It was another early start. My instructions were to be at the office by 7.30 on the dot. So the night before I organised for a taxi to pick me up, packed all my gear into my back pack ready for the next day. Of course, that night I woke every hour on the hour!!! You know what is like when you have to get somewhere early. I was up and well organised by the time the taxi arrived, off to the CAMPO office. Of course I was early. So I waited in the dark in front of the office, watching the street wake up. Marco arrived at 7.30 and we paced the pavement as we waited for Paula. Marco was getting a little restless, as he knew we had a long drive and the first meeting was scheduled for 10.30am. 8.00am and still no Paula. Marco checked his phone and paced some more. Then we received the call from Paula, she had slept in. Soon she came screaming up on her push bike apologising profusely as she jumped of the bike. 
We grabbed all our gear and caught a taxi to where the camionetta (Ute in Australian) was parked. (They need to put them into secure parking lots). We were off!!! Marco was on a mission, to get to the meeting in time. However, the windy roads, potholes and the fact that the tyres on the camionetta were not in very good condition made for an interesting ride. (Lots of squealing of tyres on the corners). Paula called the people involved in the first meeting to let them know we were going to be late. There was no time to stop for breakfast of coffee on the way today. (Luckily, I brought a couple of muesli bars with me). I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the beautiful landscape around me as we drove through the mountains.
We finally arrived at Zapotitlan around 11.00am and there were a large number of people waiting outside ready to join in the session that Paula had arranged for the morning.
The first session was a workshop with members of the community on gender awareness. The aim of the program is to improve the relationships between men and women in the area. About 40 men and women from the town and outlining areas took part in the session. Paula later advised me that over the past couple of years this community had been identified as an important area for changes in relationships between men and women and issues related to gender. She said that a lot of this was due to the fact that a lot of the men had had to travel to other areas such as the USA to get work to support the family. This meant that they had to look after themselves, cook, iron and clean etc. This exposure was giving them a better understanding of the woman's role int he family and when they returned they were more open to assisting with domestic chores.
The first meeting finished, we visited the house of my favorite little lady in the district, and yes she had lunch ready for us again. A huge bowl of soup with meat and corn, accompanied by soft tacos, avocado, salsa and onion. (This was the start of a huge day of eating, and Marco later commented, Paula and Diane ate a cow today!!!!).
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