Lost and Found

At the end of any camp, there´s always that period where the odds and ends leftover from the weekend are held up to be claimed. As this was our final day here, the same was happening as we were sorting through three weeks of memories, trials and triumphs. The odd sock, the water bottles, the woggles, everything that had been lost over the course of the trip, was finally being returned, finally found again. But this goes much further than just the simple camping equipment and wayward socks.

Yesterday when we arrived at the site, we had the greatest surprise of the trip. While we were away at Ciudad del Este, so much work had taken place. The roof was on, the first coat of paint had been applied, the corridor was finished. We had a school. All that was left was a bit more work on the washrooms, more painting and some cleaning up. By 5pm, we had succeeded in a project that had first been imagined two years ago. It´s almost unbelievable now to think that we actually made it, that we finished the school, that it´s all over.

Last night, we had our first celebration in the form of a Canada Night. In the spirit of Scouting and cultural exchange, we put together a night for members of Scouting in Paraguay to learn a little bit more about who we were and where we came from. There were pancakes and maple syrup, Canadian music, decorations, games and lots of fun. The atmosphere was greater than anyone could have imagined because of the knowledge that our project was a resounding success. Not only had we finished the school on schedule, we had made an impact locally and nationally, prompting action right up to the Ministry of Education.

Today was our dedication ceremony. From between the tears of joy and sadness for leaving, there were a number of speeches, presentations, a bit of cultural dancing and then a private toast in the new classroom. To great friends, great adventures, and the two of them coming together as often as possible. Who could ask for anything more? The remainder of today was filled with goodbyes, hugs, more tears and a lot of beef. There was a barbecue tonight at the Scout House in our honour. It proved that the hardest part is not in the planning and implementing a project like this, but in leaving it behind. Saying goodbyes is something for which you just can´t Be Prepared.

As we collect our things, get packed up and head on our way, we realize just what we found along the way. We found great friends, an amazing culture and welcoming people. We found the need for community involvement at a new level than we could have thought before. We found the most prosperous highs and most desperate lows of society living right next to eachother. We found lessons in everything we did, about society, about development, about Scouting and about ourselves. Most importantly, we found a community which had once been lost in the shuffle.

As we may move in our seperate directions now, we fan out from this project and continue to spread what we have learned and experienced here. It won´t possibly be forgotten, as it will likely contribute to everything we do in some small way. What we´ve found here is not an end to a project, but just a beginning.

Good Scouting

"Project Catalyst"

The last several days have been a whirlwind of activities.

Since Wednesday last week (yes, it has been a few days now), the school has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. When we last saw it before a couple of days touring, the roof was nearing completion, the new classroom was done and wired in, the painting had started (and was in fact half done). Also, the fence has been completed around the entire playground, which itself has been leveled and cleaned. Missing windows were replaced and covers were put over them to protect the windows from future soccer ball related incidents. All in all, the school is looking great. We were on the site right through til Saturday afternoon, six solid days of hard work. On Friday and Saturday we had a number of Scouts from around the area come out and help. It seems our neckers are very popular items for trading...but we're somewhat reluctant to part with them because of what they've come to mean to all of us. Even the dirt on the white of the necker is a reminder of something as we've worked.

Also on Saturday, a TV station came out and interviewed a few people on the site. This brings our media coverage to three radio broadcasts, three newspaper articles and a TV interview. All of this coverage really is starting to make a difference. We're recognized walking down the street as the Scouts from Canada. Yesterday, when we were in Ciudad del Este, we had the opportunity to visit a church because the congregation had heard that we were in town and wanted to talk with us and ask questions. Walking down the street earlier today, a woman saw us and a couple of Canadian flags on our backpacks, asked if we were the Scouts from Canada and then started telling the person next to her all about the project that she had heard about on TV. If awareness is the first step towards action, we can proudly say that Scouts Canada has had a direct impact on that action. Someone has commented that perhaps this is simply "Project Catalyst", paving the way for work within communities here, by the communities.

We've also had opportunities for more cultural exchanges. On Thursday, the Contingent went to two different activities. Part of the group had the chance to go to a fifteenth birthday party for one of the Scouts from the Group in Luque, just outside of Asuncion. The fifteenth birthday is a very important occasion in Paraguay, as well as most of Latin America, so this was quite the opportunity. The other group was invited to a barbeque with the Leaders from another Scout Group (whose meeting we had visited last weekend). Barbecues seem to be a very big part of the local culture and a great way to meet and talk with new people.

On Saturday, we had another chance to stay with host families, with whom we had stayed previously on one of the first nights. It was good to see our friends again and to see just how much we had changed over these past weeks. Some of the activities included souvenir shopping, going to the national Expo (with incredibly big cows) and of course barbecues.

Late Sunday night, actually very early Monday morning, we all boarded the bus for a five hour drive to Ciudad del Este. This city borders with Argentina and Brazil, so at certain times over our two days there, we could actually see three countries at once when standing at the Parana River. Also here, we were able to go on a trip to Iguazu Falls, which were absolutely amazing. It's sad to say, but I don't think any of us will be able to look at Niagara Falls with the same awe as we once had after seeing Iguazu.

We're now back in Asuncion at the Scout House getting ready to go to bed. Tomorrow we're back at the school for our last day of work. It's currently dumping rain outside and storming to the point where some of the roads were actually flooded, but we're optimistic for work tomorrow, especially because most of it will be inside painting.

We've now been out from Asuncion across to the eastern reaches of Paraguay and all the way along, we've run into news of the project. When we first arrived, we were under the impression that our only support would be coming from the Scout Association of Paraguay. We were soon joined by both of the border towns with the school and the Ministry of Education. Now, it seems that our support and interest has spread across the country. We're hopeful now, more than we have been so far, that this project will continue to grow long after we leave.

Good Scouting

A Roof to Learn Under

There has been a huge amount of progress on San Miguel over the last couple of days, and more still that has happened outside of it.

On Saturday, we worked for half of the day, there were a few jobs that were needed completion before the weekend really set in. In particular, we were able to take down the old fence and moved another mountain worth of dirt to level out more of the new school foundation. The building techniques here are certainly different from Canadian standards, but that's not to say that they're incorrect. We've learned quite a lot of good pointers for building, repairing and generally for community involvement.

After the half day at work, we had a half day at play as well. We all had the opportunity to go to a Scout meeting in Fernando de la Mora. What we found was just astonishing. The Scout Group, named after General Gemes has around 90 members. They range from Cubs right up to Rovers (although there is no formal Crew as all the Rovers are also Leaders). They count off at the beginning and end of the meetings and by the time it was time to leave, including 18 Canadians, there were 100 people present. Amazing! And they all meet in the same location. This meeting was mostly dedicated to playing games and enjoying the international cooperation that has come from this project. What a great day indeed.

Sunday was a day off for everyone. While most of the Paraguayans working on the site spent the day with their families, in lieu of that, all of us spent the day exploring and learning more about the culture and society of Paraguay. Our first activity was a train journey on the oldest wood powered steam train in the world. It was built in 1911 and is still operational, although at about 10km/h, the 20km trip from Asuncion to Aregua took two hours, but was certainly worth it. Throughout the journey there and back, actors portraying period characters came through the car. All the way through the journey as well, as we passed by houses and communities, people came out of their houses to wave to this train, in all its novelty. The train only runs once every couple of weeks, so we were lucky to have this opportunity.

Once in Aregua, we got to go for a walk around the city. Aregua seems to be the pottery capital of Paraguay and so we were able to see a lot of where and how it was made, as well as several opportunities to purchase some of the pieces. We walked down to the lake, passing by communities and businesses. It's always amazing the differences between communities in Paraguay. The distance between the highest and lowest economic classes at times is a little bit hard to understand. All the same, the spirit of the people who live in the houses, no matter how big or how small, is a lesson to all of us in being being happy, even proud of what we have in life.

Monday, it was back to the worksite. The biggest ocurrence that came from the day was certainly raising the peaks of the roof for the corridor between the old classrooms and the new one. The difference between a building project and a rebuilding project is that, when repairing an existing school, it's sometimes hard to really see what kind of an impact the work is having. It seemed like, for quite some time, our efforts weren't really amounting to anything. Although we were never deterred from work, we were starting to feel like we weren't really getting very much accomplished. With the roof peaks going up, finally, we could see what we were working towards. The new classroom had all of the walls up and that roof was also getting started. The washrooms were being tiled and all the existing classrooms were ready for painting. In one day, we seem to have finally made that important step that took us from getting into the project to working towards the end of it. Just at the right time, too. Monday was our halfway point.

Tuesday and today were similar stories. We keep taking those big steps towards completion. All those fundraisers, all the planning, scrambling and worrying have turned into something very real, into something that is finally taking on a tangible shape. It seems funny already that all those years planting trees and raising money for Scoutrees could have turned into a school that will be around not only for years, but for hundreds of students, working towards breaking the cycle of poverty.

It's amazing not only how much can go into, but also how many things can come from something as simple as a roof.

Good Scouting

The Length of a Day

A few days ago, there was a man here at the office, who, when asked how his day was, he replied "it was 100km long". It seemed odd at first, but now shows that there are different ways to measure the worth of a day. It can be the amount of time you dedicated, or, such was the case here, the quality and breadth of the work.

While our days have been filled with a non-stop drizzle, which even continues outside the windows now, our spirits and energy have not diminished. Not at all. Yesterday, our work had us laying the foundation for the new classroom and the corridor which will protect the 250 students of San Miguel as they move from class to class. As well, we were able to patch holes in the playground which led under the fence and into a ravine. We put to work a lot of the things we learned throughout many years of Scouting. We needed to ensure our repairs to the ground and hillside would withstand erosion from the rain. Although only time will tell, from the rain we've had over the last two days, it is so far looking very promising that our work will stand for quite some time.

One of the biggest parts of yesterday was certainly moving dirt. The soil here is quite sandy and is surprisingly red. Anyone who found themselves at CJ in PEI (any of the CJs there) will remember the red soil and just how hard it is to get it off your shoes. This is a constant struggle here. The soil is a main component of the foundation. It's amazing just how much is needed to fill-in what we would consider to be the area of a fairly small classroom.

Today, there were a number of tasks at hand. While the bus left the Scout Headquarters for the build site, there were four members of the Canadian Contingent dressed in their tan uniforms. There were interviews with the radio and two newspapers this morning. The word about the project has been getting out. It's exciting to watch this project grow even further and faster than we had ever anticipated.

At the same time as the interviews were going on, there was a lot of work happening at San Miguel School. Because of the rain this morning, all the work was forced inside, but even that couldn't stop us. We sanded down the walls in the classrooms, as well as the desks, so that they would be all ready to patch and paint in the coming week.

Once the rain started to let up, back we went to work again. Today's tasks were bigger than yesterdays, but nothing we couldn't handle. The walls of the new classroom started to stretch upward. This was certainly the first big sign that the project was moving forward. The foundation for the corridor is now nearly completely leveled. In fact, things are moving so quickly, we met with the architect this evening just to see what the plan of attack would be over the coming days. This is when we heard some astonishing news.

While speaking with Nelson, our favourite architect, we learned that he had been contacted and had actually spent the day running around to talk with a variety of offices. First, the school itself sits on the border between two different towns. Apparently, the mayors of both towns are very interested in supporting the project and have started attempting to out-do each other in showing it. They've pledged tiles for the corridor, bags of cement and 50 litres of paint to start. When this news got out, we got another big supporter for the project. The Ministry of Education of Paraguay has voiced its support for the project. We had all wondered how it was the government could let communities get to the level they were now at, with slums popping up all around, and within the capital. As it turns out, this project has provided just the spark that was needed to get a fire started. Although no clear indication of the level of support has been outlined yet, it looks like the school will be getting funding so that the project can be improved and expanded over the next two weeks. This project seems to have served as inspiration to a government to get more involved in community development. The influence of Scouting never ceases to amaze.

How was our day today? It was 100km long.

Good Scouting

Facelifts and Thunderstorms

The work has begun!

From where we left off last, the team has started work on the facelift and reconstruction of the school of San Miguel in Fernando de la Mora. We first arrived after lunch yesterday afternoon. While we had seen a couple of pictures of the school, we really didn´t know what to expect. We all had very different ideas of what we would see when we got there, and it´s very possible that we were all, in some way, right.

The school is surrounded by a community that can only be described as a slum. The word seems to convey a very negative image, but it´s really the only one that´s appropriate. Fernando de la Mora is in fact quite a large city and it´s directly attached to the capital of Asuncion, but the community surrounding this school seems to have been forgotten about. Next to the school is a very normal looking area of dirt. What really caught out attention was that before we got there, it was just an open field, but by the time we left, it was a soccer pitch. Goals had been erected using long, forked sticks and boundaries were outlined with various objects. I guess Scouts aren´t the only people who are wise in the use of all resources.

Our work was quickly cut out for us. In the end, we have a number of goals. Talking with Nelson the architect, we learned that there is a classroom to build, a roof to put on, a corridor to level, walls to sand and paint and a playground to clean up. We have a lot to do, but even more dedication and inspiration to do it.



Our job was to get the work started. There were materials to bring in and the walls were ripe for sanding. Since we´d all been itching to get down to business, our energy seemed boundless. We sanded the entire school exterior so that it can be patched and painted. We unloaded a truckload of bricks by hand and we began working on the foundation of the new classroom. If we continue at this rate, we may have the school completely finished by next week.

Afterwards, covered in dust from sanding all afternoon, we came back to the Scout Headquarters where we´re staying and settled in after a round of showers to fight back the plaster. The day was just what we´d been waiting for.

Today however, was just what we didn´t need. It rained all day long and is still to this minute continuing the downpour. In fact, last night, as we were all heading off to bed, the city was surrounded by quite a nice show as lightning brightened the sky in every direction. We spent today preparing some activities for the weekend, as well as doing some team building activities. It was a lot of fun certainly, but work tomorrow is what we´re all looking forward to again. Rain or shine, we´re at the site for work. The trouble today was not in actually working on the site, as we´ve all learned from Mud Mazing at various jamborees, a little dirt never hurt, but the logistical nightmare of navigating the quagmire of muddy red roads leading to the school was the real challenge. This we´ve now overcome, so more progress will follow in the next post. Until then, we´re having a movie night with some of the local Venturers and Rovers so tomorrow, we can be sure to have all the energy needed to continue on Creating a Better World.





Good Scouting

The Project Begins

Just a recap to set the scene: 18 members of Scouts Canada, from Tri-Shores Council have come to Paraguay, to the city of Fernando de la Mora, to help rebuild a primary school. The youth and adults have been busy preparaing, planning, and fundraising for over two years. The building project has been funded by a grant from the Canadian Scout Brotherhood Fund, which is supported by the annual Scoutrees fundraiser. What this means is that, although there are 18 Venturers, Rovers and Advisors here in Paraguay, the project is really a combination of the efforts of nearly 100 000 members of Scouting across Canada and Paraguay.


Now, to business: We're sitting, about to eat lunch at the National Scout Office of La Asociacion de Scouts del Paraguay, where we will be staying over the course of the project. After arriving on Friday evening, we have been busy getting used to the weather and enjoying the food and culture of Paraguay. Everyone got to spend time with a host family for some home hospitality over the weekend. We're a little more tanned than when we started, but our enthusiasm for this project is only increasing. After lunch, we're headed to school.

This afternoon, we're going to be taking a good look with Nelson the architect to go over all the tasks that will be completed over the next 18 days before we return home. Our greatest endeavour is to complete the project entirely before we have to leave. We all realize that this will require a large amount of dedication and hard work, two things that we have been learning all about over the last two years' of preparation.

The weather has been spectacular (it's been around 25'C during the day...thankfully it's the winter) and the Paraguayan Scout Association has been nothing short of amazing. We're ready for work and we'll let you know how things are going. Check back soon to see more about this aspect of Scouts Canada: Community Development.