I’ve been spending a lot of time lately with folks from the Evangelical church. We’re remodeling the sanctuary--what once was literally a one car garage that thanks to an oddly shaped lot, was wide wider at one end. The only entrance was the swinging garage door was a garage door that was either completely open or completely closed. In winter, it was a tough decision to go to church – you needed your stocking cap, long underwear and several sweaters. The decision was even tougher knowing you didn’t have a nice warm house to come home to. So the plan was to take over a chunk of the parsonage and make a 40’ x 15’ room with a real ceiling and closeable small doors.
The thing that has given me the most laughs is the almost cuss words that gt used at church. You know, like we say darn or shoot. Well, to avoid saying the mierda (poop-word), they draw out the syllables of mie-e-e-rcoles (Wednesday). This can be incredibly confusing when they say: Wednesday, we’ve got a lot of work to do. And I respond: But I thought we were working Tuesday!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Bolivia´s Climate Crusade
So you, like me, may have associated Aljazeera only with releasing the latest Taliban announcements. It appears they do some decent journalism as well, and in English! Here’s a great video on climate change´s impact on Bolivia, the role of the “Global South”, and some good thinking on how to move forward with solutions instead of just bickering about punitive damages.
Original link on Al Jazeera:
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2010/05/2010518121127315453.html
Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWjHrVJPb-g
Here´s a photo of dad and I exploring some of the same terrain seen in the video. It is quite dramatic seeing up close how the landscape has changed.
A couple excerpts:
“Bolivia is on the receiving end of a crisis they did not create. It’s also a crisis they can’t solve, at least not on their own, and that’s where the climate debt movement comes in. As the U.S. confronts ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, its government is demanding that BP, the polluter, should pay. Bolivia is trying to apply that principal on a global scale.”
“In countries like Bolivia, the climate crisis is impossible to deny. In countries like the U.S., denial is everywhere. Not just the denial of climate skeptics, but the daily denial of millions of people who know the crisis is real, yet somehow can’t summon the urgency to act.”
“How do we find a way for impoverished people and impoverished countries to economically develop in a way that is not at the expense of the environment and that recognized their right to develop, just as the countries in the North had a right to develop?”
“Climate debt: the basic principle is polluter pays. There is finite space for atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, and the rich world has already used up more than its fair share. For poor countries to develop, they need help to leapfrog the dirty technologies that created our modern world and created the climate crisis.”
Original link on Al Jazeera:
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2010/05/2010518121127315453.html
Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWjHrVJPb-g
Here´s a photo of dad and I exploring some of the same terrain seen in the video. It is quite dramatic seeing up close how the landscape has changed.
A couple excerpts:
“Bolivia is on the receiving end of a crisis they did not create. It’s also a crisis they can’t solve, at least not on their own, and that’s where the climate debt movement comes in. As the U.S. confronts ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, its government is demanding that BP, the polluter, should pay. Bolivia is trying to apply that principal on a global scale.”
“In countries like Bolivia, the climate crisis is impossible to deny. In countries like the U.S., denial is everywhere. Not just the denial of climate skeptics, but the daily denial of millions of people who know the crisis is real, yet somehow can’t summon the urgency to act.”
“How do we find a way for impoverished people and impoverished countries to economically develop in a way that is not at the expense of the environment and that recognized their right to develop, just as the countries in the North had a right to develop?”
“Climate debt: the basic principle is polluter pays. There is finite space for atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, and the rich world has already used up more than its fair share. For poor countries to develop, they need help to leapfrog the dirty technologies that created our modern world and created the climate crisis.”
Friday, August 6, 2010
June/July in photos
Of course, words often don't do justice to the sights/sounds/smells that we live every day. Here's a few pictures to approach sharing of the sights. We haven't quite figured it out, but we'll keep working on how to share the smells.
I'm in bed with a cold - we were planning to head out of Moro Moro anyway to visit fellow workers in Charagua, near the Chaco desert, and I had the though... I can lay in bed in Moro Moro, or lay in bed in Santa Cruz, and have INTERNET! So here's some pictures to pass your and my time!
A couple of young ladies and their fine harvest of ”morado” (purple) corn – especially good for making api - the famous sweetened ground corn drink. You should have seen them grin and giggle when they told me it wasn't even their corn.
I'm in bed with a cold - we were planning to head out of Moro Moro anyway to visit fellow workers in Charagua, near the Chaco desert, and I had the though... I can lay in bed in Moro Moro, or lay in bed in Santa Cruz, and have INTERNET! So here's some pictures to pass your and my time!
A couple of young ladies and their fine harvest of ”morado” (purple) corn – especially good for making api - the famous sweetened ground corn drink. You should have seen them grin and giggle when they told me it wasn't even their corn.
Our front room full of eager readers digging into the bilingual Bible story books sent down by Andy’s mom.
Potato harvest in progress, as viewed from our work site. Each blue bag hold 250 pounds of potatoes and are awaiting horses and burros to haul them out of the field and a strong back to load them on the truck.
Cassie showing off her stained hands after a day of tying re-bar together to create the shell of a ferrocement water tank.
Potato harvest in progress, as viewed from our work site. Each blue bag hold 250 pounds of potatoes and are awaiting horses and burros to haul them out of the field and a strong back to load them on the truck.
Cassie showing off her stained hands after a day of tying re-bar together to create the shell of a ferrocement water tank.
Our friend Adan, working on his new rainwater capturing tank. His metal roof will capture ~30,000 liters of water (7900 gallons) per year, 11,000 liters of which can be stored in the tank for the dry season. If, as planned, the dry season lasts 5 months, his family can use 70 liters (18.5 gallons) per day.
After a 2 hour hike to make measurements on his spring and talk about possibilities for making a water system, Ermenahildo, spry for his 84 years, and his faithful companion weren't going to let me make any errors. They're checking my math.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)