Hiking and Recycling with the Family Support Center

Text and pictures by Johanne Annesdatter Olesen

Last Thursday we had a small trip to a nacimiento de agua, or a spring, in Llanos del Pinal.  We walked through town and then started up the volcano side.  It was hot and sunny in town, but as soon as we started the climb, it was bien fresco.  The air was cool and crisp. It was a bit hard to climb though. The track was slippery so we had to wait in line and get a helping hand from the person in front of us.

Starting up the volcano

Heading up the slippery path

And it is very popular to borrow the big cameras from the grownups. Here is Jonathan and Oscar trying on this exact thing.

Jonathan's selfie?

Oscar

Trash is a big problem in all the small pueblos around Xela because there is no waste management system or trash collection.  There was a lot of garbage on the road, footpaths, and the trail on the way up to the spring.  We saw many different types of plastic--bottles, containers, and bags. 

Arturo and Oscar carrying a bag of plastic recycling that we collected during the hike

We have recycling projects both at Pop Wuj and at the Family Support Center, so we handed out bags to the kids and they sorted out the different articles and threw them in the proper bag.  After collecting all of it, we will take it to Recip, a recycling center just outside of Xela. The green plastic bottles we plan to save for a holiday art project! 

Both the teenagers and the adults were happy about collecting garbage and cleaning up Llanos del Pinal.

The weather was very nice and it was a beautiful day to be outside and help out mother nature. 

Nice view at the top, especially with Evelyn's smiling face!

Arturo and Oscar with Carmelina and full bag of recycling