Francisco Santiago Gordon lives in the village of Xamoxan about a half hour walk above Chel. He is pictured here with his family in front of their home. We met in late 2010. He had heard of our different projects and wanted to ask for personal help to establish some type of business to better provide for his families. Francisco was born with an abnormality that caused his hand to grow extremely large. This disability made it virtually impossible for him to find hired work among his neighbors. We talked about different possibilities to start a business and I told him I would go and look for a sponsor so we could offer a micro loan when I returned in February 2011. Back in Washington State I mentioned this need to a neighbor who gladly offered the $250 needed to finance this loan. So in February Francisco and I set down and worked out a business plan and loan agreement. T.R.E. does not make very many micro loans but we are grateful when the need and finances are matched up because these loans can truly be life changing. It is quite a process to develop a business plan and explain the good and bad points of taking out a loan to someone who has never done either. When we offer loans there are without interest and although we want the payment plan not to be burdensome we want to see the debt cancelled as soon as possible.

Pictured here is the plan Francisco decided to do. He barrowed 4 cuerdas of land from his brother and planted them in a crop called cardamom which is a spice that originated in India. On another 3 cuerdas of land he owns he planted both cardamom and coffee plants. His reasoning was that the barrowed land would be used for three to four years when the cardamom would finally stop producing but his personal property which also was planted in coffee would continue to produce for 10 years. These 7 cuerdas that he planted are roughly equal to one acre.

He bought first year cardamom starts and planted 72 plants per cuerda on the four barrowed acres. They will have a small harvest this year. Next year’s harvest should produce about 500 pounds of seeds which will sell for around 40 cents a pound. For a total estimated harvest of $200

On his own property he planted 250 coffee starts and 72 cardamom starts per cuerda. The coffee will start producing well its fourth year and the expected yearly harvest will be about 100 pounds per cuerda. Prices always very but it normally sells for a dollar to dollar fifty per pound. This harvest will net Francisco $300-$450. ( the long leafed plants are cardamom, the darker leafed bush is coffee and the white trunked tree in the background offers shade for the coffee and firewood for the family.

Francisco has done an excellent job investing this money

Francisco here is holding some cardamom seeds, seeds of hope. There is always a risk with offering a loan. $250 is a huge sum to Francisco and it is a notable amount to my neighbor. But when I think of what it take for me to earn $250 and how much it can benefit someone like Francisco who earns $3 a day it is worth the risk.

Francisco has already paid ½ of the loan back and will pay the other half next spring. The gift my neighbor gave is being reinvested in the lives of others and Francisco will reap the benefits for many years. Our small acts of kindness can produce long lasting results for those who will add their labor to those gifts. T.R.E. is not a large organization but a personal one. Last spring your gifts helped us distribute $10,000 worth of animals to needy farmers in this area. This fall we want to once again bring a blessing of relief to share with these friends. I like to think that our help is like giving tools that the villagers can add their labor and efforts to bring about a better future. 100% of all donations go directly into these projects. They are than multiplied by the effort of people like Francisco and the whole family benefits. Please consider donating either through our web site or by snail mail. It will make a difference. Thank-you Michael The Ripple Effect inc 9712 Kopachuck Dr NW Gig Harbor Wa. 98335

Sheep in Nueve Puntos

In March we purchase 22 sheep from Hue-Huetenago and transported them to Nueve Puntos. Hue-Hue is at least 7 hours away but we wanted to buy a better breed than was avalliable locally. The breed chosen normally births twins and the adult sheep are almost twice the size of the local breed. The extra expense to transport them is well worth the price as now we will have breeding stock for future projects. Two of the sheep were delivered in Chel to some widows and the rest brought to Los Encuentros by pick-up and then walked the rest of the way to Nueve Puntos. Starting down the trail toward Nueve Puntos They sheep did not like the muddy trail Offering them a lift through the mud hole Break time When this lamb showed signs of being tired he was quickly offered a ride Arrivng in the village A view of my boots. These old boots have traveled over a lot of trails. Once everyone and the sheep were rested we tied numbers to each of the lambs so we could distribute them by lottery A corresponding number was written on a separate piece of paper and put into my hat. Pedro selecting his number. Chico making friend with the black lamb. A happy new owner. Securing his animal with a home made rope made from vines from the forrest A heart felt thank-you

Here in the Northwest we are bedding down all our gardening but not so in Guatemala. The villages where we work are located between 3,500 and 5,000 feet in elevation in the mountains. The climate is temperate not tropical and the seasonal change is more affected by the rainy and dry seasons than our winter- summers temperature fluctuation. December is the start of the dry season and a good time to begin planting. This month we are helping 54 families enter the new growing season by establishing personal garden.

DIEGO"S GARDEN IN NUEVE PUNTOS
34 of the families are from the women’s collective and the other 20 live in Nueve Puntos. This is the third time we have help in Nueve Puntos and when I ask if they wanted to participate again the replied “Por cierto! Cuando nos ayuda comemos rico!” –“For sure when you help us we eat rich!

YOUNG GIRL WITH A BREAKFAST OF BEANS
I know they feed me the best that they have when I visit and often we have festivals but truthfully the diet is very bland. Not only is it low in variety but it is lacking in many important nutrients.

MICHAELS GARDEN IN WASHINGON STATE
I garden a small space next to my house and a family of five could eat their fill from it all through the season. In Guatemala we want to develop a continuous harvest for 9 months out of the year and revolutionize their diet.

So we are organizing a three year program that we hope to offer up to 150 families. It would have classes for instruction in soil fertility, planting time, and harvest procedures. It would also offer seeds and supplies like this women and her son are carrying here.

Last Spring we grew and gave out over 1,000 vegetable starts from a small nursery in Las Flores. This year the village of Nueve Puntos and the women’s committee in Chel both are starting nurseries.

Our Christmas present this year for these women is seeds, starts and more chicken wire so they can increase their garden sizes from 25x15 feet to 25x30 feet. This size of a garden spot is about half the size of the test plot I am farming intensively in Washington State. When soil fertility has been improved and sound gardening practices established we hope to have set such a great example that personal vegetable gardens will become a way of life in this region.

This is a work in progress as step by step we work toward sustainable horticulture that will fill the nutritional gap in their diets. We invite you to join us and sponsor a family’s journey toward better health. $35 supports a family garden for one year with seeds, starts, and fencing.

You can support us buy donating online at http://therippleeffectinc.org/ or mail your check to The Ripple Effect @ 9712 kopachuck Dr NW Gig Harbor Wa 98335. Remember 100% of your tax deductable donation is used in the project. TRE is a direct link to fight poverty family to family.

Enjoy these past photos of our garden poject.

Turning the rocky soil.

Filling bags with dirt for growing starts.

I am always amazed that small gifts can become significant. One small bag and one small seed will become vegtables for more than one meal.

A happy gardener heads home with the tools to help feed her family.

The nursery in Chel.

handing out seed wraped in newspaper.

Jala a Las FLores Part two

This blog is the second half of our entry made in July 2010. This November we have celebrated the completion of two village water systems. This one chronicled here and another in the village of Nueve Puntos. It is a great accomplishment that will better the lives of around 1,000 people for many years to come. Enjoy the photos of the work accomplished and lives changed. The photo above is of the collection tank built at the mountain spring 8,000 feet behind and 400 feet higher than the village.

Our blog chronicles part of the work done to bring this source of clean water down and across the mountain to villagers like this girl. The work, distances and cost have been great but what a reward to see clean water at in front of each home.

Remember over 1,500 100 pound sacks of sand cement and gravel were carried up the hill to build the two tanks

And that over 30,000 feet of piping and ditch were hand dug and laid.

In October Michael visited the two water projects to help bring them to completion and one of the first jobs in Las Flores was to suspend metal piping to cross the small stream of Xesalli. Picture here is our go to assistant Andres at the foot bridge.

Two concrete towers were constructed to suspend cable and 3” galvanized pipe above the water way. Here they are pictured before the forms were removed

A villager is placing the cable on top of one of the towers.

While the work group was stringing the cable and piping Michael lead a group back up to the spring to make some final connections and open the gate valves to clean and test the piping between the spring and crossing. The system has 5 concrete lids like this one which in hind sight could be have been made a little lighter.

After the enormous amount of work done this was the first time the water would travel down the hill. It was exciting for everyone to see the force of the clean water running out of the piping.

We had rain most days during this month. This man makes use of one of the natural umbrellas that are in the jungle around us.

Here we are passing the piping across the stream.

Michael is basically cheap. This quality has good points but at times presents it own challenges. He did not want to spend $120 for two pipe clamps big enough to tighten 3 inch pipe and felt they could make due lashing poles to the pipe. This did not work at all. A large “C” clamp helped but still did not finish the job.

Our solution turned out to be a human pipe clamp! Centered in this photo is Manuel Ramirez our program director.

A project like this is impossible without many hands. Here we are lifting the connected pipes.

And placing them through each tower.

Pictured above is Domingo our mason. He spent 50 days managing the concrete work often from 6 in the morning to 6 at night. The total cost for his labor was a little over $500. Here one of his community volunteer days he is connecting the cable and pipe with rebar hangers.

Manuel Lopez surveys the water flow on the other side of the crossing. He has donated over 70 days on this project and without his help it would not have happen. It takes strong dedicated leaders to be partners with us. In total this crossing is 120 feet long.

Our July blog described the beginning of the building of this storage tank positioned half way between the village and spring. It is the biggest tank we have seen in this region. Both the village and TRE are extremely proud of the craftsmanship and design of this system. It will serve the community well for many years.

Michael the mayor and mason inside the tank before our final cleaning. When the water entered the tank it sounded like a jet taking off. We tried to measure the flow and it filled a five gallon bucket in about one and a half seconds!

After the tank was filled we resumed the work of digging trenches and laying pipe.

This time however was different because we were entering the village. The mood often was festive and the goal near.

After travelling 6,000 feet this father digs the final few feet to connect his home to the spring.

This man was forced to patrol for the army during the war when his arm was shattered by a bullet. Now with 13 dependents in his home how will he ever escape poverty?
Michael connecting a faucet, which was one of the very fulfilling parts of his time there. He was touched as he visited the homes, was offered gifts of bananas and free lunches. The effort to see these projects happen seems small in comparison to the level of poverty he saw as he travelled the muddy hillsides.

We purchased and installed 154 new faucets and repaired 30 existing ones.

Water faucets for families not for just numbers in a program.


Michael describes this photo”Here I am passing a letter of completion to the water committee. TRE has spent over $15,000 on this project and the local government has provided the same amount in piping and I ask the question what have we done? The amount of money, the distance of piping and sheer weight of all the loads carried seems impossible. But here we are after many small steps we have made a long jouney. When the water entered the village’s main line and I walk through to the far side of the community everywhere I saw faucets spewing for clean water with great pressure. Fathers, mothers and children all signaling that they had water, smiling, waving and shouting I released we did it, we did it! Las Flores has clean drinking water! Water to families like the one below. We have embraced the poor, shared of our wealth, loved our neighbor. It felt like winning, it felt right.

After one year of work the goal is here. Water to 200 homes like this one.