Hydroponic boxes built (with love) in Las Chacaras

Amy and Jani Suara

Soon-to-be moms

Pig pen with 'bodega' for food and supplies in background

Reyna shares her birthday

Working together
Nearly completed hydroponic vegetable boxes

Last week, a group from Portland brought comraderie and a sense of purpose to the villagers in Las Chacaras as they worked together building hydroponic boxes to grow vegetables. They worked hard - shoulder-to-shoulder - training Mauricio and Andres and Cesar and many others how to build the boxes. They will be able to eat better and have means of income.
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This team's home church funded the microloan to finance the pig project. They were able to see the pigs, buy more food for them, and be able to visualize the project. We all await the upcoming births of ??? piglets on Dec 16th, Dec 26th, and Jan 5th. They plan to raise the little pigs (cerditos, chanchitos) and then sell them once they are weaned. These proceeds will pay off their loan and allow them to have cash enough to begin again, but this time there will be no loan ... just the upkeep of food and vaccinations and then profit!

Lily Helms was the youngest member on the team, and she had a great time playing in the mud (on purpose), and making friends with a 'free range' pig named "Tocinito" (or "little bacon). Lily entertained the people of Las Chacaras, who may still be unsure why a child would want to #1 play in the mud, #2 play with a pig, #3 put on boxing gloves and play with the boys ... ad infinitum. Though the two cultures are different, all of us - kids and adults alike -experienced NO barriers. We were bound by love and sense of purpose.

Much more than boxes were built ... relationships were. The team baked a cake for Reyna's 23rd birthday, and celebrated with a customary piñata. We spent time together in a beautiful (but poor) setting, backdropped by banana trees, mangoes, guayabas etc. We washed and cut hair (we finished one haircut by the light of an iPhone when darkness descended quickly!), crocheted, visited with neighbors and learned to love on a different level. We held babies and applied lip gloss to little girls - hugged and held them. We enjoyed "Eskimo" ice cream from a cart pushed by the owner/vendor, and took another break to try the national treat of 'raspados' when that cart rolled into the village. Raspados is shaved ice with your choice of flavored syrups on top. We had crushed pineapple in honey, and/or dulce de leche.

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Farewells were hard, but this one was more like a 'see you later.' The team and their church is committed to Las Chacaras, so everyone knew the truth of the words, "Hasta Luego."