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Rain damage in winter:

Visit to the Mirador on July 30, 2019.

Almost five months after his first visit,  the project manager of the UGK Foundation climbs the Mirador again - this time definitely walking. Although there haven't been any heavy rains yet, the gap is already so affected that the Fedecocagua technician's car can't climb through deep ditches, holes and small landslides.  

For the Swiss and one of his companions, not used to this kind of walk, it is a somewhat tough experience even if it doesn't rain, they don't slip through the mud, they don't have to carry a bundle. They are not frustrated to see the deteriorating gap. The fact does not surprise anyone and therefore a sense of disappointment does not arise. But the question does arise: How will the breach project proceed?

The day before, in the Municipality of Chajul,  there has been another meeting with the mayor and his engineer. Meanwhile in Guatemala, elections for the new government have been held at the national, departmental and municipal levels. The man who has supported the projects of the UGK Foundation so much will not remain in his position and it is clear that he is concerned about the fact that it will be difficult to finish the planned works in the Mirador Community. He has obtained an amount to expand and improve the road and another to build classrooms. But the money will not be enough for all the materials and work necessary to make the road sustainable. He does not ask the UGK Foundation for anything, he only hopes that it will raise funds with an international campaign.  

In the end, it is decided that such a campaign will be carried out after seeing the results of the work that can be carried out until the end of the legislature. In January the situation will be documented and it will be seen what is still needed. It is true that the people of the Mirador expected more. However, in the communities of other Cooperatives these conditions have already occurred so many times: in Guatemala patience is needed to reach the goal, little by little, but it is reached, yes, with confidence and staying in the fight.  It is impressive to see how small coffee farmers and their families continue to have faith despite all the problems they face. Is it the contact with the magnitude of nature, the gratitude for the gift of life that gives it?

When visitors say goodbye, they are invited to get into the only car that still goes up and down: it is the vehicle of an inhabitant of the Mirador that has already been prepared for modern times and offers services to neighbors. This time it will even do it for free. Another attitude that impresses us: the entrepreneurial spirit of the people in the field. His motto: Let's not expect help from outside - let's help ourselves. 

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July 30, 2019: Photographs of the gap after the first rains. We got in the car and returned by car.

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