village travels

For the past three days I have been traveling in my organization´s truck to the rural areas where the organization does the vast majority of their work. We typically leave between nine and ten in the morning and then return sometime between 2 and 5, depending on our work or traveling difficulties we encounter along the way. Luke´s Society works in 8 different communities. So far I have gotten to know four of them, three in particular.

Traveling into the rural areas is always a little bit of an adventure. We talk the paved highway to a town called la conquista and from there we take one of two different dirt roads that give access to the communities. These roads are in "good" condition during the summer or dry season and then get progresively worse during the rainy season. Right now, so I am told, they are in good condition. Good conditions means that the four-wheel drive truck can get the majority of the way to the communities and we only have to walk a little bit. This is really my first time that I have ever really understood the need for a four-wheel drive vehicle. There are huge holes and ravines all along the roads and before driving on them I would have thought it was impossible. But we make it. It will become increasingly more entertaining as rainy season progresses and access to the communities becomes increasingly more difficult. But my co-workers assure me that we always go and always find a way to go whether by motorcycle or walking.

The community work is really neat. I now understand their work better than before since I´ve seen it in practice and met the people who´ve received the organization´s help. So far I´ve assisted in helping to weigh and measure the height of the children so we can track their health and their nutrition levels, participated in a consultation with three women who receive loans, talked with several women who have received wells and clean water access due to the organization´s work, and seen various results of the loan projects. The people have lots of admiration for Luke´s Society´s work and they continually comment that since they began working there eight years ago conditions have improved.

I look forward to seeing more of their work and participating in it in the coming days and weeks.