Water Workshop #1: Huge Success!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of taking in the first of our water-themed workshops developed over the course of the Sources-Fuentes adventure.  Ana-Marie, Emanuele and Marie-Helene put on a rather polished performance for the all-female Canada World Youth group here in Santa Rosa.

 Right from the start they promised this wasn't going to be a day spent sitting infront of a Power Point presentation, eyes-glossed over, willing the breaks and the lunch to come sooner.  They were right!  With their three main themes of Consumption, Access and Bottled Water, we all enjoyed a fun filled day with games, small group presentations, debate, and even a candy-filled evaluation at the end of the day.

CLICK HERE to view a workshop photo album!

Following the 5 step "Image Shifting"model, the facilitators incorporated so much of the learning that we've had throughout this project.  There wasn't only technical content about water, but also a dynamic presentation style, working in two languages, and ensuring that the day was really participative.

To watch a really interesting 7 minute video we enjoyed and debated go to "The Story of Bottled Water".  It just might make you think twice about choosing bottled over tap.

Well, I don't want to give it all away.  Stay tuned, because this workhsop will be coming to a "Canadian city near you", this autumn, to be enjoyed by 8 more Canada World Youth groups there.

The Honduran team is cooking up their own workshop too, which will be revealed next week when we venture back to Belen Gualcho, Honduras to share our findings about their water situation in that community, and to inspire more youth to get involved in water issues at the local level.  This time I'll try not to crash the truck!

Stay tuned, logged-on, and committed to action! ;)

WHO LET THE DOG OUT!

Last week was indeed quite eventful; filled with incredibly positive and not-so-positive moments. It started like any other week, a quiet Monday that many were dreading because of a sleepless weekend. Monday was followed by Tuesday (no surprise there). We had visits planned to Belén Gualcho for Tuesday and Wednesday to learn about the water situation in that community. If there are any Hondurans reading, they might ask: “Why would you go visit this small community hidden in the mountainous occident of Honduras?" Well, Belén Gualcho was actually hit with a Hepatitis A epidemic about a year ago. While we were there, we met with local officials, health centre workers and ministry of environment representatives from whom we learned about challenges they ran into while dealing with the epidemic, temporary solutions they’ve come up with and what they foresee as necessary for the future. We then were able to visit various water tanks, the source of Belén Gualcho’s water, where they dispose of their dirty water, etc. Needless to say, even though this was an educational trip, that did not stop us from taking advantage of the beautiful landscapes around us and taking lots of photos. I must say though, what shocked me the most was the people we were with. Some of the town counsellors spent the entire two days with us and even followed us on our hikes. Talk about hospitality! Overall, they seemed very interested in water related issues.

Unfortunately, this amazing couple of days was followed with a bit of a sour moment for me. After a couple of weeks of difficulty with my living situation, the decision was made for me and my counterpart to change homes (YAY!). While leaving our initial home with all of our luggage Thursday afternoon, our hostess’ dog decided she was angry and bit me in the thigh (OUCH!). Thankfully she didn’t rip my pants and a visit to the doctor wasn’t necessary. Fortunately, that was the only down-side to last week. Friday came and turned out to be an extremely productive day work-wise. Then our weekend activities consisted of a movie night and a trip to Copan Ruinas. What more can you ask for in life!