Fence

The fence finally went in! JAJAJA! The men and a few women showed up around 8am and work actually began at 9am. First, I must say the community bought all the materials and donated their time. I said I could pay but they said that they would collect money from the town and pitch in more themselves. I expected the fence to be done while I was gone but in hindsight I was glad to be around for the building day.

As they worked outside, I cooked inside. I agreed to cook lunch for the 20 people a few days ago. The only thing I could think to cook for that many people on my little two burned stove was chili. I started cooking beans last night and did about 4 batches of beans in my pressure cooker. This morning I borrowed a huge pot from my neighbors and adding the veggies, meat, and seasonings. It all came together in the nick of time. I wasn’t too sure if all the people would like my food but everyone finished it and some even had more. Of course I made too much so I will be eating chili for a few days. This afternoon I gave a bowl to my little neighbor friend who just laughed. She is only 11 but I’m sure she cooks much better than me.

I just need a lock on the gate and I now have a secure fence! The only bad news is that I won’t be getting help to build my latrine until the END of February! GRRR! I said I could just do it but they all said they are interested in learning about it and could I wait and show them about the dry composting latrines…I agreed. Yes, I will have to wait another month but they actually seemed genuinely interested in learning so I will take another month of my sick-nasty flooded latrine in order to promote the sanitary ones.

In progress

Everyone that helped

My delicious chili