The Project

Mandu greeted the visitor with some hesitation. So many had come before, teaching lessons and providing advice, only to leave shortly after with their equipment and supplies, pressing the tribe to resort to their old ways out of a lack of materials. “How,” Mandu wondered, “were they supposed to help themselves if they didn’t have any of the tools to do so?” But, maybe this time would be different, maybe this time they could sustain the change. 

Philomena walked down the trodden path towards the hut. She assumed the hut outfitted with colorful tail feathers and awkwardly balanced bones was the shaman’s hut. She had been told to meet with the shaman, a man who called himself Mandu, before starting any projects. 

After their meeting…

Philomena walked the village street asking the children to join her at the waterfront. Even the littlest of children could help in the collection of the bottles. Other children could start filling the bottles with sand. If they all worked together they would be able to learn what to do so that this project would be sustainable even after she flew back to the states. Philomena glanced behind her and saw at least 25 children of all shapes and sizes walking expectantly behind her. 

When they reached the waterfront she showed half of the children what bottles to collect then she showed the rest of the group how to fill the bottles full of sand. Once they had this one section of the beach cleared she would show them how to stack the bottles to form the foundation of the shelter. 

Within three hours the group had almost 150 bottles and had most of them full of sand. Philomena showed the older children how to stack them properly so they wouldn’t fall. She explained to the children that by using the bottles discarded on the beach with sand from the earth, they would clean their world while building their own protective shelters. Furthermore, she explained to them all, none of these would rot like the thin tree trunks they were accustomed to using for support.