March 17, 2010 Wendesday

yesterday we went to guerrero negro. saw the dentist who is not as friendly as Sammy and Luis. he is good tho and he is nearer than TJ, so at least now I have a contact. now the bad news is that he does not know why my root canal treated tooth from a year ago would be bothering me now....so I still have to go to TJ

Lyn windsurfing all by himself - I was impressed !!

we also stopped by the biosphere offices and met Celerino. and do you know what ?  last Friday was the last day to apply for funds for any program for this year ... what happened and why Rebecca did not put in a request for me is unfathomable.  I will write her today, my hope is that she DID send in the paperwork and we are just waiting for approval.  can i dream on ????????  shall i make the dream last a while and not write for at least a week ?????? wish i could but the truth of the matter is, if she did not enter the paperwork, La Bocana just fell thru the cracks  again.

the great news, and i mean really fantastic news, is that Jorge is a guy in GN who has started amssive program to recycle cardboard and plastic. he got 110,000 pesos and he is making it happen. he has beautiful signs that really give amazing insight into why it is important to recycle. i loved his style - laid back and smiley - and i loved that he has made tremendous progress

this is our B & B guest, Lyn, right at the entrance to the lagoon

what i still dont get is that the trash is still just deposited on the ground and no one cares. it is soooooooooooo ugly and sooooooooooooo messy and sooooooooooo sooooooooooooo soooooooooo .......... whatever ...... I dont see how people can ignore trash around them.  out of thier yards. out of their street. and onto the land in Baja. and strewn about by the wind. gross understates my disgust.

Feb. 25, 2010 Thurs

We have a mission and we may have a mission statement:

MISION DE LA FUNDACION “LA BOCANA”

Esta fundación tiene el propósito de fomentar la evolución educativa, social, cultural, deportiva y de salud, para un mejor desarrollo de nuestra comunidad, lo cual impulsara que sus habitantes tengan una mejor calidad de vida, al contar con todos estos beneficios, promoviendo al mismo tiempo cuidar nuestro entorno ambiental.

The above is what Oralia put together after I gave her our notes .. today at 6 we have our 2nd meeting and we will see if everyone agrees with the above.  So many dreams:  medical center, ambulance, paramedics, firetruck, sports club, museum, elementary school, ATM and bill paying center ...

Rosie stopped by and I gave her the great news:  we got 2 windows for them at educacion inicial for 500 pesos. We got them redone for 1000 pesos.  Turns out her husband's son is the window maker so he can get them a good deal. They got the delegado to give them electricity. And I suggested requesting the coop to give them a functioning bathroom. Spread the cost and everyone comes out ahead.  She took the brownies, unfortunately, we ate one whole container ! Over 2 days between Les Bruce and myself - none of us could resist !

I made bacalhau yesterday - it looked fabulous and tasted insipid.  Hard to cook without salt. but Les eats the food without salt and this is a good thing !!  However, for the future, need to spice life up a bit.  Chiles. Tomorrow he is going to BBQ a tuna. Special request on my part is that we eat mroe fish - my hand joints are bugging me and I have heard that this is gout and is caused by too much red meat. finito. bring on the fish !!

Les  and I went to see the new bathroom at the Copa Cabana today....well.... it is chicano for sure but we are in Mexico sooooooooooooooooooooooo it is all good !

Monday at 11 a.m. there is a meeting with the biosphere - they are maybe going to give us some arts and crafts classes for free.  All environmentally friendly using recycled items. So wonderful.

Nov 29, fishermen newsletter on UNA BOCANA LIMPIA Project

Ladies and Gentlemen:


A year ago, I started a project called

http://sites.google.com/site/cleaningupbaja/

Why? Clean up trash, abandoned fridges, stoves and outhouses. I started on my own street and headed south, talking to neighbors along the way. Most were mortified to see the “gringa” cleaning their yards and quickly rushed out to clean alongside me.



Here we are one year later –the website clearly shows all the local involvement: elementary school kids cleaning up arroyos; highschool beachcleaning; church groups, even the delegado finally got some moola and had schools painted. They also arranged two major cleanups lasting 40 days. Many donated plants to beautify the public buildings. With my own pocket money, I paid 2 families to clean the road between Punta Abreojos and La Bocana. I also sponsored parties for all the elementary students who participated in cleanups. And I gave the high school seniors $100 dollars towards their graduation.



Many friends have donated recyclable shopping bags (and the coop is having some made too), fishing caps with our logo on them, Costco trash bags … and much much more. My husband is at the top of the donor list.



Not knowing how to get to the next level of recycling: to create a garbage landfill, American friends suggested garage sales. Well, we started them 2 weeks ago and the success has been stupendous!! I pay locals 100 pesos to hold them, we have around 3 a week at different locations and we now have some cash to pay the garbage guys to pick up the heavy loads as well as cash for fuel. The public library had a bathroom put up in record time, funded by the coop, the architect, and us. The coop will also sponsor a computer expert to maintain all their computers. (9 not working out of 10). The same architect made detailed plans for a cafeteria/stage for the elementary school and we have 2 garage sales a week for this purpose.



Want to help make the world a better place?



I need donations of

Clothes: esp. HOODED SWEATSHIRTS

Jewelery

Fishing hats

Towels

Sunscreen

Bedspreads/sheets/kitchen towels

Telephones/faxes/COMPUTERS

Televisions



We also need money to fund three parts of the landfill:

1. A chain link fence around site;

2. Purchase of a backhoe;

3. Plastic liner for the landfill.



And most importantly: please donate any quality used/new fishing gear for the once a month fishing garage sale that was the biggest hit I have ever seen !



You can drop donations at the coop offices in Ensenada under PANCHO's name at:

Sociedad Cooperativa Progreso, 234 Abasolo,

Colonia Independencia, Ensenada, B.C.



Please send me a quick email to let me know you did it or Pancho might think Santa loves him A LOT.



If you are experienced in landfills or recycling, please let me know.



Thanks so much for any help,

Sincerely, Blanca Portella Heil

UNA BOCANA LIMPIA