February 16, 2010

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you guys know how things have been going out here in Valpo. I picked up Jon and Wiley (and super volunteer Jeanette Hardy) at the airport in Santiago almost two weeks ago, and we’ve been working hard to get things going ever since. We moved in to our place in Cerro Perdices, started to build some furniture and board racks for the house, and began to get a feel for the neighborhood. We’ve had numerous meetings with a community center in Cerro Mariposa called Unidad Vecinal 21 La Obra, and last week we threw a big event and signed up 21 participants for our program! Since then, we’ve been going through our inventory of gear to make sure we’re all set for the kids, organizing the program around our participants’ schedules, getting some work done on the VSP bus, finalizing our curriculum, and trying to find time to more build furniture...

English classes begin on Thursday with surf sessions to follow early next week, keep checking in for updates.

-HM