As he does every year, Dan spends part of the winter in Mexico working with the La Penita Rotary Club. Last winter the project was about gardening, instead of building or restoring. At the J J Cruz Elementary School of La Colmena, Nayarit, Mexico, the project involved clearing a section of land, building raised beds, making compost, planting seeds, tending the crops, harvesting. Martha Ocampo, a Montessori trained teacher from another village, volunteered to go to California to be trained in the "Edible Garden Project". Dan said that several Rotary clubs, visiting Mexico, work together each year on some project planned by the La Penita Club. He said our donation provided the following: a truckload of topsoil, seeds, rakes, hoes, shovels, a gate and lock for storage of the equipment, fruit trees, assistance to Martha for the California training. Dan believed that this was a great project because, not only did the children, from Grades One through Six, learn about production of food, but the project included all family members.
