Ilana in the Cloud Forest

Hello everyone, Apologies for not sending out a newsletter for a couple of weeks. Things have been crazy busy, and I've been here, there, and everywhere.  The exciting news is that I finished my cistern project! Last week, both cisterns were completed inside and out, their tops were put on, they were connected to the roof, and now they are ready to start harvesting rainwater (hopefully soon!).  It feels amazing to have that part of my project completed. But now it's time for me to figure out how to use the $12,000 pesos that I have left over. It isn't quite enough to build another cistern but it's still enough money that I want to put it to good use. I'm thinking about investing in some good hoses to connect to the cisterns, potentially some native tree species for a reforestation project, and potentially a compost bin so the school can start up their composting efforts again. It's also a possibility that we will paint the cisterns or paint some murals around th...

Good evening, everyone, I hope you are all doing well.  This was quite a busy week for me, and a good one as well.  On Monday, construction  started  on my cistern project, and I spent practically the entire week at the high school helping with various parts of the construction process, running to different people's homes asking if they had specific tools that we could borrow, and ordering supplies to ensure that we had everything we need for the work we are doing. Monday, Pablo and Cuper (the two masons working on my project) and I started the day at 8am clearing the space where the first cistern was going to be located. We moved rocks and leveled the ground and then got started on putting the cylinder of the cistern together.  While building a cistern is not incredibly complex, putting together the cylinder made out of different types of wires was quite a tedious process. First, we laid out the mesh which is typically used in cement flooring and then we layere...

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all doing well.  I want to thank you all for your support the last couple of months.  I was going through a rough patch and I really wasn't sure what I was going to do to make things better.  Well, I'm happy to announce that after a good month and a half or so of feeling like I maybe couldn't get through my second year of service, I am now feeling good about life and am optimistic that I will make it through to the end of my two years. My completion of service  (COS)  date will be October 10, 2025—less than 1 year from now! I am very excited to know that there is an end point in sight, and I am equally (if not more) excited to see what kind of work I can accomplish in the year that I have left.   (I've also picked up some new hobbies (see coloring below) to keep myself entertained). And now for some updates: The week of October 7, I took a trip to Querétaro to give a couple of presentations at the new trainees' pre...