Year THREE in Zacango here we come...







Monday, February 22, 2010

Valentine's Day Camp OUt

We packed up our donkey Taco and...

headed out just beyond....
these hills that surround Zacango for a Valentines Day campout. People teasingly vowed that we'd be eaten by tigers at night but we managed to make it back the next day, all limbs in tact.
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Hizee's Friends

Hizee and Maria with a bucket of washed pozole maize off to help Maria's mom make pozole (a soup made with pork broth and maize corn).
Anaisa and Hizee
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Community Clean-Up

Last weekend Zacango had a big garbage clean-up. The kids had a tonne of fun cleaning up with their friends.


Enjoying some healthy refreshments after the clean-up. ha, ha
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Our baby girl is growing!




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Friday, February 5, 2010

SHE'S HERE!!!!!

This past Tuesday our beautiful baby burrita (female donkey) was born!!! The kids have named her Cesina (to go with the food theme for our donkey's names Taco, Salsa and now Cesina, which is pounded salt beef). We think she is UNBELIEVABLELY cute and are thoroughly enjoying watching her and playing with her daily!


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Birth Collage

We were super excited to see our little burrita being born. It just so happened that we had tied both donkeys outside of the community hall that day and hadn't yet brought them back up the hill to the pasture. There was a community meal that night at the hall and after the meal we went home and left the donkeys by the hall as it was too late to bring them to their pasture. We were settling in for night snack when our friend Enrique came to tell us that Salsa was having her baby. So it turned into a community event! Everyone was impressed by her curls!
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Classes in Zacango

Literacy classes with Maria

Young adults English class: Rocio, Maria, Gabriela, and Maricruz















Teresa and Doricela on the computer. The students really love the Rosetta Stone English program on the computer.
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Kids English Class



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Watershed Managment

Right now Bruce is helping to facilitate a Community Led Watershed Managment Plan (CLWMP) in Zacango which would see Zacango make plans for their current and future use of their water sources and surrounding environment. He is super excited about the whole process and could probably explain everything a whole lot better than I can but he's not much of a blogger so I guess these few pictures and small explanation will have to suffice.
Recently, the Watershed Managment group from Zacango took a field trip to the community of Jaguay to learn about their CLWMP.


One component of Jaguay's plan involves a project where women turn old maize corn husks into dried floral arrangments.
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Zacango tiene un periodico!!!! Zacango has a newspaper!!!


One of the most exciting things that we're a part of in Zacango right now is working together with a group of young adults to produce a newspaper for the community! The paper will come out monthly and is still nameless as the inaugural issue included a contest to help name the paper. There are few opportunities for people to obtain reading material here so the newspaper will serve as a way to increase literacy skills, build community pride, and serve as a forum to talk about water issues.
Here is a collage of the reporter's profile pictures from the paper. From top left: Estela, Gabriela and Maricruz, Doricela. From bottom left: Blanca and Selene, Hilario, Rocio and Rosa, Cristina (with Betual and Antonio...Cristina reports on kids events in the community and has a kids contest page).
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Grand Opening of the Office and Newspaper

The newspaper crew assembling the newpaper before the big launch!

Taking a sneak peek at the paper before it is distributed.
Mayor Luis makes a speech before cutting the ribbon to the office.
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