercadillo Project

Today was a bitter sweet day in Cercadillo as we celebrated the completion of a four family bathroom and said goodbye to”The Canadians”  who constructed  it.  The students from Toronto District Christian  School have spend several Saturdays tutoring children in basic math, making crafts and playing games, as well as doing this work project.

The building which you can almost see behind the group :), is basically just a roomy outhouse with an additional drain in the floor to allow people to take their buckets inside to bathe in private.  Toilets flush with a bucket of water.  This one was designed for four families that live very close, with each family having their own room with a locking door.  In the future we may build individual bathrooms.

The villagers said, “Our bathroom is much better than our house now.”

One bathroom down, at least 100 to go!

(Still waiting for the rotary drill to finish the wells. Keep praying!)

On Friday we had an excellent vegetable gardening workshop presented by men from the Department of Agriculture.  After some lecture time and a short video we went to Yolanda’s yard for hands-on learning.

First we had to prepare the ground, so we all took turns with the pick and the shovels.

Apparently I wasn’t using the pick ax correctly because after just a few swings it was taken away from me.  🙂

By the end of the workshop a model garden containing lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cilantro was completed.   All the participants left with plants to start a garden of their own.  The instructors have promised to return for more workshops and to support when needed so that the villagers are successful in raising their own vegetables.