Step by step is such a pain in the butt.

14 January 2008

Writing the blog every few days is very different from doing it on a daily basis. As I put pen to paper - remember, at the moment, literally - I am flooded with everything that has happened, that is important, that must be said aahhhhh.

The title I will come to in a moment, be patient.

I receive a bit of mail, even though at the moment I just can't get to a keyboard enough to chase those crucial hits, and for all you future blogger stars, let me tell you that it's a very good thing to open your mailbox and see some support there. I print a few excerpts below. They are all positive and helpful, and this truly lifts me when I am deep in a hole and pretending that I'm okay... Haven't received any negative mail so far, but as I intend to just delete such crap without even reading it, it's not important. So why did I mention it? Because as YOU start your site, or breathe life into YOUR dream - NEVER EVER NEVER listen to any negative input from anyone. It's easy to kill a dream, especially someone else's. It's a whole different matter to build one! So just ignore the turkeys, let them go gobble in someone else's back yard.

I am deadly serious here - the beginning of a dream is a very fragile time. Nurture it. Those who say it won't work are actually saying it won't work for THEM. And so it won't. And, a few months down the track... they will still be where they are right now - and you will have grown wings.

Willy in Canada saw the Xmas fotos of the kids playing in the mud [and me, unfortunately... but there are times I just hafta be Daniel's shadow], and he writes:

...is there some alternative ground cover that could be used in addition to the trees to keep the place from becoming a sea of mud when it rains? i'm not familiar with the type of soil they have there so i don't know what would grow, but there are several things they do here to prevent erosion. i also don't have a firm idea about how the village looks as far as topography and all, so i can't really make any suggestions. just a random thought there...

Once we get the steps in place, we need to get grass down along each side of them to stop water gushing from top to bottom each time it rains. We also plan to plant a lot of shrubs, and put down mulch. We considered the idea of putting gravel below the shrubs and beside the steps, but it has taken me almost six months to stop the kids throwing stones, so we figure, why arm them?

Ground cover is a must or it will all be for nothing. Plus aesthetically it will really boost the morale of the community.

The "we" I refer to is always just me and Daniel. The kids threw stones as a game, not in anger, and without any consciousness of the possibility of taking out an eye. I had to bring this home to the parents first - they thought I was wasting my time... an early battle that, but won.

Greg in Sydney asks:

...but first some questions before i think on details
1. where do the palhaco crowd get their water from? and do they have to pay for it?
2. do they have electricity and do they have to pay for it?
is a wind powered pump for the water possible... or solar hot water heating?

The electricty they steal. Sounds ugly that bit, but in fact a huge percentage of electricity is stolen in Rio. In most of the favelas, the people just climb a pole and hook a wire directly from the main cable to their house. We're talking several million people doing this, to survive. In the future, it must change. But again, before passing judgement, let's get sewerage in those tens of thousands of homes, and water... which maybe someone somewhere in Government might think important sometime?

The water is drawn from a communal well. A few neighbouring houses - separate from this little community where we are starting - have invested in a pump, and pump what they need uphill, into small water tanks on the roof. In one foto you can see a thin white plastic pipe snaking uphill. That's what it's for.

As for wind, the location is unsuitable. Solar, great but wickedly expensive.

Joe in California sent me the link below: Declan Galbraith singing 'What Do I Have To Do To Be A Man?' Watch it, Declan sings what Daniel is screaming...

Tell Me Why

I mentioned that Daniel took his new camera up to the community and shot madly away. He shot a lot of fotos and we can use 10... that's a good catch for a first time effort actually. He's going back up tomorrow to chase the steps, the dentist and those damn supermarket fotos that have got themselves snowed under somewhere in New Zealand...

The foto today really hurts, I would never have taken it but Daniel lives on another plane. I am thinking again... should I have taken down the food donation link so soon? Cause this is what Monstrinho, and a lot of the others, get to eat regularly. A bowl of unadorned rice. But I think I will stick to my instinct, and let the universe do its bit.

As for the title, God I have so much I want to do, and all by yesterday, and I just hate this initial part where nothing is happening aahhhh. I feel like Jonathon Livingston Seagull watching the flock scrabble after fishheads, while a world of plenty lies just beyond their understanding.

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