We're Not There, But We're Here

Hi All,

We're here at the border, in beautiful (and warm), Pharr/McAllen, TX, waiting to cross into Mexico. (It's really complex with a big bus.) We're hoping for tomorrow. If not, then we'll probably have to wait till Thursday.

In Austin, we picked up one vajero, JJ Tiziou, a wonderful photographer from Philly, who loves to document wild and far-flung expeditions. His photos will be appearing here soon, but you can check out some of the other stuff he's done by following the link to his website. He's coming down to photograph the journey and, with luck, the birth of La Voz Lenca.






Unfortunately, Ben Galewsky had to get back to C-U before even getting into Mexico. We're very thankful to him for the huge amount of work he did in preparing for this trip, as well as doing a lot of the driving on the way down.

Peace, Bill, with Jane, Adrienne and JJ

From the road

We drove off from the farm at 1 am Thursday morning. Adrienne, Jane (the bus driving Zen master) and I took turns keeping the bus in continuous motion. We managed to create some comfortable, if unique sleeping quarters for everyone so off duty drivers could sleep while we carry on.

The front tire started to show some alarming wear and we needed to get them replaced outside of Little Rock. We told the manager of the tire shop our story and he managed to find some high quality used ones and we were back on the road.

We picked up our photographer at the Austin airport at 4 am Friday morning and parked the bus in the parking lot of a very fancy grocery store. We awoke this morning to hear Adrienne speaking with one of the Mexican gardners tending the landscaping.

We washed up in the bookstore bathroom and are now ready to head on to San Antonio to deliver some medicines that we are carrying and then heading on to McAllen.

The bus is working out very well and we are now completly accustomed to the reasurring drone of its engine and big wheels that keep carrying us forward.

More Photos from La Esperanza

The transmitters, tower sections, and boxes of equipment were all loaded onto the bus this weekend by a hardy crew. We are finalizing some paperwork here and ready to depart on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, these inspiring photos from the transmitter site just came in from Honduras.

That Final Push

Well, we decided that we can make it to the border easily in 2 1/2 days of driving, and we all have a lot of things to do here, so we're going to leave the morning of Wed., the 25th, instead of the day before. We're still sticking to our plans to begin the border crossing negotiations on Friday afternoon -- the 27th -- which is the earliest opportunity.

SO -- This weekend, we'll finish preparing the bus and Sunday, late morning, begin loading in the big equipment. For that, we need lots of help, so if you've been hoping for an opportunity to get involved, now is it!! Call me at 217-762-9561, or email btaylor@prairienet.org, or just click on that link on the right side of this blog, if you can come, so we'll know when we have a quorum. (It will take a number of people to do this smoothly.)

We can use help doing some last-minute packing of little stuff, printing out things, etc., so it's not all heavy lifting -- In fact, with enough people, no one should have to strain. If you can't come Sunday, there's going to be preparation going on nearly constantly until we leave, so just get ahold of us via the avenues above, and there will be something you can do for sure!

Peace, Bill

The Countdown Is Holding

Well, we're on a bit of a hold, waiting mostly in the line for our customs negotiator to do the work for our crossing into Mexico. Things are shaping up well in Honduras. I hope to be able to post some new pictures of that soon. Mil gracias to the wonderful folks of COMPPA and COPINH who are doing a huge amount of work getting the infrastructure ready, gathering all the complex documents necessary get this stuff out of the U.S., through Mexico and Guatemala, and into Honduras.

Many great volunteers have done great work here as well. It's impossible to mention everyone, but here's a few -- Ben, Maya, Dave, Gabe, Danny, Lori, Noel, Bill, Adrienne and Jane. In addition, lots of people have helped over the years that it has taken to get this project together, giving money, attending concerts, doing publicity, giving moral support and working with equipment. You're wonderful. We wish you could all come and visit the construction and sign-on of La Voz Lenca, but meanwhile you can still get involved.

Our departure date is set (yes, set) on July 24th. We will arrive in Phar, TX, south of McAllen on July 27th, stay overnight at the border, and take off from Reynosa on the 28th. With good luck, we'll roar into La Esperanza about Aug. 6th. Keep watching this blog, especially after the 24th, to enjoy the adventure, at least vicariously.

Peace, Bill

Visible Progress in La Esperanza

Alas, we are still in Illinois getting equipment ready, waiting on customs clearance and taking the road test for the commercial driving license. Our partner on this project, COMPPA, has been in La Esperanza for several weeks and has been invaluable for co-ordinating things on the ground there.

The local group submitted our customs information to the Honduran government and they expect a favorable response by Tuesday. They have also been getting the site ready to install the transmitter and tower. The local group have been building the shack that will hold the transmitter and have been digging foundations for the antenna pad, as well as anchors to hold the guy wires.

They report:

The anchors are in a about square meter of concrete and tied off to a 4 foot rebar structure, the anchors themselves are equivalent to the rohn gac575501 although the bases are much heavier duty then what rohn calls for.

They did a serious foundation for the tx shack so that thing is not going to go anywhere and it should have a great base for being dry inside at least from ground level. 50cm stone foundation all the way around leaving a 3x4meter inside dimension for the whole place so that should be plenty of space. It will be a nice tx shack if it continues on the current path.