Gradas

---

So things at Gradas got off to a rocky start, but I think we´re making some progress. First, a bit about the project, they´re building an integral farm with fruits and vegetables, medicinal plants, and animals, all to be sustainable and organic. This farm is supposed to be a model for people in the community (they currently grow monocultures of corn or wheat and use a lot of pesticides and stuff) and they can volunteer to work there and learn how it all works together and then if they choose to make their own they will be given some of the startup supplies (like maybe seeds). It´s a good proposal, but a much bigger project than GOSA usually takes on. We´ll also be doing workshops in Gradas and the surrounding communities when we´re not on the farm, and training 20 health volunteers to deliver our workshops once we´re gone.
When we went up on Monday for our first meeting we found out that everyone was under the impression we had 5 thousand dollars to spend on the project. The proposal we got asked for 5 thousand, but we immediately replied saying we wouldn´t have that much and we were told that it was fine and we´d figure it out when we got here. Then in our first meeting with the department we told them again that we didn´t have that much they said it was ok. But when we told everyone in the meeting (2 of whom were at the first meeting with the department) they insisted that no one had told them that, and that we promised the money. And then one guy accused us of spending it all in Canduya, which was pretty hurtful. We ended up scheduling another meeting with Alicia (the head of the department) in the afternoon to clear things up. We all left that first meeting very upset and frustrated. David had come with us to the meeting to make sure it all went well, and he had really not been received well. There was a lot of 'who do you think you are?' type stuff going on, but we were all glad he was there to defend us. He ended up deciding to work on the Gradas project with us, since he has 2 degrees in agriculture and we´re building a farm and the people planning it don´t really seem to know much about it. He´s been an awesome help and we´re all glad to have him.
In the afternoon we met again and everyone had calmed down a bit. We decided we would buy all the plants (which David projected to only be around $300, since all of the prices in the proposal were grossly inflated) and then see if we have money left to put towards some of the animals (namely llamas and cuy ). That seemed to placate them a bit and after they started talking to David about agriculture and by the end of the meeting I think almost everyone had realized he would add a lot to the project.
Tuesday Wednesday and today we worked out on the farm in the mornings, clearing land and planting trees and vegetables. It´s fun but it´s hard work. My hamstrings are killing me from hoeing and bending down to plant things.
Tomorrow we´re heading back to Canduya for Carmen´s grad, and for a grad present we´re taking her to Baños with us for the weekend. I´m excited for some good socializing, the cabin fever has definitely set it.

---