Mission Accomplished!

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose." ~ Dr. Seuss

The school is finished!!! This Thursday we held the inauguration ceremony and it was an enormous success. The press , fellow volunteers and other friends from all over the country, representatives of many different NGOs and government institutions, everyone that worked on the project, and a whole lot of kids came out to celebrate the occasion and show their support. It really was a great day, and I am so grateful to everyone that was able to share it with me.

Now that it is over (although as I told the kids it is only the beginning), I would like to take some time to reflect on the adventure…

I think we probably all have heard the saying “If you love what you do you will never work a day in your life”, but I think many of us take this axiom with a grain of incredulity. It seems to me that work, for the majority of us, is just something we have to do during the week so that we can afford to do what we want on the weekends; it is a means to an end. However, adages such as this one did not just appear out of the abyss, and every once in a while we are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the viability of living them out. This project has given me one of those glimpses.

As I have mentioned the “work” that has went into building this school has been fun since day one. But, more than that, it has also been inspiring, rewarding, and a wonderful learning experience – for me as much as for the community.

Inspiration is defined as: arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity. An idea like the “bottle school”, which I have been calling the quintessential Peace Corps project, eloquently illustrates this definition. The ingenuity of the design speaks for itself. Three major needs of the community are met, with the end result being a low cost, high quality school building that literally traps this inspiration in a bottle and stands as a symbol of the synergy that is possible when a community truly embraces an idea.

The project has been rewarding for a great many reasons, but it has been especially delightful to watch its evolution. For the kids, and I think even for the teachers, recycling has went from just a crazy new word, to just another homework assignment, to something that might actually be useful, to an exciting concept that could change everything. In fact, inspired by the bottle school, the teachers held a recycling invention competition this week. In teams of four the students of the middle school had to invent a new way to reuse the trash of the community. As I watched them present their awesome creations, it really hit me that a paradigm shift had actually occurred, and I can’t think of anything more rewarding than that. (See photos below to understand what I mean.)

When I say this project was a wonderful learning experience, I really can’t overstate it. When it was all said and done we coordinated the participation of over 1500 students and 100 teachers across three separate villages, received support from four separate development associations, managed the work of many masons, welders, and volunteers, took over 20,000 pounds of garbage out of the streets of the community, and started and helped perpetuate a movement that promises to produce benefits on a local, regional, national, and now international level. In fact, an article about bottle schools in Guatemala just came out in world wide publiacation the Peace Corps Times, and I have just agreed to help advise volunteers from all over the globe to help them replicate the success we've seen here. It really is exciting!

I would like to thank Hug it Forward (www.hugitforward.com) and World Ventures (www.worldventures.com) again for helping make this project possible. I think you guys are doing amazing work, and wish you all luck and success as you move forward. I see big things coming on the horizon!

And thank you to all of you who have been reading these updates and sending your love and support, you guys truly empower me! Please keep reading and never hesitate to keep in touch.

So, without further adieu, I will leave you with these pictures and let them do the rest of the talking.

My wonderful crew of masons.

Halfway done with the application of the cement.

Recycled clothing? Really? This is what I call embracing an idea.

Sky blue on the inside, and a combination of forest green and ocean blue on the outside.

Life is good.

Recycling bins out of recycled material in every classroom now. This is what I mean when I say these kids and teachers are inspired and motivated.

A little gardening to spruce things up a bit.

Pretty girls with flowers.

One more big community clean up!

Don Bacilio giving yet another speech on the magic of building with bottles.

Table centerpieces at the inauguration made of recycled materials. In fact, everything at the reception, from the centerpieces to the ceremonial tape, was made of recycled products. This is a direct result of the inspiration that the teachers and students of Chilasco have found.

Other community tourism sites and volunteers from all over the region came out to show their support and promote their projects.

Don Tono and Don Olich behind the ceremonial tape.

Bacilio and I with our last minute inspiration, a mural map of the world.

Johnny teaching dad our secret handshake.

My father and I had a nice dinner with my three counterparts.

Don Tono and the school director with a bunch of excited youngsters.

As part of the ceremony several groups of students entertained us with some dancing and singing.

The girls got the crowd pumped up!

Lots of people showed up for the fun!

Cutting the ceremonial tape with Bacilio and the two school directors.

And then we danced!

Me and my three bosses: Bacilio, Big Tone, and the estimado Don Flavio.

And we danced some more!

Smiles and laughs for everyone.

Guests of honor.

Chris and I in front of pictures illustrating the whole process.

Goodbye until next time, Don Tono is going on vacation!