Clean-ups and other Good Causes
Projects now being funded are beds, mattresses and bedcovers for Casa Mambre Parochial Retreat House in Hontanas; and exploring new or repairs for picnic tables for the Albergue San Francisco Asis in Tosantos.
The "Camino Angels," or Angeles del Camino, is now a Spanish non-profit Asociacion based in Santiago de Compostela. It is not officially part of the PPI empire, (due to international banking rules), but we will work closely with them in the future. Their status is pending. They will focus their fundraising in Spain and Europe, help us identify needful projects on the caminos, and work together with us to solve problems with ready resources.
Ditch Pigs Camino Cleanup
Ditch Pigs Camino Cleanup dates back to 2008, when two hardy souls (Patrick and Rebekah) first took up trash bags and salad tongs to clean up a litter-ridden picnic area outside Carrion de los Condes. In years since the idea morphed into an annual international gathering of up to 10 volunteers, who clean up a 100+ kilometer stretch of the holy road between Castrojeriz and Sahagun de Campos., with occasional “strikes” along the Camino de Madrid.
Ditch Pigs gather at Peaceable Kingdom in Moratinos the final week of November. Each pays for his own travel, and donors cover expenses for meals, gasoline, and cleaning materials. Ditch Pigs was awarded an $800 grant by American Pilgrims on the Camino in 2016, used to build a two-wheeled trash wagon for cleaning up isolated, hard-to-reach areas of the trail.
Pilgrim Memorial Grove
Pilgrim Memorial Grove
Peaceable Projects coordinates the Pilgrim Memorial Grove at Ecce Homo Park in Valdeviejas, just outside Astorga along the Camino Frances. Pilgrims who die along the Caminos can be permanently memorialized along the Way with a young tree and a custom-cut stone plaque, set in a well-kept wayside park with its namesake historic chapel. The Bishop of Astorga blessed the grove and project in 2014, setting it aside as “sacred ground” where ashes may also be scattered. The city of Astorga provides sapling trees and maintenance services; Peaceable coordinates families, blessing services, stones and engraving, and plaque placement at the park. The first memorial was dedicated in April 2017, in honor of Ron Duke, an Australian pilgrim who died in Leon the summer before.
peaceable publishing
“San Anton: A Little History,” an illustrated guidebook by Robert Mullen and Rebekah Scott.
This project has raised more than 1,000 Euros for the little albergue inside the ruins there.
Peaceable Publishing is a registered trademark, and has published two volumes: “The Moorish Whore,” 2011, a novel by Rebekah Scott; and “San Anton: A Little History,” an illustrated guidebook by Robert Mullen and Rebekah Scott. Proceeds of Peaceable Publications go to support identified projects overseen by Peaceable Projects Inc.
“Faith is not the clinging to a shrine,
but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.”
The Ditch Pigs program may expand outward in 2020, as a comprehensive, camino-wide litter sweep is also “in the works.” Join us!
