I won’t spend any more time than this apologizing for my latest failure at regular reports. This update from June and July is the latest attempt to get back on the horse.
Even to us, it feels like the boys’ personalities have been evolving quickly over the last couple of months. Solo started picking up some of the baby signs that Steph has been teaching him, and seems to be learning how to pout and throw tantrums, although August still has a lot of work to do with him.
August is becoming more aware of life around him, living more in the present than Steph and I are it often seems. He points out the birds and reminds us to look at the moon. Last week, while we were driving in the city, Steph noticed him looking intently out the window and asked him what he was thinking. “About trees,” he said. A few minutes later she asked him again what he was thinking. In a quite voice he said, “Still trees.”
Two Big Visits
We had two big visits in June. Our board of directors came down in the first half of June. We were able to visit the communities together and have very productive and timely conversations about Nuevas Esperanzas’ vision and the way forward as we continue to grow. All of them are also friends, and their advice and words of encouragement left us feeling both nurtured and more confident. It will give us fuel for a few years.Two more friends came down the week after our board’s visit. Grandma Peg and Grandpa Bill’s annual visit has become something of a holiday for us. The holiday traditions haven’t been fully established yet, but dominoes and Bloody Marys are looking like strong candidates. Living in a country where family is at the core of social life for most people, being able to see them twice a year makes life feel healthier and more balanced.
Great Engagement in Beekeeping
Over the last month I’ve been happy to be in the field regularly. My highlight from last month was seeing the level of engagement for the beekeeping project. Up until recently, New Hope Llantwitt Major has been funding the purchase of all the hive boxes, since it would be a significant risk for the farmers to invest so much in a new venture. But recently, a few of the participants independently copied the design and began building boxes themselves. They told me that they wanted to respect Nuevas Esperanzas’ contribution to their families by putting in as much as they could.It’s exciting for me when participants start innovating like this in projects that have been brought into their communities because it shows two things: first, they feel like the project is their own, and not ours, and second, that they feel confident it’s worth the investment of their time and resources. Both of these things are critical for the long-term success of the project, so it’s great to see such positive signs at a relatively early stage.
