Matthew J. Piette, P.E.

My niece Madeline is working for an NGO in Guatemala,  Here is a note from her.  I will post more as she writes them.

Hola a todos,

So I realize I haven't done a very good of a job continually updating
everyone on exactly what it is I am doing here in Guatemala.  So I
wanted to start at the beginning, and explain just what type of
project I am working for, what population we serve, and how those
interested can get involved in supporting us.  But that is all a lot
of information to pour into one e-mail, so I am going to break it up.
Over the next couple weeks I will be sending out e-mails describing
different departments of Safe Passage and different ways to support.

So in this first one, I'd like to introduce you to Guatemala City's
Municipal Garbage Dump.

The dump is located in a natural ravine in the center of the Guatemala
City.  The ravine spans about 40 acres of land.  All the garbage from
the 3.5 million residents of Guatemala City and four surrounding towns
is dumped here.  Nine hundred and twenty yellow trucks can dump up to
three times a day, depositing (in our best estimate, but nothing
official) 1000 tons of garbage in the dump daily.  There are no
environmental regulations here in Guatemala, so not only residential
and business waste goes into the dump but also hospital waste, dead
animals from the zoo, toxic waste, dead bodies have also been dumped
here but much less now than during the civil war.
So why am I telling you about the dump? Because this is the population we serve.
"Guajeros" is the name given to the people that rummage through the
trash looking for recyclable materials that they can sell for a
profit.  They collect aluminum, glass, plastic, cardboard, burn
mattresses for the metal springs, salvage clothes and furniture they
can resell, etc.  They work in absolutely atrocious conditions.  They
are continually exposed to not only the germs found in rotting trash
but also worms, rats, and vultures.  The biggest health complaint that
we hear of is respiratory problems because the the workers constantly
breathing in methane gas, sulfur, and dust.  During the rainy season
the rotting trash formes a thick sludge. Guajeros are at danger of
being killed in landslides or sink holes since the ground they are
working on is all landfill, not at all stable.  In 2008, about 50
Guajeros, died in a sink hole, just fell into the garbage, and many of
their bodies were never recovered.
These people are working in the dump because there is no other option
for them.  They are poor and illiterate.  They come from an area of
the city where people assume they are poor, dirty, have lice, smell
bad, (all pretty true by the way) and people are hesitant to work with
them.
So, 10-years ago, a woman named Henly Denning saw this dump, saw the
children, and decided she would try and change their future.  Thus,
Safe Passage was created.

I will talk more about what services we provide for the children of
Safe Passage in my next e-mail.

Thank you and please send this and my upcoming e-mails to all and
everyone you know,
Madeline

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I got this email from our farm  They sold out of these eggs in less than 24 hours.  What do you do with 20 dozen eggs???

Greetings Springdale Farm members and friends!

The Amish farmer (Norman Miller of Pardeeville) who supplies the organic eggs that some of you received last year recently started a new batch of chickens. When the chickens first start laying, their eggs are always on the smaller side.  Since the wholesaler who takes most of his eggs doesn't want the smaller eggs, Norman needs to find another outlet for them. He asked me if I might assist him in finding a home for these smaller eggs.  Since we don't want to bother the pick-up sites during their off-season, especially with freezing temperatures that damage eggs, we would either have to deliver the eggs to your home directly, or you could come to the farm to get them. We also want to move them in greater quantities than one or two dozen at a time.

So here's the offer: a box of eggs containing 20 dozen eggs would be delivered to your place for $30. (If you live far off the beaten track -- then we'd add another $5.)  If you want to come to the farm to get them, we'd ask $25. The eggs should last at least a month, if kept in a cool spot.  Norman's farm is certified organic.  In another year or two we will be building a chicken coop on our farm to replace the one that burned last winter, and in fact we'll be building it following the design of Norman's chicken coop, but in the meantime, we are happy to provide you with the eggs raised by him and his family.

If you would like to be included on this egg delivery, contact us soon. They will probably not last long.  Also available is red cabbage at $0.80 a pound and grass-fed ground beef at $3.50 a pound, which we'd be happy to deliver to you along with the eggs

Thank you, and stay warm!

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