Little Lupe

This little guy makes my heart smile!

Photos that go with "Agua Para Siempre" post found further below

Yesterday I posted about a new cooperative in Zacango but for some reason the pictures didn't load. Please find the explanation for these photos further down (after Ziko's birthday posts).

Pictures that go with "Zacango at Work" post found further on below

The Five Year Old!

Here is a collage of a few pics from Ziko's birthday that I forgot to include in his birhday posts below. From top left: Hizee gifted Ziko her sacred "Stories for 5 Year Olds" as she now deemed him "ready for these stories;" Ziko on his last night as a 4 year old; the morning of his big day; received The Drink (all 2 and a half litres of Coke) on his party day; (Bottom from left) the traditional Mexican face in the cake; receiving one of his favourite Mexican meals (picaditas or sopes) from Elvira; a birthday embrace from his good friend Selene; gathering around the cake on party day.

The Kid! Ziko Turns Five!

We can't believe that our little Bean turned five this past February! He's still our little guy and loves to be showered with hugs and kisses daily!

Ziko had a great year! He continues to be the man-about-town and becomes more Mexican by the day with his flourishing social life. Ziko loves nothing more than to be roaming the streets of Zacango with his friends popping into their houses for his fill of beans, tortillas, and salsa!

Ziko is pure joy to be around! He has a great sense of humour, asks great questions, is eager to learn and loves to play!

Ziko had an amazing party to celebrate his Big 5...check out all the photos below!

The Cakes!

The Preperations!

The Tatoos!

The Games!

The Ring!

Construction Workers

Cesar and Enrique help construct the mini fusbol table that Bruce got for the kids.

Zacango at Work

The Young Women's Newspaper Group with their new printer/photocopier that they purchased with help from the Yellowknife United Church Youth Group. They used the copier to print 50 copies of their monthly newspaper (which every household in Zacango receives free each month); and have also begun a small photocopying business in the community.

Back in December I donated my pig (to be consumed in a tastey meal of pozole) for the anual fiesta. It turns out because I hadn't had her reproductive organs removed prior to the donation (and slaughter) that her meat was deamed unsuitable at the moment of the feista and they decided to raffle her off to earn some money for the community. They later used this money to build a set of dry latrines in the community center.

The Baking Group selling their wares on Pizza Friday!

Agua Para Siempre

A new and exciting thing is happening in Zacango -- a number of community members (not all pictured here; there are 12 in total) have formed a cooperative called "Agua Para Siempre" (Water Forever, or Water For Always, depending on how you want to translate it). Bruce has been working with some of the logistics of forming the group as part of his watershed managment work in the community. The molds used to build the cement water cisterns (designed to collect rain water during the rainy season to use later during the dry season) belong to MCC and were used for many years to build the cisterns in various communities surrounding Zacango. MCC is now selling the molds to the Zacango cooperative (they have already made their first payment) and the group is able to earn a regular income (a difficult task in a subsistance farming community such as Zacango). Many men from Zacango traditionally migrate illigally to the United States in search of work -- three of the men from the group who were planning to leave for the States this summer have now said that they can remain in Zacango because they have regular work.