Tag Team Blog Entry

Cathy: Every so often, we don't have a lot to write about - HA! very often. That gives us a few choices -

1. Don't write anything, but then we'd lose track of those little everyday things that make this adventure SO very wonderful ;-)
2. Write something with a theme - about the culture or an economic or health situation or some other meaningful issue.
3. Or filler. Steve and I both scribble down some things and let that pass for blog entry. 

Lucky you - you get option 3 today! Do not expect any cohesiveness whatsoever.

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Last week, our Medical Officer sent us all an email letting us know that she would be in a meeting all week. Thought you'd enjoy reading some of it.

Greetings to all,

Please note that I will out of  office next week August 6-10 as I will be attending  a Peace Corps Medical conference in Belize City.  Peace Corps Belize has the honor this year of hosting about 60 doctors and nurses (Peace Corps medical officers ) from several Peace Corps countries.

Since I will not be in office, please be kind and don’t drink to excess, eat any bad food,  have unprotected sex, ride in back of any trucks or play any sports, ride a bike without helmets or break up with your boyfriends/girlfriends.. smile…although this is would be the time to get sick with all these medical personnel coming.

Dr Craig will have the phone to assist with any medical issues . Kent will be in the office to help with supplies.

Have a great week to all.

Regards,

Jackie

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Steve: Last week, Hurricane Ernesto came and went. On Tuesday, August 7, we were summoned to consolidate in Belmopan. 

It was boring, but we had air conditioning, electricity, running water, and WiFi at the Garden City Hotel. 

The Garden City Hotel got mad at Steve

This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with the next two
paragraphs of the blog entry!

While in Belmopan, I was able to attend a focus group on reporting sexual assault in Belize, facilitated by Peace Corps officials from DC. The emphasis was on finding ways to ensure confidentiality and take appropriate action on behalf of a volunteer who had something to report along those lines. They are still trying to improve their function (and their image) after several horrendous attacks and a murder, most recently reported in 2010 - ABC Investigative News Report.

Hooray for Peace Corps’ concern for volunteer safety.

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Cathy: When I found out we were going to Belmopan, probably staying until Thursday, I called Aidra to let her know we couldn't have GLOW club on Wednesday, asked her to let the girls know. Unfortunately, I neglected to give her the list of telephone numbers.

The Security Officer let us come home a day early. There was NOTHING - no wind, rain, NOTHING - in Dangriga or Belmopan. Which put me here on Wednesday afternoon. Not only did the girls show up, they came an hour and a half early! I had nothing prepared, but the girls didn't care. They played with the pets and made coffee filter flowers (again), and were happy with things. Wanted to do Zumba, but I had to chase them away so I could get work done.

Aidra and I are trying to make some big plans for the fall. We want the girls to have an act in the talent show for Independence Day (mid-September) and march in the Settlement Day parade. More on that later.

On Saturday, only three girls came because there was a lightning rainstorm.

The three girls who braved the storm
This week's project was to make bags that everybody wears to carry their stuff.

Malicka - her own design on the embellishment of the bag.

Shinoah - Malicka's older sister.
She liked the flower so much, that she copied it.

Skylar - She's visiting here from the States. Her grandmother is
our neighbor and a local Garifuna activist. We enjoyed having Skylar
be a part of our club while she's here.

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Steve: In Belize we have a semi-official website PCBelize.com. It was nicely put together by a volunteer, Nate Thompson, who finished his service last June. 

I have been entrusted with maintaining it since then. I had a personal triumph with successful posting of a new article on the “News” page with an image. Nate would be proud of me. I will probably never be a “webmaster”, but I qualify to be a “web amateur” for a site already created. 4th of July Celebration

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At the Dangriga Polyclinic the administrator asked each section to put together an educational DVD to play for patients in the waiting room. The medical chief of staff put his together with minimal help from me, just a little coaching here and there. Both of the nursing units put together videos with help from tech-savvy relatives. 

I think the nutrition section probably has the best video. I was able to ignite the interest and creativity of my work partner, Tylon Tillett. He is the social worker in charge of the malnutrition prevention project for the Southern Health Region. (Cathy: It IS good!)

This weekend I combined all of their DVDs into one movie project, with small transitions between them to make the whole thing cohesive. I burned it to a DVD that will play automatically and will loop back to the beginning to play again. "Look Ma, no hands!" 

It seems like not much when I write it here, but I spent long hours tweaking and perfecting this project. Even so, every time I watch it, I see one more thing that I could improve. 

Tomorrow, it "premiers" on the waiting room TV. Can't wait to hear the feedback.

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Cathy and Steve: We continue to be entertained by the pets. We re-evaluated, and decided the cat is a female. It's tricky.

Our new name for the kitten is Murusun Mesu, which is Garifuna for “a little bit of cat." We call her Murusun (mu-ROO-soo - "N" is silent). She will probably grow out of that name at some point, but I guess we'll stick with it.