By Brian Johnston | Project Leader
The end of the year 2019 was a busy one, but I did manage to take some time away and enjoy 18 relaxing days in Peru, where I continued a delicious eating frenzy, and brought back a lot of ingredients and supplies for future cooking classes in Medellin.
December to February is considered high season for tourism here, and I have been kept busy with cooking classes and project tours, which brought in enough money to get a rooftop constructed over the front patio dining area! I repurposed a garage door opener to make the roof partially retractable, in an effort to not completely lose the beautiful mountain view from the rooftop gardens. With one of our trusted workers Duban, we also cut, welded and installed budget lighting that looks gorgeous, and cost a fraction of what would have otherwise been a very expensive job.
Now that we have the retractable roof done, before we can seal off the stairs leading to the rooftop gardens and make the front area independent (for low-income entrepreneurs and their clients to sell and enjoy delicious affordable food), we need to get all the big construction materials for the rooftop kitchen completed, as it will be very difficult to get the materials upstairs afterwards. That work has also started, as you will see soon!
Hannah has arrived from the United States for the month of January: she came last year for a cooking class while touring Colombia with her mom, then stayed in touch, asking to intern in between university semesters. She's helping in the kitchen with activities, learning how the project works from an administrative and marketing standpoint, and is helping research potential clients online, to help position us better for more activities once this construction finally comes to an end. I'll have lots more to share and show in the next report, as we come ever so close to finishing!
Have a great 2020 and talk to you soon!
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