Ambiente Saludable

On Monday, we attended a meeting of Associacion Desarrollo Aguabuena (Association of Development) over making Aguanbuena “un Districto Ecologio”. These Ecological Districts are a certification for communities as a way to attract tourists. The meeting was the first of a series where we elected councils to address certain needs of the community. The needs were as far ranging as an ATM machine for the town to protection of watersheds. We were elected to the “Ambiente Saludable” (Healthy Environment) council to head the Reforestation committee.

We will be working with Carlos, the president of the Association; as well as Walter, manager of CoopePueblos; a representative from AYA, the national water company; the entire local police force, and our Peace Corps friends, Jacob and Trina. Our goals are to protect watersheds, create reforestation projects, and create trash clean-up and recycling programs.

It’s an awesome feeling of how we are becoming more connected to the community here. This was the first meeting we attended where they addressed our project, “Finca Proyecto”, during the meeting. Carlos and Walter were really excited to work with us, and we were patting each other on the back saying “Ambiente Saludable” as if it were some secret society or fraternity that we are now apart of.

The first official “Ambiente Saludable” meeting is next Tuesday, at 3pm.