We attended a meeting of Amigos de Santa Cruz which is our local area and heard how the local environmental group is trying to bring the village on board with changing their way of life - not to drop litter, to pay a small tax to get the sewage treatment plant going to save the lake and stopping throwing fertilisers into the lake from their steep fields - but to terrace to conserve soil. It was an interesting exercise in how to inspire an audience to take individual action and it is working here - after the last big earthquake here in 1979 various American organisations got involved in putting in a lot of money to fund projects to help the villagers with education and training for youth - it is exemplary - we visited a cooperative where women make clothes and men run a really nice restaurant - ate pizza there last night. Youths get sponsored to work on projects and many get sent for paid education abroad - it is a model across the world.
Our hotel is full this weekend - it is a religious group - the evangelical church is behind a lot of aid around here - I worry that the locals may have to convert before they get help!
It is idyllic here on the lake and the climate is perfect - hot in the day and cool and breezy at night. Yesterday we attended a class in the afternoon on how to do blackstrap weaving and we had to try to make a belt - it was so hard - but we get to take our feeble attempts home!
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We metJulie and Antoine from Cannes in France - been on the road 4 years! Been to Cuba Simon and they are divers and said don't scuba there as safety is very poor and air quality.
W walked to the next village of Jaibalito today and had guacamole. We are leaving here a day early at 5.30 tomorrow and going beyond COBAN to Lanquin - 10 hours on a minibus - yuk!
Eating dinner on the lake edge in a stiff breeze sipping mojitos - all is well!
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