Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: July 9-13, 2007
This is our last complete week with a full house.
Many are beginning preparations to take off and soon our numbers will
dwindle. Nonetheless spirits remain high and everyone is enjoying
themselves and working hard. Despite the occasional nighttime drizzle and
lots of overcast days, we continue watering. We are also planting seeds
like crazy in the greenhouse to have more trees ready for next rainy
season. Additionally, the first issue of Eco-Noticias, assembled by Planet
Drum volunteers, was turned into the environmental department of the
municipality and will be printed soon.
Unfortunately this past week we had a couple of
hang-ups with watering at one of our sites. One day water had not been
delivered yet, and the next, our ride broke down while going from one site
to the next and so two of the days weren't as productive as they could
have been. Part of the problem was that the water source at the El Toro
site has fallen through due to waning cooperation with the landowner
there. Alternative solutions will need to be investigated. In the meantime
we need to truck water into this site when watering there, and hopefully
we won't have any more breakdowns.
On Monday, as one big group we went to do an overhaul
of the greenhouse, planting Caoba and Tierramonte seeds and preparing
other seed beds for planting soon. Old seed beds were dug up and the
nutrient-depleted soil was replaced with a fresh mixture of compost. We
also watered, weeded and dropped off the compost collected daily at our
apartment. In the afternoon we did some cleaning and tidying up around the
house.
On Tuesday we were back at the greenhouse watering
recently planted seed beds. From there we walked over to the Don Pepe and
Maria Dolores sites to do some watering of the reforestation sites. There
was time to catch the bus back to Bahia and water at the La Cruz site
before calling it a day. Meanwhile, Flaca and Ana put the finishing
touches on the first edition of Eco-Noticias.
On Wednesday a big group went to Bosque Encantado to
water the large reforestation site. Upon arrival they discovered that
there was no water, and after waiting for awhile found out that the water
wouldn't come until the next day. Others did more watering at the
greenhouse. On the home front, Flaca and Ana used their bi-lingual skills
to help do some translating of Bioregional Education materials. Also,
Flaca and I did an interview with Flor Maria Dueñas for the second issue
of Eco-Noticias.
In the afternoon I wrote a letter, which was well
received, to the director of the Javier Rodríguez Mieles School, where
Ramon (our Bioregional Education teacher) also teaches. The letter asks
permission to take groups of students out to work with us, show them the
reforestation process and also have them help out in the greenhouse. So
now, every week or so we will be taking a group of students out to
volunteer during the day, in addition to the afternoon Bioregional
Education classes. It will be great to give the students more
environmental exposure as part of their education.
Thursday there was yet more watering at the
greenhouse. Freshly planted seed beds need lots of regular H2O. We also
went to the El Toro to water there. On the way out Ricardito's truck had
some problems and couldn't make it over one of the hills. There was a wait
for another truck to go by and haul it out. Fortunately after making it
over the hill we were able to drive away, but because of the delay there
wasn’t time to water Bosque Encantado for the second day in a row. Ana
and Flaca continued translation and Eco-Noticias work at the Bahia
office.
Finally on Friday there was an opportunity to water
the Bosque Encantado site, and also water the trees in Bosque en Medio de
las Ruinas, and one last time at the greenhouse before the weekend.
Despite the setbacks, all the ground we needed to
cover for the week was accounted for. We had to say goodbye to Flaca and
Ana, two volunteers from Argentina. They are continuing their travels
North, through Colombia to Costa Rica. Almost entirely by themselves, they
put together the first two issues of Eco-Noticias—Bahia's first
green-city newsletter. Here's to keeping it going and thanks to them for
getting it started. Disfruten Sud America.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: July 16-20, 2007
Summary: As volunteers continue to depart from
Planet Drum, the rest of the family keeps the work going.
We are planting seeds like crazy to build up the arsenal of trees
for next year's reforestation sites.
Dry season weather persists with many overcast days and breezes
that could be described as "cool."
There was another field trip this week, to a community called Los
Caras, named after one of the indigenous groups present in this area from
pre-Incan times.
Monday started off the week by checking out the
greenhouse. While there some
Guachepeli and Algarobo seeds were planted and some other seed beds were
prepared as well. The seed
beds from last year are dug up and replaced with fresh soil and compost. From the greenhouse there was the familiar walk back towards
Bahia to water the Maria Dolores and Don Pepe sites.
Tuesday was the big field trip. We took a bus beyond Kilometro 8 and the greenhouse towards
the town of Tosagua. We
hopped off at kilometro 16 and started walking up a dirt road in the
direction of some denuded hills above the Rio Chone.
Along the way farms, a school and the typical bamboo houses on
stilts were passed. My friend
Sebastian, one of the members of the Cordillera el Balsamo (a corridor of
private land owners interested in protecting and restoring the natural
habitats on their lands) took us into his house to introduce his family. From there a tour of the community began.
First we went back to the elementary school passed on
the way into the pueblo. In
the one-room school, to a group of thirty children, I gave a small
presentation of some of the ideas of conserving nature, its importance and
how it relates to the kids and their community.
Passing through the central square of the town, a couple of
Guachepeli trees that we had donated a month before had been planted and
could be seen. They were looking particularly healthy amidst the wide,
dusty streets. From there we visited the construction site of an office of
water administration, a pre-school and then a family sized operation of
mangar (a sweet, milk based food) production.
A woman stirred a large pot of the mangar over an open fire and
offered tastes. The family
sells mangar in the community and in Bahia.
We passed Sebastian's house, a community co-op for
bulk, staple foods, and then got to his farm.
Fields of maracuyá (passion fruit) and a mandarin and lime orchard
were looking quite green and we tried some of the fruits.
Fruits
from these fields are taken to the central Bahia market on a regular
basis. The fields of soybeans
lay fallow because of the weak rainy season this year.
The community prides itself on its organic soybean cultivation.
They process the beans themselves to make milk, yogurt, sweets, and
tofu among other soy based foods. Unfortunately,
at the time of the visit there were no products to sample or buy.
Sebastian has several large and healthy Caoba trees
growing on his property that were dropping seeds.
We took the opportunity to collect several hundred seeds of this
native tree to bring back and plant in the greenhouse.
Some
Guayacan and Algarobo trees that had sprouted nearby were taken back to
the greenhouse as well.
We then went back to Sebastian's house to eat lunch
with him and his family. He
had another visitor, too, an elderly woman who was spending the morning
with them. After talking to
this woman for a bit we discovered that she was one of the victims of the
1998 El Niño mudslides in the Maria Auxialadora who were displaced to the
Fanca neighborhood. Her son
and husband were two of the sixteen people killed in the mudslides there.
The site has since been reforested by Planet Drum and is a
recognized green space by the city government called 'El Bosque en Medio
de las Ruinas.' (The Forest in Middle of the Ruins)
After lunch, Sebastian and his family were cordially thanked for
hosting us. We will keep up
contact with him and Los Caras and hopefully have a chance to help out
their community once in a while. On
the way back to the main road, we helped the old woman carry some of the
fruits and vegetables that she was bringing home.
At 80-something years old, she took care of the half-hour walk
without a second thought. She
got off in Fanca.
That was Kirk, Crista, Maria, Farhad and Angela's
last day. Travel plans
obliged them to keep on moving and they bid farewell to the rest of the
Planet Drum family. You guys
will be missed, and enough thanks can't be given for all the hard work you
did. Safe travels and
hopefully we'll cross paths again some day.
Despite the sad goodbyes, the rhythm of life here has
a way of continuing to tick, and without missing a beat we were back in
the hills of Bahia on Wednesday morning watering the La Cruz site, and
headed to the greenhouse and to plant the Algarobo and Guayacan trees from
Los Caras into 3-liter bottles.
On Thursday the remaining three volunteers and I went
to Ricardito's farm to water the beast of a site, Bosque Encantado. That afternoon we did some cleaning up around the house.
On Friday some Ecuadorian friends were invited to
come help out with watering. With
the extra hands it was possible to knock out the El Toro and Bosque en
Medio de las Ruinas sites without losing too much sweat.
Thanks to Blas and Gabriel for taking time out of their day to help
with the cause.
We
were back at the greenhouse that afternoon, this time with Bioregional Ed
class.
The
class was shown how to turn compost, plant seeds (the Caoba collected in
Los Caras), water, and transplant a few of the seedlings that have
sprouted so far.
The
students had a great time helping out in the greenhouse
and it was the perfect way to wrap up an action
packed week.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: July 23-27, 2007
This week we were down to one volunteer. Fortunately,
Brian is a hard worker because as usual there's a lot to get done.
On Monday we went to the greenhouse, watered, dumped
off compost, weeded and checked on the plants. From there we walked over
to Maria Dolores and Don Pepe to do some watering. With only two people it
took two trips to carry all the water in to the sites. While at the Don
Pepe site, I met with the landowner to discuss the possibility of
expanding our revegetation on his land and in the surrounding area, he is
very favorable to the idea.
On Tuesday we continued watering, this time at Bosque
Encantado, normally a difficult site for even a large group of volunteers.
Again, we had to do two trips to get all the water up the hill.
On Wednesday we did some transplanting at the
greenhouse.
A
few of the three-liter bottles had more than one tree growing in them and
the trees had to be separated. We also turned all of the compost and
prepared more seed beds.
Thursday morning while waiting for a ride to the El
Toro site to take care of watering there we did some house cleaning,
bought some more supplies for the greenhouse and fixed some of the house
furniture that was falling apart. Then late in the afternoon we got a lift
with Ricardito to El Toro. Thanks to Jaime for coming out to volunteer,
otherwise we wouldn't have finished until way after sunset.
On
Friday we took the students from Bioregionalism Ed class out to water with
us, partially on their request. With all the helpers we knocked off
watering La Cruz and Bosque en Medio de las Ruinas practically with ease.
In the afternoon we headed to the greenhouse to do some watering before
the weekend.
It
was a long week of watering with only me and Brian, but we were able to
take care of it all with some extra help from Jaime and the Bioregional
students. We also were able to get a lot done in the greenhouse. There are
now seed beds of Caoba, Tierramonte, Algarobo and Guachepelli in the
process of germinating and more beds that will be ready to seed soon.
We nourish the trees and we nourish ourselves.
Clay
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