2. Morelos, Coahuila, Mexico
•2.5 million people in the state
•Catholic is major religion
•About 250,000 in Piedras
•Morelos population 1,516
About 95% of Mexico's coal reserves are
found in Coahuila, which is the country's
top mining state. Saltillo (capital) also has
a growing automobile industry, hosting
assembly plants. Other Industry
manufactures includes Coca-Cola,
Corona, Caterpillar
Getsemanichildrens home is directed by John and Paulina Bivens. The Facilities currently house 20 youth and 4 senior adults, ages ranging from 9 months to 70s. This 4.5 acre compound in Morelos receives no government support and relies fully on self sustainability as well as support from churches and other organizations.
My accommodations were rather nicer than expected. Part of the time spent there was with different church groups doing mission work. Sorting clothes and other supplies was a big project.
Artisan water wells are prevalent in the area. I had the opportunity to play volleyball with some of the locals and observe some of the housing in the area. This car was a pretty cool site to see.
Chickens are very valuable for egg production.
One non-conventional method food animal that John raised was rabbits. We discussed different breeding strategies and production methods over this particular species.
The Dairy cow provides the childrens home with milk and her calf will be butchered as another meat source.
This was the butcher hog, whose major feed ration was composed of whatever went into the slop bucket. John told me at a former home he used to raise pigs and had a rather large operation in production.
The sheep herd consisted of a total number around 13, and every day was taken out to graze.
One project I completed was building this feed bunk and hay manger.
John also has an experimental greenhouse with grow beds that are watered by fish water. So he can raise fish and grow vegetables such as tomatoes at the same time. I took one day to clean and organize the area.
Another interesting part was the bio-plant. John had someone that showed him how to make bio-fuel and at one time he had an operation that utilized these barrels. No he is not making drugs (funny inside story)
Several gardens provide additional food sources to the group. My self and Roy worked very hard at weeding and cleaning up these grow beds. Sand burs are a nightmare when doing garden and yard work in Mexico.
Other gardens required a lot of work. I was also surprised to see banana trees planted on the property.
It was a lot of work but we got the gardens organized. Above is chili peppers and below I am harvesting potatoes and tomatoes.
Other crops harvested were onions along with garlic.
As a part of food preservation many food items are canned or frozen in freezer. I think there was 31 jars of peppers and 5 gallons of guacamole in these pictures.
One particular large project was in association with a church youth group was to build this hoop shade to allow easier production of garden plants. The heat and sunshine can be rough during growing seasons.
In terms of commercial agriculture, pecan production was a major industry. Dairy cows and other animals were free range and the bottom right picture I believe was a corn field.
Horses are a major mode of transportation, but as you can see body condition quality is poor.
I worked on a variety of construction projects as well. Building shelves and shade were a couple of extra chores I took part in.
Plumbing, feed pans, clothes line frames, and concrete work also kept me busy with building projects.
I became efficient at installing swamp coolers in the houses and at one point saw a cool horny toad.
As the local handy man I also fixed this air compressor, and when I did Santiago made sure I got all the bikes into operation. Bottom pictures are of some mexican construction, everything is made from concrete.
Grocery shopping and going to the movies were a neat cultural experience.
The market was a great place to get souvenirs.
Lots of friends, and the kids love to go swimming.
One weekend we spent the day at this swimming hole and cooked at the park.
The region is very industrious power plants, train yards, and other industry manufactures are part of the scenery.
Corona built the largest brewery in the Americas.
The landscape is a pretty awesome sight.
Great times and more pictures but in the end the river and the border looked good.
