Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura (IMAP) is again offering several 3-day introductory courses in permaculture and organic farming as well as various other conscious practices that are associated with nurturing the land, respecting precious resources and self-sustainability.
When
- May 29th-31st, 2013- 3 Day Intro to Permaculture Course
- August 1st-3rd, 2013- 3-Day Intro to Permaculture Course
- November 7th-9th, 2013- 3 Day Intro to Permaculture Course
For more information go to:
http://imapermacultura.wordpress.com/english-version/introduction-to-permaculture-courses/
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Soloman's Porch, Saturday, June 1, 6 p.m.
Hope for Javier - A fundraiser for the Allen and Margarita Stern Family
Allen and Margarita Stern's 24 year old son Javier has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and they need your help. Javier already had 5 months of medical care, consultations, medicines, physical therapy. They are now facing more medical care and hospitalization that they hope will save the life of their beloved son. This has been very hard on Javier, Allen and his family, both emotionally and financially. They have already depleted the family's savings. Please join us to help raise funds and enjoy an evening of music and dance.
6-10pm Q40 Donation
Children 12 and under free
Food and Cash Bar Available
Music by
MarcoTrio Electric
Hermanos Locos
Ayako Yabuuchi
Steve Ulrich
100% of ALL proceeds go to pay the medical bills of Javier Stern.
Call 7762-0793 for more details.
(Below from Dwight Poage)
Dear Friends and Amigos,
Many of you are old friends and companions of Allen Stern, (from San Diego State University, Intersection House, Peace Resource Center etc). Most of you are aware that Allen has lived in Guatemala for many years. He has a Guatemalan wife, Margarita and two children, Javier, 24 years old and a younger brother, Anthony. Allen has done a lot to help the indigenous community here in Guatemala.
I am afraid I have some very sad news to share about Allen and his family. His oldest son, Javier has been diagnosed with a brain tumor....cancer called Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma. Javier called his mother to say that he was not feeling well, then Javier started having headaches in January. When they persisted into February, he went to see a doctor who said he was suffering from anxiety and possibly mild depression because of work and school and prescribed medication to treat this condition. However, shortly after that Javier manifested loss of motor function on his left side as well as speech difficulty. He went to the doctor again and was referred to a neurologist and sent for an MRI as well as other tests. After seeing the MRI the neurologist diagnosed Cysticerco caused by a parasite. However, after taking medicine to eradicate the parasite and after beginning physical therapy, Javier began to get worse instead of better. Eventually he had to be hospitalized and the testing lead to the biopsy which revealed Oligodendroglioma.
Javier was diagnosed with unusually aggressive Oligodendroglioma brain cancer on May 17 of this year after more than two weeks of intensive testing that included blood tests, CT’s, a CAT scan, MRI’s and spinal taps while hospitalized. No diagnosis was possible until a brain biopsy was performed on May 12. This has already been 5 months of medical care, consultations , medicines, physical therapy etc until Javier has received the correct diagnosis.
This has been very hard on Javier, Allen and his family, both emotionally and financially. They have already depleted the family's savings. They are now facing more medical care and hospitalization that they hope will save the life of their beloved son. As many of you know, Allen is not a person to ask for help ........ but, we ,as his friends see the extreme hardship that he and his family are going through and know that this is a time that we need to reach out to old friends to ask for a helping hand.
Javier Stern Texaj is 24 years old (will be 25 July 10) , he started his senior year at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City majoring in business administration with an emphasis on marketing. He’s an avid cyclist and swimmer.
As most of us are parents, this is your worst nightmare ....to be faced with losing your beloved child. We are hoping that a miracle will happen for Javier and Allen's family but in the meantime, we need to make a small miracle happen for Allen ....we need to help him with some of the stress that he is going through. The one way that would really make a difference to Allen is to have some financial help. Please dig deep into your heart and wallet and lets help make this time a little easier for our friend, Allen. Here are the safe and secure ways to donate to Allen and his family in this time of medical crisis.
Donate using Paypal: If you use PayPal you can go into your account and click on Send Money and put in Allen Stern;s email address that is associated with his families PayPal account which is: [email protected]
Donate by check, please make it out to Allen Stern and send it to his father who will be receiving all check donations to:
Alvin Stern
8374 Hudson Drive
San Diego, CA 92119
If you want to walk into a bank and donate you can do so easily: Direct deposits to bank:
Bank of America
Act name: Allen K. Stern
Act number: 1053660246
Once again thank you all very much and please help us spread the word!
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Last Wednesday there was a presentation at the Pana municipal salon by the scientific team that is studying the lake. The presentation was called The State of the Lake 2013. I was not able to attend, but have some comments by those who did.
From Dave Ratcliffe:
"The most notable of the results was the oxygen content at the bottom has dropped to 0.3 mg/L (used to be 7.0 back in 1969 and was over 2 even a couple years ago) - this means the lake is now anoxic at this depth. The coliform levels (used as an indicator of healthy water) around the lake and especially near Pana are very high. Some of the only good news is that the Nitrogen level in the lake currently doesn't favor microcystis, which is present in the lake and would be toxic if it bloomed. They are very proud of the solid scientific data they have now collected since 2009/10 and are now trying to pressure the government once again to do something NOW. None of the filtration plants around the lake are working and even if many were they wouldn't remove the amount of Nitrogen and Phosphorous necessary, so the idea is to connect all the sewage water from the villages around the lake in tubes and pump it out of the basin by San Lucas. Cost would be in the range of US$25 million and the limnologysts are meeting with the government to try to push the project. It might sound far-fetched, but this has been done in other large lakes in the world. Good luck to Sudeep Chandra, Elishka Rajmankova, Margaret Dix and all the others in pushing the government to do something NOW!!!"
From Noticias Sololá (translated):
Surrounded by beautiful villages and three majestic volcanoes, the tourist lake Lake Atitlan remains contaminated. So there was the flourishing of bacteria called Microsystis which unlike cyanobacteria, if it produces toxins that cause damage to the health and, well, this mantle could end up a totally polluted lake.
Many factors influence the growth of microorganisms that contaminate the lake: the input of nutrients through the rivers San Francisco and Kiskab, the direct and indirect dumping of wastewater by most municipalities in the department, garbage, feces and agrochemical substances are all factors of contamination from the surface 17 meters to 300 meters deep.
Oxygenation in the Lake is being lost because the excrement particles are high. There is also an increase of chemicals, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, from fertilizers and industrial waste discharged into the lake mantle. Dr. Margaret Dix says that Santiago Atitlan and Panajachel remain the major polluters of the lake. One of the most influential factors is the population growth, which means more sewage, waste and agriculture, more bulk food needs.
Dr. Margaret Dix specialist in limnology, freshwater studies, indicates that since the appearance of cyanobacteria in 2009 actions to rescue the lake have trickled in. "The lake continues to deteriorate, we note that it has worsened since then, the bottom of the lake is losing oxygen which is very bad for your future, algae populations are increasing fecal contamination is present throughout the lake, which did not exist ten years ago, " the expert indicated. She also recommended that relevant authorities should take seriously the warnings and must make a commitment to ensure political and economic actions to small, medium and long term and should build scientific capacity to continue research and research the lake conservation, limit nutrient inputs and promote the planting and growth of aquatic plant which absorb the nutrients.
From Terry Rubin:
- Solola is the 2nd poorest dept. In Guatemala.
- We are at a critical moment for the lake.
- The only éxit of water is at the bottomof lake. The water that enters the lake remains between 80-120 years. Various rivers feed the lake.
- From April till October the waters are layered and from dec. to April they are mixed.
- In Pana the population grew in five years(not sure which years) more than in all previous yrs.
- There has been more competition for resources causing more grey water, more erosion, and more landslides. The consequence is less transparency(clarity) in the water.
- In 1968-69 the water was transparent to 16 meters. In 2010 to only 6 meters. In2012 5 meters.
- The consequence is more food for the cianobacteria.
- Limnografis is an organism that causes cianobacteria to multiply.
- It was first time in world that fosforos augmented so much that allowed limnografis to appear.
- For the moment we don't have microcystis(?) in the lake. This we need to avoid. Nutrients are accumulating at lake bottom.
- San Pedro, Pana, Santiago, S Lucas receive filtered water for consuming. 18% of samples are contaminated. In 2006 fecal matter in lake, S Pedro highest, then s juan, s pablo low s Marcos lower.
- Contaminated water consumes 5x more oxygen. At bottom of lake 96% less oxygen. In 1969 7 mg/ liter oxygen. In 2013 0.3 mg/liter oxygen in water.
- The lake has more microcystis.
- There are still 12 species of fish in lake.
- Future: lake could die, like Amatitlan ir rio michatoya.
- Action: scientific , monitoring and restoring. Limit entrance of nutrients. Plant Tul, trees and aquatic vegetation that absorbs nutrients and keeps them out of reach of cianobacteria.
- Political and economic commitment individual, community municipal and in the Cuenca
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Every Wednesday at 5 p.m., Casa Caqchiquel is showing movies! And if you haven't seen their collection of vintage photographs of Guatemala, please check it out. They are wonderful!
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The rainy season is upon us and Mona Naimark wants to remind everyone that we make sure that we eliminate areas where standing water can accumulate thus breeding mosquitos that may carry diseases. One of the places that she recently noticed is on caña and bamboo fences. The top part of the cane is open and allows water to enter and stand. Mona suggests filling in these spaces with cement or drilling holes to allow the water to escape. Thanks for the reminder, Mona!
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Excellent condition inside and out. Driven from Oregon, U.S.A. Serviced every 3,000 miles. 66,000 miles. Call Clark: 4574-2037
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