18-04-06
Yesterday, just back from a 4 days trip on
skis, I was dreaming of a rest day. In the evening
a good friend asked me for a "mountaineering day"
for himself and his two kids. We have had very good
time in the mountains during the last few years,
and I could not just say : "sorry, I'm tired !".
We went for the very classic Arête des
Cosmiques, an excellent short alpine climb starting
from the top of Aiguille du Midi. At this season it
is particularly enjoyable and quiet. The conditions
were perfect, with quite a lot of fresh snow, a sea
of clouds below us and no wind. A real pleasure for
Jean Marc Boucansaud and I to guide this family in
such a nice climb ... with this rather strange
"last pitch" up a ladder to the tourist's terrace !
01-04-06
Here in Chamonix it's supposed to be spring,
but we have heavy snowfalls in altitude. In
Nicaragua it is the dry season, and my friend
Gilles Corcos is in Rio Blanco to work with the
local staff of Agua Para La Vida, the NGO he
created nearly twenty years ago to help rural
communities building their own distribution systems
for drinking water. The 4th Water Forum took place
in Mexico in March, and now more and more people
are aware of the water problem, which is a major
issue throughout the world. Agua Para La Vida is
one of the intitatives that develop efficient
solutions in specific regions. APLV 's nicaraguayan
staff does most of the technical work in the field,
but many problems are still to be solved before
fullfilling the ambitious program of a real
autonomy. Apart from helping the management of the
center in Rio Blanco, fundraising is also a
difficult day-to-day task. APLV was created in
California, and has now a group in France, which I
belong to. Most of the funding is private, but we
are always looking for partnerships. Sofar, more
than 10.000 persons got drinking water with the
help of APLV. More infos on
http://www.aplv.org