erinLphoto

It's been really difficult to get back to posting lately.

I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and have started to really get tired and 'swollen'.

All my creativity has been sucked into the final growth spurt of this Baby Boy!

Alas, I must get this finished so I'm not thinking about it in the middle of the night...

Where was I?

I used to work for a company called Liberty Financial Group.

It was a terrific mortgage company that truly wanted to make a difference,

and BE different than other companies.

They made a 5-year commitment to support the village of Batzchocola

through Agros - www.Agros.com .

The 5-year commitment would take this amazing group of people from

the very first shovel of dirt to start their new village

all the way to self-sustainability.

A few of the Executive Team went for the ground-breaking in the village,

and it was an amazing experience.

They wrote a commitment letter like a contract to the village pledging their

financial and spiritual commitment to seeing them through the process.

My trip was the 5-year trip to see how far they have come and celebrate all that has been done.

The People of the village honored us with a beautiful ceremony

to thank Liberty Financial Group

for all the support they had given over the years.

This is a banner they weaved on looms in the village for us.

It hangs in the office at Liberty to this day.

Being involved in the establishment of this village was SO life-giving
to the culture of the company.
Their pictures hung on our walls.
Annual trips brought regular Employees to the village to experience their love.

We used the analogy of the village all the time in comparison to working as a team.

Everyone looked forward to updates on how the village was progressing.

At the ceremony, the most common saying was
"Liberty is Batzchocola and Batzchocola is Liberty".

They loved to acknowledge how they would not be where they are without Liberty,

but also understood the powerful impact they had on Liberty's culture as well.

I have to say, it was the longest ceremony of my life!

3 hours!

Everything had to be spoken in their native language,

then translated to Spanish, then again translated to English.

They wanted to introduce us to every Committee Member and Leader in the village.

One of the most touching moments was meeting the 3 women who make up the

Banking Committee.

Yes, a Banking Committee.

The village had started giving Macro-Loans to individuals who wanted to start

their own businesses.

The most common were women who would weave and then take

their goods to town to sell them.

This is a HUGE step to becoming a self-sustaining village.

They decorated the room for our event by covering the floor with pine needles!

The smell was intoxicatingly good!

I asked why the pine needles and if it had special meaning...

No, they said, it just adds color and makes the moment feel more special!

I guess that's what one does when there are no helium balloons to be had!

There was a lot of prayer at the meeting.

It was just awesome, I have to say!

They prayed in their native language and except for this one opening prayer,

ever time they pray - everybody prays all at once!

It gets really loud and you can really feel the atmosphere in the room change,

everyone is so intent and praying so fervently.

It's something I will never forget.


One of the next big steps in village development is building latrines...

There were a few in the village already,

but this is the newest one, and they are only used by one family each.

Can you believe - this latrine was finished for THREE WEEKS before our visit,

and they didn't use it because they knew we were coming and wanted to

have a proper latrine-blessing ceremony!?!?

We had even been in the village for 2 days before the ceremony,

and they still waited patiently!

Just going off in the woods like they have for years,

waiting for their new latrine to be blessed...

I have so much to learn from them...
Ribbon cutting ceremony:


On the last day, we spent hours playing with all the kids.

They are so full of life and ZIP!

Here, I'm blowing up a balloon to set loose flying about where they all try to catch it!

They just CANNOT wait!

Don't you LOVE the intensity and joy on their faces?

Then, it's MANIA!

The balloon goes whizzing through the air,

the kids run manically to be the ONE to catch the balloon.

They would tuck them right into a pocket to play with later...

What a special time.

I'm so so grateful for the opportunity to go,

and for the change that happened in my heart while I was there.

Batzchocola is a truly special, remarkable, and blessed place.