Another trip to the river

I went on another little hike to the river today. It's still the dry season so as you can see the river is pretty low. Regardless, there is still a nice current of cool, crystal clear water. Also, on the walk back I was lucky enough to spot a poison dart frog! They are called blue-jeans frogs..and you can see why in the pictures. Enjoy!

A quick pictorial of the biodigestor

I mentioned in an earlier post about helping a couple families build biodigestors and gave a basic overview of what it is and how it works. I took some pictures of the basic setup so that you all might get a better concept of how it all works.

1. On the left are the stalls where cows are kept. The floor was built on a slight slope to aid in cleaning. All the waste and water is washed into the first catchment and then continues to the next two barrels. This is a system an ag. extension agent here recommended. I have never used these additional barrels, but he said that they help in filtering the water since cows track in a lot of sediment and dirt which would otherwise settle in the bottom of the biodigestor bag and make it fill up quicker than necessary. I have my doubts about it since I feel like we are losing a lot of precious poop, but time will tell.

These are the barrels, one is still missing a top. From there the mixture goes to the biodigestor bag..

This is the bag. A trench is dug so that the bag is about halfway in the dirt. Two cement tubes are placed at each end at an angle with the ends above ground level (the big opening you see is a cement tube with plastic around it). The bag is filled with the mixture daily. The mixture stays at a fixed level (ground level) and when new poo is added the exact same amount is pushed out of the bag at the other end through displacement. What comes out is good, but strong, liquid fertilizer.

In the middle of the bag on the top is a hole connected to piping. Since the bag is devoid of oxygen , anaerobic decomposition occurs and the bacteria in the mixture create methane. As the bag fills pressure rises and gas is pumped out of the hole easily. It goes through a water filter (plastic bucket you see after the green piping) to clean out any impurities and then goes right to the house for use in the kitchen.

And that's basically the setup for a biodigestor. There are different ways of doing it such as a cement or brick tan with half bag on top, but this method shown above is the cheapest and most accessible here in Costa Rica.

Pictures. Finally.

Ok, so I finally took some pictures. Sorry it took so long.

My house.

Danielle (the volunteer who I will be following up) and I at a little waterfall in the mountainous jungle-y national park that is behind the community.

There is a river that we go to on warm days. If you cross it and hike a bit you come to this gorgeous open land where you can see everything. The mountains shrouded in mist are part of the national park - parque nacional Juan Carlos Blanco.

Long overdue update

I'm sorry I haven't written in so long, I owe you all an update. A lot has happened.

The biggest is that I had to change communities. There was a security issue in my site, I won't go into details but basically Peace Corps and I felt there was an threat to my security in site and it would be best to leave. No worries, I am perfectly fine. It was sad to leave - I was starting to make some really good friendships and there was a good potential for work building.

So, I spent the next week travelling around and basically "shopping" for a new site. I went far down South to an indigenous community in the middle of the jungle. It was absolutely amazing. The women wore traditional dress, spoke the indigenous language (and Spanish). The area was lush jungle with small rivers threading through. Most of the time we had to traverse very sketchy hammock style suspension bridges. It was nerve racking to say the least.

As much as I loved the community I felt that it wasn't a good fit for me since I would only be there for around 10 months. They really need a 2-year volunteer who can help them really get organized and then start potential projects.

Regardless, I eventually settled on a community in the Northern Mountains of Costa Rica. The community is called Garabito and it lies about 3hrs bus ride from San Jose. The community is made up of a couple hundred community members on the slope of a mountain. Behind the community is the Juan Castro Blanco National Park - so basically the backyard is a gorgeous mountainous rainforest. The climate is pleasant and cool. It rains in the afternoon and is never too hot nor too cold.

The community used to all be coffee plantations but with the crash in prices most of the farmers got rid of their coffee. Now the community is made up of mainly day laborers that go to the nearest pueblo to work as well as a couple farmers. The area is perfect for gardens/small scale agriculture. That being said, this is still a very urban community.

I'm following up a volunteer who will be leaving in May. She has been really helpful in showing me around and filling me in on everyone/ what work has gone on here.

There is potential for work. I have an environmental group who also holds small tours for mainly American youth who want to work with me. We are talking about starting a tree nursery for reforestation purposes as well as garden projects. There are a couple families with greenhouses that are just sitting there unused and so we are going to discuss getting them back in working condition.

It's slow going. So far, though, I've been able to help two guys with biodigestors. These are small scale methane producing systems. Basically, it's a big bag filled with cow/pig poop that is sealed. The poop ferments anaerobically and produces methane which fills the bag/balloon and is then sent through tubing to serve as gas in the kitchen. They are a great way to use what is normally just left in the fields, as well as a great alternative energy source.

So, that's what's been going on. I will try to take some pictures soon.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's day to all. Here in Costa Rica we celebrate Dia de Amor y Amistad - Day of Love and friendship. Maybe Costa Ricans are a bit more conscious of us single folks and thus add on the friendship part to appease the masses.

Anyway, things in site are going well. I gave a workshop on compost making and had decent attendance. So far I have helped 4 families to start compost piles. The idea is to have the compost ready for the gardens. It is so dry here that, even with a good mulch, daily watering, and shade, gardening would be too hard. Thus, we are planning to have everything ready by the time the rains come. Gardening classes will take place next week and we will discuss how to properly prepare a garden etc.

We have also started creating a website for the community. It's a slow process but I think it will come out well.

Today I start my English classes. I have my doubts about them and to be quite honest English is on the lower end of my priorities. But, the community voiced an interest in having classes, so we will see how it turns out.

My Spanish is improving, but I unknowingly throw in a Guarani word or two and only realize it when I see the quizzical look on the Costa Rican's face.

When I have time, I will take more pictures for you all.

Hiking to the moon

Last night a group of youth and community leaders and myself went on a hike up the mountain behind our community. The objective of the trip was to see the full moon at the top of the mountain, as well as enjoy the views. From above you can see the entire wetlands as well as the river that feeds it (Rio Tempisque). The hike was a bit more arduous that I thought, especially towards the end. And although I was told there would be no mosquitoes at that altitude because of the wind, I still got eaten up with plenty of repellent. Nonetheless, the it was a gorgeous night and a lot of fun.

These were taken the day prior to the trip.

Birds and wetlands from up high.

Not the best picture, but it's the moon.

Life's a beach

Here are a couple new pictures. The first two are from a big community meeting held at our Salon. There is a cement company that wants to mine 90ha of the mountain behind our community and everyone is totally against it. Representatives of all the neighboring communities came and discussed the matter. Everyone is opposed to the mining of the mountain and are ready for a fight. Because the community is situated next to a protected area (the wetlands) this shouldn't be a problem. However, this company is very big and has a lot of clout...we will see how it goes.

Anyway, during the week prior I worked with some of the youth and members to put on a little skit during the meeting. It was about the community's choice and what could result, the pros vs cons etc. The community seemed to really like it.

The other pictures are from a beach that we all went to this past Sunday. This beach (playa carrillo) was about 1.5hrs away by bus. We all went as a community event and it was great.