Contribute and Make a Difference!

Hi all!

I'd like to tell you a bit about a project I'm working on with a rural community just north of Loja, where we’d like to build a school kitchen and cafeteria. The kids in this community are really reliant on school meals to satisfy more than half of their nutritional needs, since their parents must leave early in the morning to work in agricultural and construction-related jobs. The school’s current facility is a mere closet, with antiquated equipment and severe sanitation issues, making cooking very difficult and unsanitary. The children often receive an insufficient quantity of food, and many of the children are suffering from stunted growth and illness due to food contamination and nutrient deficiencies. Parents and teachers want to help eliminate these nutrition and health problems and are extremely motivated to build a new kitchen and cafeteria where nutritious meals can be prepared and served to their children. The facility will also serve as an educational center for hands-on classes to empower teachers, students and parents with new cooking, nutrition, and food safety information that can be integrated into school curriculums and home life. 

Two other volunteers and I built the community a potable water system a year and half ago and this kitchen/cafeteria is the next step in trying to eliminate nutrient deficiencies and other health problems in the community. If any of you would like to make a donation, the community would be very appreciative! And if you could send this link to family and friends and/or post it on your Facebook wall that would be awesome as well!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=518-360

Thanks so much!

Jason

Katie, Andy and I with some of the kids in the community

At the inauguration of the water system

The community is located high above the city of Loja. This is a typical home in the community.

The building site for the kitchen/cafeteria. The schoolhouse is the white building to the left and the current kitchen take up half of the wooden shack shown. The other half is for storage.

Typical adobe block house in the community

Community kids

Part of the completed water system

Kids at the inauguration of the water system

Kids, parents and teachers at the inauguration of the water system

Agua Pura + Manos Limpias = Cuerpos Sanos! (Pure Water + Clean Hands = Healthy Bodies!)

More community members at the inauguration

Don't Cry for Me Argentina

Happy New Year!

This Christmas and New Years I headed down to Argentina with another volunteer to check out Mendoza (the outdoorsy wine growing region of the country) and Buenos Aires. Some kind of stomach bug crept up on me that apparently didn't want me to enjoy the vineyards and olive groves of Mendoza and instead took a liking to my hotel bed and back-to-back episodes of The Hard Times of RJ Berger and Teen Mom on MTV for 3 days straight. Other than that though, the trip was a blast. Enjoy the photos below! (Sorry there are 175 photos.. it was hard enough cutting it down to that from over 400!)

The journey to Argentina first involved a 9 hour overnight bus from Loja to Piura, Peru. From there we flew to Lima, then to Santiago, and then finally to Mendoza!

So, night 1 we slept on a bus and night 2 we slept in the Santiago airport. Not fun!

Flying from Santiago to Mendoza over the Andes. This region is home to the highest peak in the western hemisphere - Aconcagua, 22,841 feet

Park in Mendoza

In both Mendoza and Buenos Aires, the number of really old cars in very reasonable (and not so great) shape was astounding! Due to some recent economic downturns, lots of folks tend to maintain old cards as long as possible.

This one has some kind of fluid running from a bottle on the roof directly into the engine compartment, and we actually saw it driving by later that day.

Plaza de Espana in Mendoza

Common Jail - Perpetual and Effective!

I didn't get to go to any vineyards, (boo) but I stumbled upon a wine museum in the city with some grape varieties growing.

"The Falklands are part of Argentina"

Bitterness over the war with Britain in 1982 over possession of the Falkland Islands

Suckling pig is the big Christmas Eve and New Years Eve food 

Best Friends

Argentina has the largest Jewish population in South America, and the 6th largest in the world.

Buenos Aires....

Care to tango?

La Recoleta Cemetary, where the richest and most influential Argentines are buried.

Funeral at the cemetery complete with brand new Mercedes hearse

Janet with ubiquitous Diet Coke laying on a coffin transporter... eww

I was literally chased by one of these psycho cemetery cats

Where Evita is buried

Amazing filet mignon atop potatos au gratin with dijon mustard sauce - $10 

Touristy Avenida Florida

In front of the Casa Rosada, the Executive Branch of the Argentine Government

The entrance to the B&B we stayed in for part of the time

Supposedly dog walkers in Buenos Aires make more than teachers. This guy only has 5 dogs, but it's common for them to have 10 - 20 dogs!

Outdoor Cafes are everywhere

Lots of new construction near the river

Tigre, about 45 minutes north of the city center is on the delta of the Rio de la Plata and has tons of water activities including lots of old school rowing clubs.

Gigantic!

Pizza is everywhere, in addition to amazing empanadas made with beef, onions, spices and olives. A large percentage of the population is Italian so Italian food in BA is pretty good.

All coffee and espresso is served with a shot glass of water to cleanse the palate

La Boca, one of the poorer areas of BA, has brightly colored building made out of corrugated metal

Meat!

Lots of tourists

Old school restaurant with amazing food and wine. BA has an insane soccer rivalry between two teams, Boca Juniors and River Plate. Note the two banners on the wall describing the opponents - One has a bleeding chicken and says "the biggest crybaby chickens" and the other actually has a player with a paper bag and noose around his neck!

Waiters that can't take photos

Reflection with Janet and all-too-common penguin/snoopy looking wine pitchers

Frozen in time

The newest area of BA - Puerto Madero

Subway

Subway art

"Filete porteño" is the type of artistic drawing, with stylised lines and flowered, climbing plants typically used in Buenos Aires for everything from store windows to buses. Everything is done by hand.