san pedro september update
DESCRIPTION
San Pedro Guatemala project update from SeresTRANSCRIPT
1
Name: Building with Basura
Location: San Pedro, Guatemala
Project Start Date: April 2010
ABOVE: Students
removing rubbish
from the burning
pile to make eco-
ladrillos; LEFT:
Francisco from
COFETARN de-
monstrating the
eco-ladrillo techni-
que; TOP RIGHT:
Corrina with stu-
dents from Piedra
Grande, discussing the 5 R’s of waste reduc-
tion; BOTTOM RIGHT: Students from San Jose Caben with their completed eco-ladrillo.
Getting the youth involved! During the last few
months, the members of
COFETARN have worked
to identify a site that will
be used as a demonstra-
tion for the eco-ladrillo
project that Seres is run-
ning with them. Using
eco-ladrillos – “bricks”
made from recycled plas-
tic PET bottles filled with
rubbish – we will be
building a community nursery in the Aldea of San Andrés Chapil.
Aside from providing a nursery for reforestation of the surrounding
community, the bodega will also be used as a demonstration site for
showcasing the potential opportunities
available for building with recycled mate-
rials.
With a site and project identified, the next
step was materials – by our calculations,
over 3,500 eco-ladrillos will be needed to
build the bodega. Considering that in our
household (albeit a low rubbish-
producing household), it takes us over 2
weeks to fill one eco-ladrillo it was clear
that we were going to need help.
Taking it to the youth...
During the last 2 days of August, we worked
side-by-side with our friends from COFE-
TARN in an ambitious program to cover 5
schools in the area – with 16 workshops to
more than 500 students – to present the project and involve the stu-
dents in helping us to make eco-ladrillos. Enthusiastic and energetic,
the students of San Jose Caben, Aldea Chamac Procopio Chaves, Pie-
dra Grande, San Andres Chapil and Instituto de Chamac committed to
helping us build the nursery, and work towards our vision of creating
a San Pedro Verde!
Project Update September 2010
COFETARN, San Pedro Guatemala
Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...
This project will remove over This project will remove over This project will remove over This project will remove over 3,500 recycled plastic bottles 3,500 recycled plastic bottles 3,500 recycled plastic bottles 3,500 recycled plastic bottles and more than 525,000 plas-and more than 525,000 plas-and more than 525,000 plas-and more than 525,000 plas-tic bags from the streets and tic bags from the streets and tic bags from the streets and tic bags from the streets and rivers of San Pedro...figures rivers of San Pedro...figures rivers of San Pedro...figures rivers of San Pedro...figures
that elicited an that elicited an that elicited an that elicited an ovation from ovation from ovation from ovation from the students !the students !the students !the students !
Biodigestors—the first of many? For those not familiar with the concept, a Biodigestor is a simple tech-
nology that uses an oxygen-free process to convert waste products
(usually animal excrement) into methane gas that can then be used
for a variety of purposes—most commonly cooking. Biodigestors are
a great opportunity for sustainable development in rural communities
here, where most households have animals, and rely on wood stoves
and propane gas for cooking. The installation of a demonstration Bio-
digestor in the community of Papaturro was Antonio’s idea (the foun-
der of the youth group), and Seres enthusiastically agreed to help
with the design, community education and installation.
For three days, we worked in the heat and mud alongside three volun-
teers from the youth environment group—excavating the 5m x 70cm
x 65cm hole that would house the “salchicha” Biodigestor (so named
because of its resemblance to a sausage). It was a great opportunity
to better get to know these youth. While our bodies were occupied
with manual work, we had plenty of time to talk, providing the perfect
opportunity to start working one-on-one with these youth on their
“Sustainability Pathways”: helping them to feel empowered about
their own personal journey and direction forward to bring about sus-
tainable change in their lives.
Project Update September 2010
Comité Ecológico Jóvenes en Lucha del Papaturro Suchitoto, El Salvador
A Refreshing Burst of InspirationA Refreshing Burst of InspirationA Refreshing Burst of InspirationA Refreshing Burst of Inspiration
The Project Grows...
Over lunch on the final day, our volun-
teers started to tell me about other peo-
ple in the community that had seen us
working on the Biodigestor and were now
interested in building one themselves. As
more and more names got mentioned, it
became clear that we had the beginnings
of a project on our hands: with three
young men now trained and experienced
in the design and installation of this tech-
nology. We are still working out the de-
tails of this project, so stay tuned to hear
further updates as it develops!
Youth Leading El Sal-vador!
It wasn’t just the Youth Group with
exciting news to share on this visit.
We too came with an announcement:
the launch of Youth Lead Central
America—a collaboration between
Seres and our Australian partners
OzGREEN to bring together youth
from around the world to share their
stories on leading change towards a
sustainable future. The congress will
be held 23rd—25th of November
2010. We will be announcing more
details in the coming weeks through
our website, so stay tuned!
TOP: Corrina and Andy installing the entrance while Antonio and Julio work on the exit. CENTRE: Taking a break while the Biodigestor fills to discuss Sustainability Pathways; BOTTOM: Corrina with Andy, Julio and Antonio—volunteers from the Youth Group—discussing the Biodigestor design
TOP RIGHT: Corrina
2
A great idea finally comes together Ever since the first day when I pulled my reus-
able silk shopping bag out in the busy mar-
ketplace in Antigua and heard the gasps of
the women vendors as I filled it with fruits and
vegetables, I have had it on my to-do list: to
find a way to promote this simple concept
amongst Guatemalan towns and work to re-
duce the huge quantity of plastic bags used
here that are inevitably end up choking the
rivers or being burnt on the streets. After my
last visit around the highlands of Tajumulco
and visiting the homes of the traditional
weavers (see blog Where the Wild Things Are),
an idea began to form. For the last month, I
have worked closely with this weaver’s co-op
on just this idea: developing a small, fold-
away shopping bag made using hand-woven
fabric from the Mayan Mam artisans of the
Tajumulco region.
Our recent school workshops with eco-ladrillos presented the perfect
opportunity to launch this product. Working through the concept of the
5 R’s, the last – RECHAZAR (Reject) – kept getting puzzled looks from
the students. “How can we use
this concept – RECHAZAR – to
reduce the amount of rubbish
we create?” I would ask. And
while the students looked at
each other, I once again pulled
out the re-usable shopping
bags. To the same impressed
gasps of the women market-
vendors, I demonstrated the
bag. Only this time, it wasn’t
just a demonstration. Introduc-
ing Herminio—representative
from the artists co-op—we
showed the students the new bags: 100% hand-made in San Pedro.
Judging from their reactions, it is a product that definitely has a market
here. And the best thing—the first bags will be used as a prize to the
students that make us the most eco-ladrillos!
More Biodigestors August must be the month of biodi-
gestors, as we prepare a new demon-
stration Biodigestor project on the
farm of one of the members of COFE-
TARN—our community partners.
Don Juan—the energetic and enthusi-
astic member of COFETARN from Fun-
dación Solar—has dreamed of having
a Biodigestor for his family for years.
And that dream is soon to be realized.
Offering his farm as a demonstration
site for rural communities to see the
opportunities that Biodigestor tech-
nology can offer, we have spent the
last few weeks designing and planning
for the installation.
The design: a low-cost salchicha Biodi-
gestor—”for the first one” quips Don
Juan with a smile, who has plans to
install a number of different de-
signs...if he can find enough cow poo!
The Biodigestor will be installed in the
last week of this month.
ABOVE: Don Juan demonstrating a recycled
tire Retailing wall on his farm; TOP LEFT:
Herminio with the new reusable Shopping
bags; BOTTOM RIGHT: Corrina demonstra-
ting the re-usable Shopping bag with students
from Piedra Grande;
Project Update September 2010
COFETARN, San Pedro Guatemala
Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...