I have more good news!! a few days ago i received a call from Lisa, of Winrock!! sadly, she has had a death in the family and when she called, she was in the airport. remarkably, she took the time to call because they are very interested in working with us! my last email to her had been rather direct---i had been waiting to hear from them and thinking, "oh, god, they just decided to drop the whole thing!" ...so, i had asked straight up if Winrock would be willing to bring their pilot project to sipascancha, and work with us, or if it was simply advice we could expect. i explained i was determined to make something happen, (regardless of the fact at this point i couldn't make a stove if my life depended on it). this being because the villagers had made an incredible impression on me and that i knew first hand of the dangers of polluted indoor air, (let alone the degree of malnutrition, gastrointestinal infections, extreme climate, and poverty that they already have going against them). and yes, that i was still waiting to hear from them!

and yeah, she called!!

the conversation was quite positive! yes, they are very interested! yes, there are organizations able to provide funding! and their intention was to bring their model to other villages. and in considering what i had described to them about the village, location, their various projects, the percentage of the villagers participating, etc., the idea of taking it to sipascancha is very appealing to them. and, get this, they need a nurse to do the spirometry testing and have been short a medical person helping to implement their project. (wow!!) i told steve and he said, "i'll just be your technical assistant!" i told him better yet, you can learn to build these stoves!!

in a week, maybe two, she'll call again. then it will be time to ask more questions...can they be made with adobe (i promised pave i would ask!)...how much do they cost...what period of time did this take...what can we begin now....how can we introduce this concept to the villagers and when given our time frame.... yikes, i have so many questions. i'm thinking by the latest, say january, we need to apply for funding, both for us and more so, to implement this. i'm hoping by then i will have the pieces together to apply for funding. hopefully, there is money out there for things like this!

and the conference on indoor air pollution in lima is scheduled for december 13th and 14th...hummm...i told steve one or both of us really should go. money is tight right now, i'm having arthroscopic surgery on my knee, an extra bill, less in savings, (thanks to a wonderful summer), and christmas, where i told my folks i would come and visit, let alone my annual contributions for christmas for the kids in sipascancha and ollanta. (i am thinking this year of sending money to buy all the children new sandals.) so, i am trying to be careful right now, and leaving space for it all to work out.

i'm waiting to hear from pave. i think she'll have news soon about her visit to the party office of the current president. i've written her quite a bit about North Branch School. (this is the school ellen's grandkids go to in Afton, Virginia.) things are moving along nicely as far as our idea about an exchange between students from the school here (virginia) and the school in sipascancha! ellen put together a lovely collection of excerpts and photos from the blog, what we had talked about and what i had recently written. (ellen, i had never seen it printed! it's beautiful!!) then she presented it at the teachers' meeting! so i had lots of questions for pave about ways for the kids to communicate, given they speak quechua and are also learning spanish. and more about the community, what they studied, etc. and, another letter from ellen asked if it was possible to buy some of their artesania to sell at a fair they're having in december! so of course i asked her about that also. ellen also sent material from the school. i'm going to translate some of it and send it on to pave.

i'm working the next few nights and then steve and i are going to a reunion with friends of his from college in san francisco! it was out of the question to rent a car and thankfully, my mechanic bob took a look the old volvo. i asked, "bob, will it make it to san franscico??" and, after listening to it, checking this and that, he looked at me and said (like he always does), "laurie, just drive the car!" so, we'll stop and see sue, josiah and mica in eureka and arcata on the way! always, just always i LOVE to see my boys, and sue, whom i've known since i was 13!! i'll be bringing the school packet (and dictionary) with me, as it's a six hour trip to arcata and another three or four more to san francisco.

i came home to a letter from Pavela!!!

Mi muy querida Laurita estoy muy avergonzada por no haber escrito en tu cumpleaños, espero hayas sido muy feliz te quiero mucho.
Tantas buenas noticias tienes es increible, efectivamente el sistema ya lo conocia lo compre en en pariodico donde esplicaba como hacer esas cocinas, lo que falta es el contacto con Inkawasi, o la primera dama pero me acercare al local del partido del gobierno y preguntare por la organización que tiene la señora Nores, recien puedo tenr unas vacaciones de una semana, desde hoy em`pieza y voy redactar el proyecto y te lo mandare , solo quisiera el costo de ese codo cerámicom y si es posible hacerlo con adobe. El modelo que tengo es con ladrillos y el codo cerámico esta semana debe saber estos datos y también tendre las fotos de los niños y sus cartas están muy contentos por el dinero para la comida y agradecidos y lo de los materiales escolares les puso muy contentos. Espero poder mandar las fotos en CD y tu puedas alcanzar a tus amigos. es cierto que en cuanto crecen más los niños mas materiales necesitan como cuadernos, diccinarios, lapices para poder hacer las diferentes materias que trabajan o aprenden . Espero todo lo planificado podamos hacrlo y que esta semana tengo muchas ganas de concretarlo estos días mañana voy al partido del gobierno a preguntar . Un abrazo muy fuerte y mucho cariño para ti - La llamita negra de los andes.

Pave,
now a translation

my very dear laurie,
i am ashamed i did not write you on your birthday. i hope that it was very happy, i care about you very much.
what good news, its incredible. apparently the system you know of i read about in a magazine where they explain how to make the stoves. what was missing is that it happened in Inkawasi and that the first lady of Peru (was involved). but i can go to the local party office and ask about the first lady and what organization she is participating in. soon i have a week of vacation and as of today i am going to draw up this project and will mail it on to you. i only wish to know what the cost of this ceramic elbow (stove) is and if can be made of adobe. the one i know of here is made of bricks unlike the ceramic elbow (stove). this week i will have more information. also i will have photos of the children and their letters. the children are quite content, what with the money you sent for the food. they are grateful (to know of) the school materials. i hope to put the photos on cd and then you can send them on to your friends. it most often comes to pass that the children need notebooks, dictionaries, and pencils so to do the work and learn. i hope all that we are planning can come to pass. i have many ideas/wishes to firm up (in all of this) this week. and tomorrow i will go to the government office and ask. she sends a big strong hug, and much in care and signs off the "little black llama of the andes...", Pave

soon i hope to hear from Lisa from Winrock and now, i'll have more questions for her!! it sounds as if Pave is taking off running with this!! first, to know if they can be constructed of adobe (she seems insistent on knowing this...) and what the cost would be per stove. and more importantly we need to look into funding...it will be good news if she discovers indeed the gov't right now has resources set aside for this, and that will also be questions i can ask of Lisa.

and then to let E. know that the pictures and letters will be arriving soon. :)

i now realize the link below doesn't work. so if you go to http://pciaonline.org , then click on resources, and then scroll on down to the bulletin issues, select number 7 and on page 2 of that is an article about the project rogerio was affiliated with that i described below.

so its a very nice feeling sunday out there. the sun's shining and i have a few projects ahead of me. put away the tent, pull out dead plants, look around for some fall/winter veggie starts and cook dinner. and maybe, just maybe hit the thrift store.

i'm waiting, [patiently?!] to hear from pave. she is out of touch at the moment, apparently not able to check her emails. and i am nervous about money still sitting at the western union office in cusco for her to buy food. and with all the exciting prospects developing before our eyes about what we may be able to do down there, i want her to read it all and say its ok for me to follow this through with her blessing and help. after all, it seems totally wrong to just blow in there without her and the villagers being engaged and participating in all the ways they can. and to agree to it in the first place. i have never known the villagers to accept charity, they always tried to barter or pay what they could for anything. in fact they gave of themselves all the time, anything they could, be it a genuine greeting, a sack of potatoes, a bottle of warm milk, god, once someone gave me the (raw) leg of a goat!!

so i will return to being as patient as i can. and getting my chores done here.