Growing team

February 2011

Eduardo, the dentist, recently shared his heart with me, about E.B.. He said that he has missed out on opportunities to make a difference in small villages, in the past. He has been called and now he is ready! He & his wife, Geidis, would love to buy a piece of property to build a small house & be able to visit on a regular basis. They want to put their time & energy into the people of E.B.. We have been brainstorming ideas, & have put in a proposal for financial assistance, from the Federal Government. It was important for us to discuss our ideas with Goyo, the head of the Community Board. Interestingly enough, we found out that out of 15 projects that Goyo & the Board Members already had for the village, almost all of them were on our list too! Sounds like confirmation to me! We explained to Goyo that we only want to help them if they are interested & that we are not wanting to pressure them. The idea is to combine their current lifestyle with new civilization, so that we can learn from each other. Marta, Eduardo’s sister who is a grant writer affiliated with the Fed. Gov’t, came with us for the follow up meeting with the Community Board Members. She explained a prerequisite to the agreement with the Gov’t is that they would be willing to set aside a portion of the land to be protected from animals being hunted and trees being cut down. There were 9 men who opted to donate a portion of their land to be conserved. Lalo then drove us through 5 kilometers of overgrown dirt roads to take measurements of their land with her G.P.S.. At the end of the day, the Board Members signed the proposal request. We will have a response from the gov’t in May. Prayerfully, they will be sending money for us to get started on a few projects that they will approve.

A special thank you goes out to David from Maine for being one of our drivers and also for donating medical supplies & vitamins, which are of great need!! Eventually, we might even turn Leity’s medical supply section of her house, into a real pharmacy!! Thanks again for your heart to help David!