And the train arrives

Socios paving the way for construction

Construction

Let me start with a huge graciamante (thank you very much) to everyone and anyone who helped this project become a reality for the people of Tavapy II. The idea for its use has evolved over time, but the dedication of the community to completing this center has remained steady. About a month ago, the cooperative I work with formed a commitee to oversee planning and construction of the Community Center. It will also eventually operate and run the activities and services offered.

So, thats the good news. The bad news. The Peace Corps Partnerships program is denominated in dollars. When we wrote the grant application the dollar was at $1:5200 guaranis. When we received the full amount the dollar was at $1:3800 guaranis. Now the dollar is at $1:5100. For those keeping score, thats about a quarter of the total cost of the project. So we were faced with a decision: scale down the center, or (and we chose the latter) scale up and break the construction into stages, complete the first stage (primera etapa) and submit requests for government and NGO assistance to complete the rest. Tomorrow, the president of the commitee we formed is meeting with the governor of Alto Paraná to discuss assisting this project. So at this point we are crossing our fingers optimistically as we have received hints from the governor that he thinks this is a good project and a relatively small one as viewed from the department that has the second largest hydroelectric dam (and its royalties) in the world.

The first stage is to put up the basic structure. Second to complete and outfit the interior and the third to put in a second floor.

And here it is:




So thats it for now, more to come as things develop