Blogger has been having some issues lately. My slow speed probably does not help any. Comments could no longer be left. Why does the little pencil keep disappearing, It is back again today. And I am able to post photos. Blogger still has issues however.

I appologize for not putting up more photos recently, please feel free to blame blogger, it is their fault.

Here is the center of our farms housing component, but not the center of our farm.

We had a splendid meeting today at the Voz Que Clama Mission and talked about the problems the Cabecar Indigenous face in their lives. Because the meeting was in Spanish I have asked Ray Reynolds who attended with friends to write an article sharing with you the content of today’s meeting. That will be forthcoming.

Then we went to view the new Mission building which will house the disabled Indigenous and double their capacity. Wow, it is really coming along fast. This structure is so needed. I know too many people hate to throw money at a building, I understand. But if you could actually realize the need you would want to participate. This is not a monument to men, this is a life saving facility.

Priscilla the disabled Cabecar Indigenous child was our next stop and we met this beautiful child, her mother, grandmother, and the Indigenous family they are staying with. Priscilla has probably suffered some oxygen deprivation during birth. She saw a doctor yesterday and will now go to the Children’s Hospital in San Jose where we are told that she will probably stay for about 2 months for exams and rehabilitation so that she can learn to walk for starters. Her journey is just beginning.

Blanca Rose, Priscilla’s Mother told us that this is her only child. She had a very difficult birth. Her husband went outside in January and she has never seen him again. I am still not sure where on the reservation she came from, not the villages that the Mission serves, but much farther towards Panama. They walked up and down mountains, over and through rivers for 4 days. The child’s Grandmother will also be examined soon to see what is going on with her. She does not talk, mumbles a bit, perhaps she is in shock. The baby makes her happy, it is very clear.

When the Mission goes to the reservation, (they leave before sun up tomorrow), they drive for 3 hours to Quetzal and then walk for 5 hours. When they return on Friday evening, they will be totally exhausted. Only the most fit, can make the journey. We are that exhausted just making the difficult drive to Quetzal without getting out of the car; forget the 5 hour walk a goat would have a hard time making. The men and women who will go on this trip will carry very large and long plank style boards, enough to build another wall on the smoke free house with kitchen (not sure what that means but it will have a chimney) that the volunteers are constructing. This building is to keep the Indigenous from filling their lungs with smoke from open fires in their homes that deteriorates their health, contributes to their asthma and emphysema. It is a simple model home, no illusions of grandeur or palatal manse going on here. The house is a board structure with a tin roof. The volunteers are doing a fine job and have been at it for many many months. I want to stress, this is a simple structure, a very SIMPLE structure that will be the best home on the reservation.

For Blanca Rose to have walked this journey for 4 days, with her child tied to her body with a scarf and her Mother in tow, I can’t imagine.

She has never been off the reservation, never seen cars, or a town like Tuis. (Tuis is so small if you blink you will miss it.) When my daughter drove up to the very rural house they are staying in, Blanca Rose could not believe that a woman could drive, or that a big piece of metal can move.

She fears how dangerous her journey and the hospital will be. We assure her that she and her child will be safe, we will see to it. She must remain tranquilo. I can barely imagine her level of apprehension as she is exposed to our world. It will be like landing on another planet with no knowledge of their atmosphere.

There were a number of starving skeletal dogs in the yard. A few chickens in mailbox like coups laying eggs. I took a 10 year old boy’s photo and showed it to him. He had never seen himself before and was thrilled, shy, laughed and covered his face. Cute kid.

I had the urge to take them all home with me, even the starving dogs. I thought of Alison my dog rescue friend in La Flor who has too many dogs and not enough dog food. She is going broke being a dog angel rescuing those unfortunate animals that are not living the good life in Costa Rica.

If you live in the San Jose area perhaps you would volunteer to be an advocate for Blanca Rose and her child. We don’t think that she can stay in the hospital at night with her baby. Blanca Rose can not be left alone in San Jose either. She has no skills in our world. NONE! She speaks some Spanish, she needs acts of kindness to hold her hand, make sure she eats, and that she and her child are safe.

If you can find the heart to volunteer and help, this may be the most rewarding time in your life. Please contact me at ginnee@gmail.com

Blessings,

Ginnee

My friend Dave asked me if I did my own website (blog) and how hard was it to do. Well, on a good day Dave, when google has no issues, and my browser is working properly, or if I have not tried something new that crashes the site, it is kind of easy, until it is not easy any more.

My first computer’s memory was tape recorder. So I have been at this for a while, although not always successfully. I must admit that the computer learning process does not come natural for me. I think it should be more free flowing in my head conceptually. The problem always seems to be when there is a problem. Is it me? Is it Internet Explorer? Is it Blogger? Try it in FireFox, does it work there? Where did the little pencil go? It was there last night! Who or what changes this stuff while I am sleeping? Fixing my crash can take far longer than my brilliant idea as I backtrack what I did. Not always that easy for me depending on how many steps and code changes I made.

Like the time I came up with the brilliant idea of having Frankie Laine break out in the theme song to the old Rawhide TV show (Clint Eastwood) when the photos of my Brahman cows came up on my blog. Crash!!! It took me several weeks to undo that mistake and move forward. I wanted to beat my head against a brick wall. I had spent several weeks trying to get the music from the internet. Why am I blocked from some sites just because I do not live in the US? What does that have to do with anything? “We detect that you are in a foreign country!” Yeah, so what! What does that have to do with a free download? I am a political refuge, feel my pain.

Now, I believe that I again know how to do have Frankie singing to my cows, a different technique than before, but so far the desire has not totally taken over my sensibilities and I still remember the pain of my last big mistake all to well.

Good idea to back up your blog, and then back up your widget code as well.

Earth University is located in Guapiles, Costa Rica. Started by the Kellogg Foundations it is a 5 year agricultural university with students from all over the world. 80% of the students are on scholarship with the intent to go back to their countries and improve production for their farmers through organic, sustainable farming practices.

We just returned from Earth U. this week. Our farm participated in an enterprise program with Earth. The students determined what native species of hard wood trees should, would and could be in our forest, they then propagated those seeds for us. We purchased these 5,000 small trees (seedlings) from them and will now plant them on the farm, in the forest, and in an area that we will reforest.

This project is not a tree plantation, but a true reforestation project that will not be cut down. Many of the “reforestation” projects that offer you an investment opportunity do not reforest, they are plantations. Let’s call it what it is. If you’re going to cut it down, you did not reforest. Teak is not a native species; it is ugly, and not desirable for reforestation.

We are so close to moving into the new house. I asked Phil if we could move in next weekend and in fact that will be pushing it. I am ready to go even though it will not be totally completed for months yet. Cabinetry needs to be made and installed, and we will get to it when we get to it. I am okay with that. My husband made my kitchen island with prep sink, and I love it. It is perfect for making bread. I like to make bread; I find it meditative and artistic. Most of my loaves are braided as I think they are more attractive that way, and they take less time to bake. I don’t eat much bread, making it is simply my art, and everyone else loves to eat it. I grind my own grains using what we have available in my area of my country or using what is grown and dried on my farm.

Phil also made our composting toilet for the bathroom. Love it! He did a great job. Everybody should own a composting toilet; there are so many reasons to do so. You are not polluting your ground water may be one of the best reasons. It does not smell, and makes excellent fertilizer when properly composted for a period of time. You can have as many toilets as you want or need, anywhere you need them, including emergency medical situations in your home where the patient may not be able to get to the bathroom for various reasons. A compost toilet can be a port-a-potty and you can make it the exact height you want it for easy up and down access. Very clever. I never liked those very low toilets, they are uncomfortable and not practical.

We could have had a conventional toilet, we are plumbed for it, we chose not to do so. Some of my old Norte Americano friends are not so adventuresome and not hip to this very green concept. They are thinking Jiffy John, no no, this is different. We “flush” with sawdust, or a sawdust and clay mixture. We can also use EM, effective microorganisms. EM is made at Earth University in my country, and we use it at the farm for many things. When sprayed where the cows do their business, there is no smell and flies are not attracted to the area. We capture the cow poop, put it in the biodigester, and then spray down the corral area with EM.

Now that we have built a new home at our farm, we installed a biodigester several months ago. My cows give us methane and we have that hooked up to gas stoves, I hope to hook up my gas dryer to it also.

Our small hydropower plant provides electric for lights and recharging. We will update the hydro plant in the near future. Because we are off the grid, we must be responsible for our own needs. There are many ways you can go, but we wanted to keep costs and maintenance down to a minimum. Our unlimited water supply enables the hydro-power year round.

Priscilla needs your help. Please?

Indigenous Baby Needs Your Help

By Elise Sonray
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A young mother fearing her baby would be murdered, fled from her village on a treacherous journey to find help this week. She arrived to safety Wednesday, and now people in the area are asking for help and a doctor.

A family strangled their 5-year-old-boy because he could not walk on the Chirripó Indian reserve, said a expat neighbor. The young mother, Blanca Rosa, feared her 2-year old daughter, whose left hand is limp and who does not talk, would be next. She fled the village and walked for four days with her child and mother to the nearest non-Indian community, said the neighbor.

Blanca Rosa carried her baby Pricilla over raging rivers and helped her feeble mother climb over rugged terrain until they reached safety, said Ginnee Hancock, who lives on a farm below the mountainous reserve and is involved with the Voz Que Clama Mission http://vqcmission.com, the nearest settlement in the area.

Many of the Cabécar Indian people believe any sort of disability is sign of an evil spirit, said Ms. Hancock. One woman was told that she should kill her son who had cerebral palsy, said Ms. Hancock, adding that the mother was told to stop feeding her son so he'd die faster. Ms. Hancock also said that without enough food, villagers may believe they cannot afford to feed those unable to work.

There is a young man who lives at the mission who suffered a spinal cord injury when he fell out of a tree. The boy is covered in scars from head to toe, said Ms. Hancock, because his own family tried to beat and stone him to death.

Since the mission is already over its legal capacity of residents, Blanca Rosa, her baby, and her mother Roxana are staying nearby in the home of an Indian family. Ms. Hancock said she plans to have a doctor see Priscilla at William Allen Hospital in Turrialba today. But, she added a specialist will most likely be needed to diagnose the child's medical condition. Since the family has no money, Ms. Hancock needs to find a doctor in Costa Rica willing to help, she said.

“Priscilla is almost 2 and is severely underdeveloped. She cannot walk or crawl, is not trying to talk at all and has a hard time focusing,” reported Ms. Hancock. “Her eyes . . . my daughter says it is as if there is nothing there . . . the fist never unclenched. The fingers did flex out when my daughter opened the fingers, so they can open, but the child could not keep the fingers open.”

The entire Cabécar village is especially in need of rice and beans right now, said Ms. Hancock. She said she has contacts in San José who could deliver the food to Turrialba. If anyone could donate it would be greatly appreciated, said Ms. Hancock.

For more information those interested can contact ginnee@gmail.com. Donations into the mission's bank account can be made via Pay Pal at http://vqcmission.com/

“The directors of the mission take no salary. All money donated goes to help the Cabécar, the rural poor around Tuis and the Cabécar on the reservation,” said Ms. Hancock. A.M. Costa Rica featured the sprawling, remote reserve in a news story in February.

Erika is having breakfast at the Orchid Cafe in Turrialba.

Wild ducks at the farm

Erika is picking "alien" vegetables that will be stuffed with meat.

Phil picking ajote in the organic garden.

We are cooking with gas, methane gas provided by our cows. The kids from Earth U came for a weekend and this is the result, our biodigester. Now we need to build a roof over it.

We are almost finished bulding our 2nd prefab concrete and steel home at the farm. It takes 90 days minimum to build any prefab house if nothing goes wrong like, rains, floods, availability of supplies, workers show up, you have power. It is the rainy season right now. If it only takes 88 days to build, your lucky. Allow 90+ and be safe at least in your head.


The foundation: That is assuming site work is done. Such as your pad is raised, so your not flooding when the rains come. Remember, as a foreigner, your standards are higher than theirs, much higher, it just is. Our caretaker house was supplemented with a house pad made with concrete blocks and rebar, filled with river rocks and then stuccoed. This added to the time involved and the cost. Our farm crew gathered all of the rock from the river, truckload after truckload. The package price just builds it there, wherever there is. You still must remain smarter then your "contractor", and always be thinking a week or more out. If not, you will get what you get. The caretaker house without the foundation we put in would not have been a good thing. They contractors would have put it there however, no problem.

Make sure the exterior doors are exterior doors. Locks, you pick them out or hire a lock guy. Make sure they open the way you want them to, I swear no one here is thinking about how doors should open. When you have a small space you needed to use that interior space for you, not for your doors to swing in. Have a large overhang over every exterior door, so the door and people under it stay dry. Perlin does not attract termites, we use it. Termites are a problem in the rainforest. We used fibrolite (concrete board with no asbestos) for our ceilings, I like it and it can be interestingly arranged. Later we may add a bamboo ceiling over it. Your ceiling does not need to be a flat one inside your home, it can be cathedral like. Ours is, our caretakers is not. Add insulation to the ceiling. It is an extra cost, but the rain is so loud you can not hear yourself think, and it eliminates (or helps to eliminate) condensation.

There is no problem with prefab homes, the problem in general is a Central American culture problem, no one is thinking beyond this moment, in many instances.

Here are the questions I now ask regarding everything: What does that mean? And what does that mean to me? Learn to ask them out loud, demand the answer to your satisfaction, take the question to the 10th degree, I don't care how long that takes, now get it in writing. Asking these question before the disaster happens is a good thing. Remember, your level of expectation is higher than their level. Way higher. You can not leave them to build it like you want it and expect that it will happen.

An owner I know of built a house (not prefab), he went there on weekends to visit it. The site was prepared, the house was to be started on Monday, he came back the next weekend and it was facing a different direction. The contractor said, I thought it would look better this way. The owner was so angry, and he later sold the house.

Our friend had a pond dug in. It was all planned, and the backhoe guy knew where it was to go, it was staked out, he went back to other work on the farm and when he returned in the afternoon, the pond was in a different place. The backhoe guy said, I liked it over here better. That pond was filled in and redug at the operator’s expense. The house was never turned around.

Poco a Poco the house is coming along. The ceiling is being installed over the insulation, and I hope that sometime next week that phase will be completed. We are down one man, he left abruptly for another shortsighted opportunity. Oh well.

This presented a problem because our primary worker who came with that employee, now had no transportation. Another construction worker has a motorcycle but the shocks were so bad it sat on the tire with two men on it. So we bought him a new set of shock for his motorcycle, the cost of getting a house built, and now they come to work together. Ya do what ya gotta do.

It is a beautiful blue sky morning with a few clouds floating around the volcano. 62 degrees when I woke up and we are off to Turrialba for an adventure.

It is winter, we are about 10 degrees north of the equator, so it should technically be summer, but it is not. The deciduous trees are bare here in the summer and filled with leaves in the winter. It is just the way it is. I love winter here, a bit more rain in the afternoon and evenings but the temperatures are perfect for us.

I bought a new car, a 1974 Toyota Landcruiser BJ40 with a 2.7 liter diesel engine. How cool is this vehicle? It is as strong as a tank. Crosses rivers, has high clearance, is not hard to drive, I love it. Why would anyone prefer a Hummer to this?

My daughter Erika has rented a lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with an additional guest house. Rural Costa Rica is much cheaper than San Jose and Gringo Gulch. It is just hard to find these nuggets because it is all about whom you know and who they know. You never see a sign or advertisement for these sweet locations.

Life is moving forward for her, I suspect that in the future she will only visit with me at the farm or come for an occasional overnight stay. She has her life to live, and now she has her own business packaging, providing, marketing and managing tours for groups and individuals throughout Costa Rica.

I would give her furniture for the new house, but we brought no furniture to Costa Rica. So we will donate 2 beds and a folding table, with time we can make practical furniture for her home. Felipe says I should give her one of our loved bamboo sofas so that she has something to sit on. Okay….

Felipe has been hard at it building my kitchen island and composting toilet in the evenings after a hard days work at the farm. What a guy! He is doing a really nice job.

Wood in Costa Rica is not dried properly so we are doing the drying process ourselves. If you are building here, you should know this and plan now.

I just made perfect whole wheat pita’s. What fun! They cook up in less than 6 minutes and taste fantastic. I will give the recipe’s owner his due credit, Saad Fayed, this is a wonderful recipe. Here is the link for all of you who want to try, do it, you will be amazed. http://mideastfood.about.com/od/breadsrice/r/wholewheatpita.htm?p=1 I love Middle Eastern food and Pita’s have so many uses. We will have these for dinner this evening with pickled onions and kalabasa sausage with greens.

I love to cook, and out here in the middle of nowhere, it is nice to have those things that make you smile. Like, organic whole wheat pita fresh from your oven with something wonderful tucked inside. They remind me of my young hippie days at rock concerts. Now we are just old hippies, living off the grid because we want to get away from noise, the rat race (rats never win), and do something meaningful in our lives.

Today my husband Felipe and his men are mining sand out of the river. There is none to be bought, so they strung up a cable, like a zip line and they fill buckets with sand and zip back across the river right into the back of our big truck. One Home Depot bucket at a time, my walls will soon have enough sand to be plastered. Yes!!!

Here is Helen Thompson's latest article about the Cabecar. http://backpackingcostarica.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/hiking-out-to-the-hidden-cabecar-people/ Most people just don't understand the plight of these people. 2 dentists, 30,000 people, it is a rough skin to have been born into. So much need, so little caring, and no resources.

The Voz Que Clama Mission is expanding, they will be able to house 17 disabled Indigenous residents and provide more services (kind words, direction, intervention and lots of prayer) to those Indigenous who come for help. The bare bones price due to the rising construction materials cost and the need to meet the disabled person's law is $250,000.00 US. More money than any Costa Rican in Tuis will ever see in their lifetime. So we are looking to raise money. Today's meeting was excellent, we will have Bingo, raffles, BBQ's, lots of fun community stuff, and they will try their best, but they have nothing. The people have pledged to give $50.00 per family, per year for 6 years. I am not sure how many family's that will be, it is just a little Mission of very poor people and the Indigenous don't have a colone to their name. But they are going on faith, that the Lord will see how hard they are trying and like the fish and the bread, he will provide because he knows how big the need is.

Please pray for the Voz Que Clama Mission in Tuis. Today they made their thermometer and marked it at $38,000.00. The Mission has saved up that much money since 2002, a miracle in itself. Hector the Director of the Mission, squirrels away every dime and neither Hector nor Daniel have ever taken a paycheck.

Today is the 6th of the month and already there is no milk for the coffee that I brought for the meeting. Nothing is more important than providing services to the people. I drank my coffee black, the voice had told me to bring milk and I did not listen, I said it is the 6th of the month, surly they will have milk. I know I should always listen to the voice, when will I learn that lesson?

Life is such a challenge for so many here. I feel blessed to learn of their needs, to listen to their hearts and to at least be able to share their plight with others while we pray for a miracle.