weekly update

It's been an interesting week but somehow it's already over. I've never been in a place where time goes by any faster, maybe it's because I am always so busy. You would think that working 60+ hours in a week would make it feel like forever but it goes remarkably fast (although sitting in 6 hour government meetings is the longest 6 hours ever, those guys are chatty and my butt was killing me after sitting on a hard wood school bench that long).

This week I was able to visit some field sites and officially "launch" a vegetable growing project in a small community about 45 minutes away. They have such a nice project and the community clearly works very hard on it. They even gave me some of their first harvests (which I quickly re-gifted because I don't eat the local greens, but the thought was appreciated).

One highlight of the visit was from a local government leader who said, "we didn't think it was possible to grow things in this desert place but you showed us that we can and that the vegetables can do well." That's the point of this program, to change mindsets, to convince people it is possible to support yourself and with a little help from us, people will begin to learn and see their land as productive and harness its potential.

I took lots of pictures this week but some internet problems are limiting my ability to share them. You will have to see them here: fbook.