Well, I have been here for the past three weeks easing the transition between intern Lesley Magee, leaving and our new intern, Marie Simpson arriving. For those of you who don't know, Lesley arrived in July from Halifax as our Project Manager for the housing project, Proyecto Too 'Ik. She did an amazing job of the work she was here to do and her abilities and heart really shone when our work was interupted by the devastation of the mudslides in the town of Panabaj where several of our weaving families lived. Lesley worked very hard from start to finish and really won the hearts of the community of Santiago Atitlan. I have had many people express to me in the past few weeks what an important part of the community Lesley was and how much they enjoyed her presence here.

I am sure that Marie will have the same impact. She is full of enthusiasm, optimism and energy and will be a tremendous asset to finishing our housing project by April. She will also be working on developing our scholarship program and so will have her hands full over the next three months. We have just begun our 8th housing start.

This past week Marie and I facilitated a mini Future Search planning session for our partners of the Cojolya Weaving Association. So we have been busy!

We have been busy visiting the families who have received the new safe stoves to ensure they are working properly and to a person they are very happy with them. The picture I have included is of Andrea Tacaxoy and her children inside the kitchen of their new home in front of their new Onil Stove.