Report on Previous Home Improvements

The past improvements that we've made to Paola's quality of living are still being utilized, but are somewhat in a state of disarray ...

The propane stove is still going strong, but the wardrobe is carelessly stuffed to overflowing. I can't imagine where the family will put all of the new clothes that we brought for the girls. We brought several plastic tubs that can be used for storing clothes, etc. Hopefully, if we provided too much, the clothing can be shared with cousins and neighbors.



The well is still functional, but the brick work is already beginning to crumble:



I didn't take a photo of the toilet area (but it can be seen in last post's video). It's great that the family no longer has to use the great outdoors to do their business, but ... well, ick. I have a fairly strong stomach, but I had to hold my breath to keep from vomiting when I used the family's toilet area to change out of a long-sleeved shirt. The odor is incredible, so I wonder if anything can be done to assist with that.

The toilet no longer has a seat, but I've been told (and have seen) that this is not uncommon in Mexico. Apparently, when toilet seats break, families, businesses, etc. simply don't bother to replace them. This makes sense to me, except for one thing ... when do toilet seats break????? Seriously, I don't think I've ever known a toilet seat to break in our house, and we've got some heavy people living here!

Finally, I was a little disappointed by the cement floor that the Mexican government put down over the dirt/mud. It's just globs of cement - not smoothed or even at all.

You can sort of see the floor in this video of me introducing Maria to her new sponsor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Kvkir2lco