Thursday at Yagay

Our day started out with breakfast in the Plaza. We have gotten into a bit of a routine and usually go to the same restaurant each morning. We do this because they have an English menu and our waiter speaks pretty good English. He said he spent several years living in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Abraham was late due to traffic so we didn't leave Oaxaca until almost 9:30. The we ran into a traffic backup out on the main road. The Transito (traffic cop) said it was because of a procession by the people to bless the road. Apparently there have been several bad accidents along this stretch recently. At each bus stop along the road people had set up a small alter for the blessing. Taxi cabs and public safety vehicles participated in the procession.We took a detour around much of the procession. After a quick stop at the fruit stand to buy fruit for the community we finally got to the work site.

Plans changed and we went to the school to pass out the fruit and the school supplies we had brought from the US. The school is a two room building with an outdoor covered area. All with a dirt floor. Many barns in Woodland are nicer that the school. We met the teachers, Humberto and Olivia, who were appreciative of what we brought. The teachers are supplied by the government but the community must supply the building.

The community is building a double latrine at the school. The lid is ready for the brick foundation which is in the process of being built.


We learned there is a committee that is organized to govern the Yagay community. They help keep things running smoothly and help with education and health out reach efforts.
Adam from MTI worked with us for the day. Abraham, Adam, Goni and I all worked on one latrine while Darwin, Carol, Pam and Eric worked on the other. We had to move another concrete cover into place which is really hard work.

Our latrine was at he home of the storekeeper. The community has a little store that carries supplies and food. The latrine at the store is probably used by visitors and their old one was made from adobe bricks. It was the nicest one we had seen thus far.

We finally set to work (almost two hours late) and got our latrines built in short order. We headed for the little community restaurant and had a late lunch before heading back to Oaxaca.
After a shower we headed down to the Plaza for a snack and listened to music from an orchestra playing in the pavilion.

Tomorrow is our last day to work in the community. The community members plan to serve us lunch at the school to thank us for our work. Then on Saturday morning we start the trek towards home.