Winter in southern Paraguay brings weather that swings. Cold and rain is followed by balmy days. Plants are seeding, flowering and sprouting. On the way to the children's school/lunch program and adult training center (built for the residents of the city's garbage dump), the walk brings  sights and sounds of farms and wildlife. A bird devotee would enjoy seeing the tropical hawks, cranes, and seed eaters. Their songs punctuate the humming of insects and wind moving through the leaves of small trees.

The terrain around the training center has a gentle slope leading to the large river, Rio Paraña. The grasses, shrubs and small trees had been cut close to the ground to create a clear perimeter around the new building. A minimal fence of post and wire keeps grazing horses and cattle from entering. There are a couple of parallel rises in the ground separated by mild dips, giving the land a slight ripple as if it were the aftermath of a wave that had swept in. A Paraguayan explained this is an old path formed by ox-carts, probably from the 19th century.

Conversation in the Guarani language flowed as locals reviewed a patch of land that had been plowed, the preparation for expanding an organic garden to help feed the 70 or so children. A production bin was full of fat worms and their eggs. Composting vegetative waste and steer manure was in there places. From the initial plot, the first lettuce, onion and radishes had been harvested. Carrot and beet greens were hand-high above the ground. The garden's director has a quarter-century experience in teaching the methods, he comes from a farm family that lives nearby, two-hours by bus.

When the day's work at the center was done, he drove me to the home of his brother. I now live there. The brother's home is the site of a Guarani-language radio station and community school. The extended family system runs an all-Guarani language TV channel, it and the studio donated by a local cable TV business. The family knows of no other all-Guarani TV channel in the country.

The training center staff have expressed interest in a hybrid cooker that combines traditional wood-fire and solar energy designs. There was not any progress on the project while I was away because there was not any money to buy materials; and previous efforts to raise the modest funds had not been successful. No suggestion to improve the production of the TV channel has yet to be adopted. Even so, the pleasure expressed that I've returned is evident and whatever I do while I'm here is supported. The family here is in accord that a portion of the rent that I pay can be used to buy materials to upgrade the TV studio. And if I use some of my living allowance to buy materials, the prototype hybrid cooker will be built.

Recently there was a gathering to celebrate the program's history in this country. The volunteer that was chosen to speak said that we were here to serve “the poor and the ignorant.” Later a Paraguayan told me that those words “could have been omitted.” A Spaniard visiting for one month at the training center, from the family that runs the sponsoring non-profit agency, scolded Paraguayan staff and children for their lack of (social) “discipline.” As soon as she left, the prior routine returned and the children's behavior improved.

Trading stories, a volunteer said, “I had to change my goals. I thought I was going to be a trainer, but nobody was interested. So I decided to go back to teaching kids.” “Is the teacher taking a break while you’re working with the kids?” yours truly asked. “No she stays,” was the reply. Feigning falling out of my seat brought a laugh. Then my friend said, “She’s the only one that stays.” After a moment she added, “And she’s showing some new things to other teachers.” We laughed at the obvious.  Paulo Friere would be smiling.