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December 23, 2001
The Good News and the Bad News Update from the
Dunsmores
Dear Family and Friends,
The good news is that the Colima sugar mill is now in full swing,
providing local employment! The bad news is that the managers
of the Colima sugar mill now say they cannot sell raw sugar to
our women’s group to be bagged up in our mini-gunny sacks.
Something about the laws and the quotas. We know they produce
it to sell, so wonder if they just don’t want to sell it
to us...
The good news is that the mill is producing plenty of bagasse,
the stuff we use to make fuel logs. The bad news is they are dumping
it into the river and can’t bother to have us take it away!
The good news is that we had a wonderful week of Spanish classes
at the hacienda, with enthusiastic students. The bad news is that
there were actually just three paying North American students,
but that’s a start! (This was our fourth session in the last
twelve months). Many of the people interested who did not come
were asking for dates in 2002, so we will be following up with
them.
In other bad news: While preparing to drive the students back
to the city Friday afternoon, Bob tore a big hole in his new pants
loading luggage on the rack on top of the Land Cruiser. (But the
good news is that he is losing weight, and needs a smaller pair
of pants anyway!)
Then, while leaving the hacienda, bad news, one of our suitcases
on the heavily loaded rack was caught and pinned by one of the
beams of the hacienda roof, and torn open. Good news: nothing
in suitcase was damaged.
Still, they started off for San Salvador, but suddenly the engine
began to heat up—that was bad news. The good news is that
they were still driving through Colima when it happened, just
a few blocks from the shop of our mechanic, Raúl Portillo,
so were able to go straight to his shop. The bad news was that
Raúl was not there, but the good news is that his 17-year-old
son Cristian was there, and quickly diagnosed the problem, a broken
fan belt. The bad news was that by then it was five minutes to
5:00 p.m. when the auto parts store in Coyolito closes. Coyolito
is 5 minutes away. The good news is that while Cristian quickly
removed what was left of the belt, Bob flagged down a friend passing
by. Cristian hopped in and they made it to the parts store just
before it closed, found a number on the old fan belt by washing
it off carefully, bought a matching a belt and came back and installed
it in the vehicle! Total time lost: just one hour.
In other good news, some of our folk dancers participated in
a four-day crafts workshop to learn to make huge paper-maché
heads called "cabezones" and to fix up our paper-maché
bull used in our pretend bullfights. In further good news, they
were invited to perform for Channel 67 television on Thursday—with
(bad news) just two days notice, but (good news) put on a terrific
show. The bad news is that the bull’s neck suffered damage
while charging into the bullfighter’s cape, and narrowly
missed decapitation! The good news is, it’s fully reparable.
The bad news is the cooperative at Colima continues to struggle
financially, but the good news is the grounds of the hacienda
are looking prettier and prettier, with more green grass sprouting,
hammocks, new steps off the main corridor, donated potted palms
and more clean-up. And, more good news, tomorrow, December 24,
co-op members will meet at the hacienda for a work-day together
with Alfalit staff, to fix up the front planter beds and veranda,
and hang paintings on the veranda walls. We will have a slide
show on tourism in Colima, and a special luncheon on the veranda
for them, with beef grilled over the coals of our fuel logs made
from sugar cane waste! (Good news update: This activity went so
well, Alfalit has decided to have the next work delegation, coming
from Massachusetts, work with the co-op members on fixing up a
new dorm room! This will free up a large room for use as a conference/multi-use
room that can fit 50 people!)
The bad news is, many innocent people died on September 11. The
good news is, Christ was born to bring healing, peace, and justice
to us all and can and will use even this sad event for great things.
The bad news is that we have not seen the end to suffering on
this Earth, but the good news is, as many spiritual traditions
prophecy, all these things must pass and make way for a great
age of healing, peace, and justice.
As we close this eventful year, we’d like to ask your fervent
prayers for the Colima sugar project, that the way may soon be
opened, the door unlocked, for us to be able to purchase the 100
lbs. of natural sugar we need to fill orders already placed by
U.S. churches. Pray for red tape to be untangled and hard hearts
to be softened, so that some Colima families can have a few more
coins and a few more tortillas on the table this coming year.
We wish you a fulfilling new year and look forward to seeing
many of you here in El Salvador soon.
In Partnership,
Julie and Bob
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 241
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