Well, the nation can finally exhale. I have never been as drawn into an election nor awaited its results with such hope and trepidation as with this one. Dare we hope we can get on with our lives now?
I have been in
The great thing about this fiesta is that after two years of running into roadblocks on the Bridges part of our raison d’etre (we’ve focused on the & More part) we are now raising money for a bridge. It will not be the sweet little swinging hammock bridge we originally envisioned, because needs have changed. Most folks use cars now in San Josecito, though as recently as the nineties they were still conducting business on horseback or on foot. Now an aging couple, don Isidro Nunez and dona Ester Quesada, traditional Tico subsistence farmers, can’t negotiate the rugged muddy slopes and rickety hammock bridge (photo at right) the way they once did. Don Isidro nearly sold the entire farm a few years ago to a developer from
The deal fell through, and Isidro has had to consider other options. One of these is to sell a parcel of land from the farm to finance building a small bridge for cars. The problem here has been circular: it’s all but impossible to sell the land until a bridge has been built, and there’s no money to build the bridge until the land sells. That’s where Bridges & More comes in: we are not sufficiently endowed to finance a car-sized bridge. Right now we can offer only $5000 toward the projected $60,000 total cost of the project. I have committed a personal loan of $20,000 to be repaid when Isidro sells the land. That still leaves the project very short-funded. We hope that we can raise a couple thousand more to add to the kitty with this fundraiser.
The fiesta itself will take place on Thursday, November 20 from 5 to 8 pm at the
Meanwhile I worry about the remaining money (maybe $33,000) needed to build the bridge that will allow these good folks to stay on their farm. I know nothing about grant-writing. Is there anyone out there who does, or who has other ideas? The family farm, in
Overall San Josecito has done well in preserving and restoring its rich biological treasures: the Walter Odio family began their eco-tourist forest preserve Rancho Merced many years ago, and it is now designated a national wildlife refuge. More recently the Duarte brothers committed a section of their land holdings to their own forest preserve, Oro Verde, where tourists can purchase a three-hour rainforest tour on foot, or a road and river tour on horseback, followed by a traditional Tico meal. I saw my first howler monkeys and sloth on one of these tours. As traditional farming disappears throughout
Well, I’ve written enough. I’m looking forward to getting back to San Josecito to see all my friends, to check on Guiselle’s chicken project, Beatrice’s huerta,
Best wishes all for a happy Thanksgiving. I’m sure I’ll be reporting back before Christmas, and will pass along more holiday wishes then.
Con mucho gusto,
PS In reviewing the blog I notice that I never did add photos of the hike down to Isidro’s generator, which Bridges & More helped repair with a small grant last spring. I’m adding them now.
PPS Thanks to all of you neighbors who did your part to get the road repaired. Many still have not helped, and the community still owes money to contractors. How about it? Send checks made out to “Bridges & More Inc.” and marked “Road Fund” to:
Bridges & More
North
PPSS The Tico Times (www.ticotimes.net) October 31 has a good article about our neighbors' non-profit Cavu, which has aided hugely in halting destructive development in our zone by flying officials overhead for a perspective they would not get otherwise, and by making movies like the one we'll be showing on November 20.
