Sunday, July 7, 2013

RUBBER CHICKEN


WE START OUR 1ST CHICKEN COOP

The most notable event this week was that we started the construction of our first coop.  Most of the morning was taken up with buying supplies and getting it transported to the site.  The Church has not agreed to a method of transferring funds to a Branch President so he can purchase things, so we are financing the project out of personal funds and will get reimbursed later.  This picture is a delivery of sand, cement, wood poles, tin, nails, lumber, tools, etc.

Since this is our first coop, we had some false starts and had to do a lot of thinking, but we made slow but steady progress.  We didn’t get as much done as we would have liked, but so goes it in the DR.  We are anxious to get his constructed, make needed design changes and list of materials so we can go to other Branches.

Bro. Soriano helped Wallac make the purchases.


This is the place!



Edith gets in on the action
 
 
The Wegeners taught the first Micro-Business class on the afternoon of the same day that we started the coop.  Normally, we are going to require that all the training classes are completed BEFORE any coops are constructed.
RUBBER CHICKEN
The family we are building the chicken coop for insisted that we have lunch with them.  We had brought our own lunch, but they insisted and we relented.
Edith watched the lady of the house clean the dishes with dirty water, kill the chicken in the living room, pluck the feathers in the kitchen letting the feathers fall on the floor and chopping the chicken on dirty kitchen counters.  It didn’t improve the appetite.  We are hoping and praying we don’t get sick.
The mango this little girl was chewing on was very dirty.

 
They offered each of us a pile of rice large enough for 3 people and plopped a piece of chicken in the middle of the rice.  There is a price war of sorts between Haiti and the DR so you can buy full sized chickens for $50 pesos right now (about $1 US).   Doesn’t that chicken look delicious?  She put it in a pressure cooker and it came out so tough it was difficult to chew.  We are still picking meat out of our teeth a day later.  They are a real nice family and we love them a lot.  We just hope we live to tell about it.
A filthy ditch carries water right next to the house.  It probably conveys every known parasite and disease known to man.  We are not sure if the family is using this water for anything, but it is right where the kids play and the pipe that brings water to the house appears to be coming from a pipe inserted in the canal, although it may just be running along its side.  Either way, the proximity is too close for comfort.

 
NATIONAL READING PROGRAM
We were invited by Sur Futuro to a signing ceremony held at the Embajador Hotel.  It consisted of a lot of speeches and bragging.  This is a picture of Katia Majia, one of the people with Sur Futuro an organization we have worked with in the past.
 
Edith in front of the Embajador Hotel
 


VISION PROJECT
We traveled to La Romana to plan out the details of our next Vision Project.  We will provide the materials so Los Americanos hospital can train 300 health promoters.  The health promoters will be able to recognize those with visual problems and refer them to the La Romana Clinic for a free exam.  It will be a great project.




 

 
 

3 comments:

  1. I'll pray for your health. Chicken anyone?

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  2. I think you ought to begin thinking about a second career in either stand-up comedy or comic writing somewhere. We enjoyed reading this in between laughing our heads off.

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  3. Thanks for the update Wallace. I'm excited to hear about the success of the chicken coops. I hope they work out. You two are doing a great work and inspiring lots of people along the way. Thanks!

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