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.

Cwoffe Twalk.

Coffee is the main income source for Batzchocola.

When Agros http://www.agros.org/ helped them get started on rebuilding a life,

creating income for the village was one of the most important aspects.

Teaching the people of the village how to cultivate their land

is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty.

It gives them income for generations to come!

Here is a mature coffee plant with coffee beans almost ripe enough to pick!

When they turn red, they are ready to be harvested.

Our Guide and Interprter from Agros, Nancy, was a Godsend.

The coffee plants are started from seedlings in the village.

I think they are BEAUTIFUL and just shout out LIFE!

(yes, I'm a sentimental sap.)

The seedlings are too delicate to be out in the elements.

They are started under a protective roof made of ferns from the jungle.

There are hundreds of seedlings sprouting up under this one shed!

In the beginning, all crops were owned by each adult member of the village equally.
As time has progressed,
individuals have chosen to purchase and cultivate crops on their own parcel of land
that their home sits on.

As part of the poverty-breaking cycle,
each family owns a parcel of land surrounding their home.
The rest of the common areas of the village are co-owned by all members of the village.

These coffee sprouts belong to Pedro Chavez

(the Cell Phone Charging Man from the previous post),

and we were more than happy to help 'weed' them by removing

anything uninvited that was growing in each sprout's container.

Once the seedlings are resilient enough to brave a little sun and wind,

they are planted in rows on the hillside amongst young banana trees.

It takes a few years for the coffee plants to produce a crop,

the same amount of time it takes for a banana tree to grow up and shade it!

INGENIOUS!

Bananas provide food for the village,

while shading the producing coffee plants,

capturing rain water and diverting it to the base of the coffee plants,

and helping prevent erosion from the hillside.

Talk about SUSTAINABILITY!

Here you can see the small sprouts planted with the young banana trees.

While just up the trail, there are more mature trees producing fruit and coffee.


Mmmmmm...

Bananas fresh from the tree!!

If you look closely,

you can see some coffee plant leaves among the base of the banana trees...

Once the beans are fully ripe, red, and ready for harvesting,

they are shucked out of that round red shell.

This is what a green coffee bean looks like fresh from the field.


The beans are placed in sunning containers for a few days to dry out.

They are stirred around by hand multiple times each day to keep them rotating in the sun.


Miguel has large concrete sunning areas in front of his home.

That's A LOTTA BEANS!!

You can see how proud he is to show them to us.

Once they are dried out, the beans are SO HARD.

If you chomped on one, you would break a tooth!

They soften back up slightly through the roasting process.


Miguel's daughter is barely taller than the bags of beans ready for travel!

These bags will go to Nebaj, the closest town,

then be transported to the US for roasting and resale.

They will end up in a store, or coffee shop near you!

I have to say, the coffee I've had from this village is the best I've tasted in my life.

It is very robust, has a pungent earthy scent, but is as smooth as buttah!

No bite, No bitterness!

The next time you have Organic Guatemalan coffee,

I hope you think of the village of Batzchocola and how those beans

you are sipping up came to be.

How those beans helped a village of people re-establish their lives.

How those beans were cared for from tiny seedlings,

through hand-stirring in the sun to dry them out.

I can't find an importer that's selling coffee identified as from Batzchocola right now,

but you can purchase coffee from the next village over - Trapichitos

(Frappucino from my previous post)

that is made from similar beans, with a similar mission...

http://www.atlascoffee.com/products.html

Thanks for joining me for some cwofee twalk.

Touring the Village

Let's start with a tour of the Village!

The village was established with the help of Agros http://www.agros.org/.

Agros negotiated with the Guatemalan Government on behalf of the remnant of

people from Batzchocola for a patch of land deep in the jungle.

They received the land from the government at a verrrrry discounted price

to help make up for the travesties that occurred during their civil war.

They had received the land just 5 years prior to my visit.

At that time, it was simply raw jungle land on the side of a mountain.

Wait till you see all the work they've put into it!

This is a view of the hillside that the people of the village farm.

Have you ever had Organic Shade-Grown Guatemalan Coffee?

It could've been from Batzchocola!

More on that in a future post.

Notice how steep the hills are?

Their whole village is built into the hillside,

with steep paths up and down between homes.

This is the hillside from the last picture up close.
These are newly planted Banana Trees that create shade for the coffee plants.
There are literally hundreds of little coffee plants between the trees.
See them?

Their homes are built from hand hewn wood straight outta their forest.

When you look at the wood up close, you can actually see the saw marks in the wood.

Meetings are held in the Town Hall.

They had one meeting during our visit,

which included updates on their various projects

and introduced us to the Heads of each committee.

They honored us for our help with the village as well,

which was verrrry moving. More on that later...

Here is Juana again baking bread for our feast...

Look at all those rolls on the cooling racks!

Can you imaging baking like this?

She spent the entire day just making rolls for everyone.

The smell of fresh bread was absolutely intoxicating!

Inside their homes,

there is one main room where they eat, cook, sleep and spend time together.

The stoves they use for cooking are a major health hazard.

The stoves don't pipe the smoke out of the home, so it just fills the air with soot.

Many of the stoves have been replaced with one like this.

They are made of concrete and at the back end,

there is a smoke stack to pipe the soot out.

You can see the walls are still charred black from their prior stove...

Running water is such a treasure here!

They have an incredibly clean and abundant source of water for the village.

They used to carry it in with baskets and buckets daily.

Only a 2.5 mile hike up the hillside and back...

Now, their water is piped into the village and some homes have the luxury of a sink!

They are made of fiberglass and each have 3 bowls.

They fill one with soapy water to wash clothes, or dishes.

Then rinse in the next!

Very handy.

The children have a school house and LOVE going to school and learning.

Many of the adults in the village only speak their native language.

It's a gutteral ancient Mayan dialect, which has lots of clicks and grunts...

A few adults have learned Spanish, and the kids are all learning Spanish in school.

This will help them be able to travel outside of the village to sell goods, obtain higher education,

and further their commerce.

The school house is on the left, with one of their two churches behind it.

With only 250 people, they need 2 churches - with a third on the way -

each a different denomination.

Fascinating that even such a small group of tight-knit people still disagree on

the details of God...

There is a cemetary as well.

Many who are buried here died during the Civil War.

Family members brought their bodies from other places throughout the jungle

to be buried here in the village where they can be together.

Welcome to Pedro Chavez's Home!

This sign just CRACKED me up!

It says,

"Welcome to the Chavez home. You can charge your cell phone here."
Cell phones?!

Yep!

A handful of people in the village now have cell phones.

They used to have a 2-day trek through these mountains to get to the nearest town,

Nebaj, but now they can make a call to town...

Pedro's house has one of the only generators in the village.

Ahhhh, electricity!

Meet Pedro's Burro.
We had a burro to rope growing up. His name was Pedro!
Coincidence??
So, I asked Pedro what his burro's name was.
He said Burro.
No, no, I said - not what he's called, what is his name?
"Burro. We don't name animals." was his simple reply.
Right. American Erin, these animals are for WORK, not for play or affection. C'mon...

Batch of Chocolate

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years, this month,
since I visited the village of Batzchocola, Guatemala.

Batzchocola (prounounced similar to "Batch Chocolate")
is a village of 250 people.

Almost all of the adults in the village experienced many horrific tragedies
during the 90's in the Guatemalan Civil War.

They were forced out of their village,
which was located within a couple miles of their current village,
and traveled throughout the jungle for about four years.

FOUR YEARS.

Of hiding in the jungle.
Of sleeping in trees so you can't be found at night.
Of eating verrrrry little, and only once per day,
before sunrise - so Guerillas can't see the smoke from your fire.
Of wearing out your clothes and resigning to wearing a trash bag to cover yourself.
Of watching those you love: young, old and in between -
die because of starvation, brutality, untreated sickness, and many other things.

I'm going to spend the next couple days telling you about their lives now.
They are inspiring.
They are loving.
They are overcomers.
They'll make you smile.

Here are some of the faces that have stories to tell.
The pain you could once see has been replaced with joy.

This is Miguel.

He is the Director of Commerce for the village.

At the Town Hall Meeting, everyone got a good laugh about something!

This is one of the eldest women in the village.

She endured, without a doubt, many of the worst tragedies during the war.

You would NEVER know it!

She is the smiley-est, huggy-est, touchy-est, lovely-est lady...

Here she is shucking the bark off sugar cane with a machete.

She had just cut it out of the jungle about 10 feet away from us,

and thought we'd want some for a snack.

She was right!

This is her "new" husband Jorge.

He is one of the eldest men in the village.

He works harder and carries heavier loads than any of us could even attempt!

This is Juana.

She is the Mayor's wife, and is baking fresh bread in celebration of our visit.

Need I say more?

As I'll share with you,

their village has been made possible by a Non-Profit Group called Agros.

They are the BEST example of creating sustainable living,

and breaking the cycle of poverty for those in need,

that I have yet to hear of.

http://www.agros.com/

An interesting side note is that the neighboring village is called Trappachitos -
which was easy to prounounce when we thought of "Frappucino".

Great, Frappucino and Batch of Chocolate.

Could we BE any more AmeriCAN?

Nugget.

Nugget.

It's not his name, but it's what I call him the most.

His name is Belay.

Like the rock climbing device.

You know:

Belay on!

On Belay.

Climbing.

Climb away!

Anyhoo.

Belay is a snuggler.

He is sooo snuggly, that I just have to baby talk him when he's snuggling.

So, I started calling him Snuggler.

Snuggler got baby-talked to 'Nuggler.

Nuggler got sport-ified to Nugget.

Hence, I have a dog named Nugget.

Doesn't he look 'nuggly?

Other nick names (used so often that he acutally responds to them) include;

Olay!

Olllllay, Olay Olay Olay! (like the soccer chant)

Odinay!

Ah Nay!

Onay!

Onadies!

Ol Ladies!

I can only imagine the nick names my child will have.

Lord, please help me.

Metaphorically Speaking.

Warning:

This blog post contains something reflective, and quite possibly sad.

Do not, I repeat,

do not continue reading if you are only interested in happy thoughts and light-hearted things.

Yesterday, I heard a great metaphor for how I'm feeling right now.

When my friend had recently lost her Mom,

she was driving down an icy road and her car started sliding.

The car slid sideways, and continued down the road,

but wasn't in any danger of hitting anything.

"This is like my life", she thought.

I'm progressing forward.

Time is moving forward.

My life is going on.

But, it's not straight.

I'm not in control.

It's not dangerous, but things just aren't right.

They're a little sideways.

Wow. This really struck me as she said it.

It's exactly how I feel right now.

I'm trying to get things straight after losing my Dad.

I'm making corrections - some slight, some drastic, trying to do my 'normal' things...

I'm pumping the brakes, that doesn't work.

I give it some gas, that doesn't work.

I'm progressing. Moving down the road. Moving forward in time.

But, things are sideways.

I recognize that everyone has a different grief process,

and you can't know how you will handle something until you are going through it.

I know to give myself grace through the process.

I'm just getting a little impatient with this sideways slide and want my car to go STRAIGHT.

What a Year!

2009 has been a momentous year for me.

There have been major changes, terrible tragedies, and unspeakable joys.

In Fall of 2008, JJ and I started to ponder what other occupation I could have that would

afford us a better quality of life.

We prayed for a change and direction to come by the following Spring.

In December, on our trip to my Sister's home in Arizona for Christmas,

we started to seriously consider photography as an option.

I have loved it since I took my first class at age 13.

Do what you love, and you'll love what you do - so they say!

I decided to test myself.

I went out into the stalls at Brenda's place with my little point and shoot PowerShot.

Could I take pictures I could be proud of, passiontate about, and lovvvvve?

I passed my test:

We went home and promptly started calling friends who are currently photographers,

and bought the gear they recommended, while taking every ounce of advice they offered.

By the end of January, I was outfitted.

But, something terrible and tragic happened first.

My Sister, Brenda, had a riding accident where a horse fell on her.

She broke her leg severely, and we did not know if she would be able to keep her foot.

Miraculously, the main vein/artery was not damaged, and she was able to.

It is a long road to recovery.

There were months of keeping ALL weight off of it.

The process has been more difficult for them than words can express.

Today, she is doing some walking, with pain...and a cane.

She is also riding, and doing a little roping again.

Her progress has been AH-MA-ZING, and the Doctors could not be happier with how well

she has been recovering.

Soon, we all hope and look forward to her walking without pain or help.

This is us, Christmas 2008, having a blast roping on a rainy day:

February rolled around, and it was time to test out my new camera gear.

The Denver Dog Show lasts for days and days,

and I spent all of them taking literally thousands of pictures and handing out business cards.

It was a blast and a success!

Shane, one of Mom & Brenda's poodles, won a 1st in the Non-Sporting Group,

and went to the Best in Show ring.

We were elated, and full of tears since Brenda couldn't be there after her accident.

It was bittersweet.

Shane:

Spring came.

I worked and worked on my photography skills.

Then:

My "position was eliminated" at work.

JJ and I knew that very day that our prayers had been answerd.

This was the opportunity to dive head-long into building photography into my full time business.

It has been the gift of a lifetime that has afforded me more freedom and time than I ever

could have anticipated. See my Thanksgiving Blog for that story: http://erinlphoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/simple-thanksgiving-eats.html

It was a new start.

After making a couple long hauls to dog shows to help Mom,

take pictures, and build clientele,

I took a trip up North.

JJ was working in Pullman, Washington for a couple months,

and I could now spend time near there visiting family & friends.

My first stop on the way was in Nampa, Idaho.

After a few years of being out of touch, my oldest friend, Tricia and I got to reconnect.

I stayed with her and her FIANCE, Boone, for four days.

We had a blast, caught up, and it has been like we haven't missed a day.

Don't you just LOVE friends like that?

Here is Trish with her Nephew, Grady, enjoying a lift.

I spent a few days with JJ's family in Kettle Falls, Washington.

Pops, Mama Rita, Neice Havilah, Sister-In-Law Lisa with her FIANCE Jerry.

They make a fine group, and it was my first stay without JJ there. It was a blast!

We made Mama Rita's specialty - homemade Raviolis

http://erinlphoto.blogspot.com/2009/06/raviolis-that-feed-soul.html

For nearly three weeks,

I stayed with my Brother Judd, Sister-In-Law Shelby & Nephew Cameron

and kicked around the Coeur d'Alene area:

http://erinlphoto.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-is-where-heart-is.html

We had a great time visiting a lot, and had a photo shoot with Cam.

http://erinlphoto.blogspot.com/2009/06/cam-r-oni.html

He is a very serious flat-track racer and won his division for the year!

This is his "I'm gonna whup you" competition face:

When it was time to head for home, JJ & I went through Montana to see Dan!

Here he is giving us a map to the stash of all stashes for fising in Dillon, Montana.

You know it's a good spot when you get a map on a napkin!

It was a great stash, there is no doubt.

I officially counted 7 fish in the wake behind me while standing in the river fishing.

Too bad I couldn't catch a single one of them. Of course, J did.

Then, joy unspeakable happened on the 4th of July

when my Dear and Lovely Friend Kendra got married to Joe.

She was a beautiful bride and I was so honored to be part of their day:

Back at home, weekend after weekend was spent fishing at the cabin.
I had my best day ever when I had 11 fish on, and landed 9 in one seam!
For the day, I ended up with 14 landed.
Finally, finally, I am getting better at this!

My Darling and Beloved Cousin came to visit us in Denver.
This is monumental.
I think she is actually my FIRST family member to come stay to visit with us in 6 years!
We had a great time earlier in the year, up in Sandpoint:
http://erinlphoto.blogspot.com/2009/06/apamazen.html
We had a blast, too many laughs, and enjoyed every minute of it!




Then, Whoa Nelly of all Whoa Nellies.
We are having a baby.

The combination of excitement and anticipation of a total life-overhaul
just cannot be put into words.

In September, it was time for a trip back up to the Northwest again...
JJ's Sister Lisa married Jerry.
It was a terrific day, and they are a wonderful couple.
I was honored to capture their day for them!


We had a great time monkeying around and helping get ready for the wedding.

We extended our trip to include a jaunt up to Nelson, BC.

Our honeymoon was in Nelson 7 years ago. (Thank you Uncle Jay & Aunt Evy)

This time, we stayed with our friend Gray's family - the Beauchamps!

They have a cabin on Kootenay Lake and the view from our room could not be better:

I wish this picture was lighter, so you could see how warm and wonderful they are.

We made new friends for a lifetime:

On our trip, we caught some serious lunkers on our fly rods.

Dolly Varden had come up from the lake to spawn in the river.

These were fish of a lifetime and I was proud to land this lovely lady:

Come October, it was time for another visit to the Northwest, and another wedding.

This time, for Tricia & Boone.

I am overloaded with joy for them,

and so very grateful they chose me to capture their day:

And, well, I started to show.

This is the mid-point, 4.5 months along...

At which time, we got to find out we are having a BOY!

Here is a profile shot:

Thanksgiving was subdued, but so unusual that it must be included in the year's recap.

The pre-packaged Thanksgiving:

http://erinlphoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/thankful.html

I love seeing my RichardBerg and we had a great day hanging together.

Then, momentous of all momentous events came the week of Christmas.
My Brother called and was taking Dad to the hospital.
My Sister, Nephew and I flew in - it was serious.
We were able to spend time with him, talking with him, holding his hand, telling stories.
He deteriorated fairly quickly after that, and we lost him the day after Christmas.

We are all still trying to sort out how to move forward,
what this means to us,
what he has meant to us,
how to work together and love each other well.

He built houses for years, and always had this dry spot in the middle of his palms.
Carpenter's Hands, he called them.
It was from swinging a hammer too much, he said.
He'd put bag balm on them all the time, but it never seemed to get better...
Here is a shot from the hospital of those Carpenter Hands:

This Summer, we spent 5 days in a row together - quite a feat for us.
We had breakfast every day, then Dad would take me to show me his favorite places on the lake.
He wanted to show me all the options for Tricia's upcoming wedding.
Little did I know how much I would later treasure this time with him.
A few of the days, we followed our lake-viewing with a visit to one of his car buddies.
They would talk engines and cars, and I would try to grasp every other word and piece together
what they were talking about.

For me, it was like listening to Spanish in Mexico.

Here he is enjoying the Spokane River that feeds Lake Coeur d'Alene
at Corbin Park in Post Falls.
He's fished and swam here, picnic'd and played here,
even got a truck stuck in the water once here.
This spot just off the lake is his official favorite spot of them all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for hanging in there through this long post.

Thank you for sharing in 2009 with me.

Even if you're not listed here, you are still very special to me,

and I am grateful for you in my life.

Here's to 2010!

May it bring us all new wonders and monumental events that shape our life

for the better.

XO!