Renacer Marcovia: July 4 & 5, 2000
The road to and from Choluteca is still purgatory. Busses pass on the main road but still do not enter the new town.
Sewer connections in the back yards of Renacer Marcovia. Once the system is operating, latrines will be closed. The cows have not eaten all of the trees planted for shade.
"Man-hole" - collector built from brick and covered with mezcla. These are located at street intersections.
The new school is getting its roof.
Men to the center right are playing catch with clay tiles.
Blow-up scan of men playing tile toss.
The school will have 12 rooms, 6 in each section. Restrooms between the buildings are probably tied into the new sewer system. This is a primary school only, and the kinder will be elsewhere. I have no doubt that there are enough children around to keep this school more than filled with 2 rooms for each grade.
Another photo of the school. I was waiting for some help with my equipment and had time on my hands. Recall the words of Yogi Berra: "You can observe a lot just by watching."
Women carrying water from an obviously polluted pool (center right of photo) for use in making mezcla for the school.
Zoom scan of the water platoon. The pool lies just this side of the road, below the woman in the red dress.
Digging trenches the usual way. Rain does soften the ground but it hasn't rained for over a week.
Another shot of the trench.
Sewer pipe. PVC made in Honduras.
CARE staff examines the ground where the biofiltro - sewage lagoon - is planned.
I think the sewage lagoon site is too close to houses. Some houses will have a view property with respect to the biofiltro. I suspect they will pray for wind blowing from the northeast.
Monument in the park.
Plaque lists nations that cooperated in building Nenacer Marcovia.
Pipes are in the ground for sewage; these boxes are for the drinking water system. We are conducting a resistivity sounding here, enfrente de la casa de madera.
Making utility boxes.
The utility box supervisor poses with my field assistant (right). Pedro (long sleeves) lives in another town but works here for just over $3/day. The older fellow remembers the Toledo construction volunteers and sends his best wishes.
Water pipe - more PVC. CARE is doing all of the sewer, PLAN is installing the potable water system. The well is over a kilometer away.
The water tower is going up.
Cows wandering through the town. These are quality stock, not some poor campesino's herd. Lines of stones mark off property boundaries in the back yards of homes left of center.
Black polygon shows approximate area now built up for Renacer Marcovia. "X" marks show GPS locations of 3 electrical resistivity soundings conducted to investigate subsurface conditions. "F" shows planned location of the fosa - trench - planned for the biofiltro. I think the sewage lagoon should be moved at least 200 meters further south - now, not after it becomes a serious nuisance. The new school is going up about 150 meters east of the southernmost "X".
Roberto and Erica. Roberto drove us from Tegucigalpa to the sur. Erica is a graduate student at Tulane University, on assignment to assess the nutritional value of CARE's "food for work" program.
Other observations: many small stores (pulperías) have opened. A pickup loaded with vegetables announced what was for sale by loudspeaker as the truck drove slowly through the town. Water remains scarce. There are several pilas fed by a well drilled on the floodplain (or so I gathered during discussions with CARE folks) but few taps. Water is directed on one tap at a time and women line up with buckets for their turn. This is what was going on with the Las Peñitas women while I visited. Contact me if you want to chat about my visit.