Stop and Drop (Infrastructural Issues)

While driving to Turrialba two weeks ago we were following this dump truck up the hill. We always give trucks much space since our diesel engine needs momemtum to ensure it makes it up the hill without stalling. As we were gaining on the dump truck he suddenly stops and starts to drop his load.

To our surprise a scraper comes

over the top to spread out the dirt.

Roads are something I did not think much about when living in the states except when it came to traffic patterns or construction. Here in rural Costa Rica there are not many options but one road in and one road out. We rely on these roads to buy grociers, supplies, and housing materials.

After last years rainy season, our roads were in pretty bad shape. We were reduced to a crawl in many places while still inflicting heavy wear and tear on our cars. Well a couple of weeks ago, we were extremely blessed to see help was on its way.

The road to Paso Marcos still needs some major help

The road received a little TLC

We live one hour from Turrialba, our closest city to buy the things of daily life. Half of the ride is on paved roads, the half hour on mountainous dirt roads. Our issues are on these dirt roads. During rainy season, washouts and landslides are common.

This road was getting a little narrow

and being eroded from underneath

This is the same road as the picture

above but with a bit of a makeover.

To add to the difficulty of our road situation, we live on the other side the Pacuare River and the bridge will not permit heavy machinery to cross the river. The solution was to build a road through the river so the dump trucks would have access to the other side of the river.

Dump truck crossing the Pacuare River

The famous "Singing Bridge"

of Bajo Pacaure

Prayer Request: The road to Paso Marcos is not a federal road and repairs have not been made to this road. What a blessing to have this road repaired, our vehicles take a beating on these roads every time we leave home.

Second Prayer Request: The government of Costa Rica is suppose to replace this bridge. Pray the funds and materials are released and actually go to rebuilding this bridge. A new bridge would help all the communities that live on the other side of the river.

A Visit from Friends

Dan and I were blessed to have two friends from our church in San Antonio come for a visit two weeks ago. Ron and Terri both came to do some mission work but their goals were quite different.

This is where Ron stayed most of his visit, at a school in the Cabecar Reservation. His time here was spent with one of the teachers who also owns his own farm. Ron spent the week living with this gentleman, teaching him Word and Excel on the computer, and learning amazing things about farming and the Cabecar people.

When Ron returned from the Reservation other farmers in the area, who are partners in the micro lending program our ministry has through ICDI, wanted to show him their farms. They have put so much work into their farms and thanks to the micro lending program, they have the means to do more with their land. You could see their excitement and pride as they gave Ron a tour of their farm. Ron can probably now tell you all about farming in Costa Rica.

Terri spent the week with us in Paso Marcos. One of the things she did was teach guitar. Playing guitar is very popular here and many people want to learn. It was a blessing to see her forge new relationships with the people in this area through a gift she has. Terri has such an amazing personality that the people she gave lessons to instantly loved her.

Dustin has also been playing guitar for awhile and assisted Terri with a couple of lessons.

One of the unique things we did was to offer private lessons in peoples homes. Terri was able to get to know several people in their own homes and experience a little more of the culture. The lady in this picture wanted to take guitar lessons but owns a little store in a near by town and couldn't leave to take the lessons. When Dan went to tell her that Terri could give her lessons at her house, her face light up! This is a woman who has always been very closed off and has never smiled at us and has barely spoken to us. Through these lessons, Terri found a new friend and so have we. God is good!

Terri also helped us with our English class. She taught for many years and has experience in teaching ESL. We were so excited to have her help. The class loved her! She is still in contact with the class by sending us simple stories that she writes in English, about her life, that the class has to read.

We love to have visitors who want to become part of our little community. Ron and Terri are now a important part of it.

Our Farm, Coffee, and land for the Youth Center

Our Farm

I couldn't move this picture so I am leaving it here.

In this picure, Giovanni is measuring a cajuela of coffee. (About 15 lbs of beans) Those who pick coffee get paid $2.00 for each cajuela of coffee picked. Once the bean is picked it must get to the processor within 24 to 48 hrs.

The coffee ripens over a four to five month period of time and is picked as it ripens. We will pick the coffee and then wait a couple days before more coffee ripens. The coffee started with a trickle and last week we sold over 70 cajuelas of coffee. Our pickers will start up again next week.

Here is a picture of our Coffee and Banana Farm. The banana helps provide shade for the coffee and restores nutrients to the soil that is depleted by the coffee plants.

Praise God for our new driveway. It took a couple of months to build due to road construction to fix a corner that was eroding. Equipment needed to bring gravel up to our driveway would not make the corner until it was fixed. We are very thankful for the wonderful scenary of God's amazing creation we get to enjoy on every part of our property.

Another picture of our banana, coffee and new driveway.

Morning dew on one of our banana plants.

This is the little corner to our farm. You can see the mixture of banana and coffee throughout the hillside. You can also see part of our new property, the portion closest to the viewer. The brown stuff in the middle of the picture is where the dirt that was moved to make the driveway. Eventually we will replace the coffee plants that were destroyed during the construction.

Charlie enjoying her freedom on our new property. She doesn't

mind the wild flowers that grow along the hillside.

Coffee Time!!!

It is Coffee Time in the Turrialba Valley

Ripening coffee on our coffee plants.

1

Our pickers waiting for the coffee truck to arrive.

This was the day the coffee man picked up 32 cajuelas.

Our New Property

Here is a picture from on top of our new property. It has a fantastic view of the Pacuare Valley. We knew this property was bigger than our first property but it is finally sinking in. There are a lot of banana on this farm but it has been neglected. It will take some work to get this place cleaned up. We are very excited about the possibilities of this property and what God will do.

Here is the property from the street view. Who knows, someday we hope to put some coffee on this property as well. The very top of the property is woods. Dustin has already made a path to walk through the woods to our original property.

The owner of the place put up this little shack to increase the value of the land. We will use the house materials to build a storage shed for Juan Carlos, our farm manager. If you notice the writing on the wall, the owner was asking 14 million colones for the property. Praise God we did not pay that price.

Languageses>en YahooCE

Pic 08

Pack Mules

Yesterday we helped a team get prepared to build a foot/horse bridge across a river in an area within the reservation called Nimari. We were pack mules for the day. We had to carry supplies to the health outpost where the team is staying for the week. Due to a collapsed bridge we couldn't drive as close to the location as normal. We carried supplies 40 minutes down the road/trail. We did this track a few times until we were worn out. It was a very hot day! We left around 1:00 to go home, get in the cool river and eat lunch. Well, our car had other plans. On our way out our car, Miss Daisy, started making an awful noise so instead of heading home we turned the other direction into town. We waited a few hours in our stinky, sweaty clothes while the mechanic fixed our car. It's an hour drive from town to home. We finally made it home at 7:00.

I could have been upset by our afternoon not going as planned but God reminded me that he knew how the day was going to be. I was able to rest in his plan for me that day. I need that reminder more often!

Scenes from our day:

The collapsed bridge. Notice anything missing... like maybe some rebar.

Cocoa plants.

It is amazing how much weight the Cabecar Indians can carry. They carried the columns and platforms for the bridge along with other very heavy equipment, including a generator. The horse did it's part too.

The health outpost where the team is staying.

Columns and cable already at the bridge site.

Platforms still needing to be carried to the bridge site.

On our way out we encountered this truck broken down in the middle of the road. We were grateful that our car isn't any wider. We wouldn't have gotten around it. We had no room to spare.

Our car at the doctors.