There is currently a buzz of excitement among the women of Zacango about the baking group they have just created! About a year ago at this time a friend of mine was talking to me about the work of MCC when she questioned, “MCC has helped us to have bano secos (dry latrines), tinacos (water cisterns), English and computer classes,…what is the next project going to be.” I asked her what she would like it to be or what she dreams of doing and she responded unequivocally: “BAKE!”
The women in Zacango are amazing cooks making hand-made tortillas everyday and cooking up savoury, spicy dishes regularly. Most women cook on a clay stove with a large comal (griddle type piece of metal) in the middle for cooking the tortillas (MCC has promoted and helped build hundreds of clay stoves in the region surrounding Zacango, which use less wood and filter smoke out of the kitchen.); and some women have gas fuelled stoves/ovens. Some women also have large ovens made out of brick (resembling the ovens in those fancy wood-baked pizza joints). However, those who have gas stove are rarely use them because gas is expensive, and the big brick ovens are generally only use during the Days of the Dead celebrations in November to make tlashcalis (maize/lard cookies) and sweet bread for the ofrendas (offerings to family members and friends who have passed away). So while we have had numerous baking nights at our house (pizza, muffins, cakes, and cookies) the women have never had the chance to make the recipes in their own homes due to the lack of an oven.
Thus when I heard that MCC had an extra oven available that they were willing to lend out I asked some women if they would like to use the MCC oven and create a community kitchen. There was an overwhelming response as thirty women signed up to create the kitchen where we will have weekly meetings to test new recipes. The women each paid a small “coperacion” (sign-up fee of about $3 to fix up an old community building and fill up a tank of gas) and are free to use the oven for their personal use (to make birthday cakes, etc.) or to make things to sell in town.
Last Friday we got together to clean up the old building we’re going to use as the kitchen. The transformation that took place in the building was nothing short of astounding. One of the adobe walls of the building was crumbling so the women knocked some pieces of it down, went and gathered materials to make cement, made the cement and patched the wall! They later painted the walls with a mixture of cal and salt and in four brief hours the women had completely transformed the little adobe (clay brick) building – I was blown away! It felt like I was part of one of those home make-over shows or a scene in a Disney movie where everyone works together to the beat of a catchy tune and totally alters an environment! WOW can these women work! See the “before pictures” above and the “after pictures” below.
group in Zacango has started monitoring the water quality in and around the community. The group meets once a week for meetings and also holds a weekly film night where the community has the opportunity to watch documentaries about similar water and agricultural groups in other rural Mexican communities.
Zam and his buddies have been having nightly football (soccer) matches in the church yard. It's always neat to see how things go in phases with kids and to watch them in their intensity with the current phase...right now it's all about FOOTBALL!!!
I think I mentioned in a recent blog that we now have a kids art class. It was formally an English class for the pre-teens and teens and sort of evolved into an art class. Right now we are studying Mexican art and more specifically the art of the Huicholes -- a group of indigenous Mexicans who live in the states of Jalisco and Naryarit. The Huicholes are famous for their cuadros (little blocks of wood) covered with intricate designs crafted out of brightly coloured string (if you google the Huicholes or search them on youtube you can view their astounding work). The Huicholes also make "Eyes of God" (Ojos de Dios). The class has experimented with making both Ojos de Dios and the cuadros (Ojos pictured below; sorry, couldn't locate the picture of their cuadros).
Zam is studying space in his current home school module and his buddy Enrique came over to join him in constructing a space buggie!
Hizee got a unicorn stuffie from us for her birthday. She named her Juana and loves how her horn lights up. Juana also plays a melody and flaps her wings.
Hizee's special day started early with her three best friends Maria, Lupe, and Diana arriving at 8:30 am to help her start decorating for her party. We then headed off to Olinala with the girls to go for a swim at the pool and have a party lunch. When we got back to Zacango later on in the day we had games on the cancha and cake and popsicles in our backyard. Hizee's last guests left at around 8:30 in the evening. What a day!
so here is my attempt at Little Man on a cake. 
Games for Hizee's big day included Red Rover, the Limbo, Horse, Horse, Burro (sometimes known as Duck, Duck, Goose) and Musical chairs, amoung others. Her friend Maria got her really good when she went down to bite her cake (a Mexican birthday tradition). 
Our little Ziko man turned four a week ago and here are a few pictures from his special day! He was extra cognizant that it was his birthday this year and of all of the wonderful things a birthday can entail: cake, friends, games, presents etc. He decided that he wanted a Batman cake this year. 
Zam began this new tradition where the birthday person has their picture taken on their last day of their current age...so here is Ziko sleeping during his last night as a three-year-old. And here he is also with his birthday present (from us) "Hulk arms" as he calls them.
We started a new class in Zacango where kids get a chance to work on the computer and explore their creative side. We just started a unit on Mexican art and the kids made Ojos de Dios (God's Eyes). Pics of the art to come in the future.
We built a little coral for the donkeys and our pig around the bend and up the hill from our house and there is a HUGE mango tree in the center of the coral. Here's Zam relaxing in the tree and getting a bird's eye view of the animals.
