Wrapping Up Our Peace Corps Service - The Transition Home

From Steve:  When we joined the Peace Corps, every step of the process was guided by staff people.  The transition back to life in the US was not so structured for us, perhaps because we left earlier than the prescribed 27 months. Following is a short description of what happened (without the emotion of our last blog post).

Exit day minus 3:  We packed, gave away the rest of our stuff, and said good-byes to special friends in Dangriga.

Exit day minus 2:  I went to the clinic and said my goodbyes to friends that I have come to know and respect. Cathy and I both ran around town getting last minute utility issues handled and closing out the bank account. We had to make sure there were no obligations or problems left behind.

Reuben, logistics guy, came from the Peace Corps office and picked us up at our home. We were very thankful for the ride, since going to Belmopan on a bus, with all our bags AND the big drum would have been very difficult. 

In the afternoon we went through an administrative check list with Matt, administrative officer. To expedite our processing out so we could go home sooner, Cathy and I determined that we would not have our last medical checkup in Belize, but would take care of it in the States. 

We checked into our favorite hotel, the Garden City.  We had made plans to get together with PC friends, Ken and Mickie. However, the US Ambassador and his wife asked to spend some time with us before we left (Nice!!), so we had a wonderful dinner with the Ambassador, his wife Barbara, and her mother, and Ken and Mickie.

Exit day minus 1: We went to the office and met with the medical officer and also went through the forms that we would need to complete when we got back. We met with Nina, our country director, for our final debriefing. 

One last social time - We had pizza with a good friend, Shaz, another Peace Corps volunteer, for our last dinner in Belize. 

Exit day: We went to the office in the morning to get a ride to the airport. We had been warned that we might have one more chance to cry. Even Mr. Cal, the guard at the PC gate, said, "Oh, yeah, they always cry that last day." 

All the staff people had assembled in the reception area for our final good-bye. They had a big “Thank You” banner and a cake. I'm not sure if everybody gets a cake ;-)  There were short speeches along with tears and hugs, and then we were on our way.

A kind young man at the airport got our drum wrapped in clear plastic, and we cleared security. I was “selected for extra screening." I think it was because I wound up sitting next to the chief justice of the Belize supreme court on the flight to Miami.

When we arrived at Raleigh-Durham International we were met by Jeff, Stephanie, and Burke. 

COLD AND WINDY!

We picked up our rental car and went to dinner where we watched basketball. Our favorite team won. We settled in at our extended stay motel and slept well.

Arrival day plus 1: We got new cell phones, and the following day signed a lease for an interim apartment. 

And so on . . .  On the weekend my nephew and one of his strong young friends helped us move the heavy pieces from the storage locker to our third floor apartment.

Monday we bought a car. This also involved finding an insurance agent and getting a cashier’s check for the down payment.

Now we have settled down to making the rounds of the dentists and doctors, and we have started looking for a home to buy.

From Cathy: It's still COLD AND WINDY! I'm thrilled to be home, and I miss everyone terribly.

Belize Independence Day 2012

(Steve here.) This has been an interesting week for us. Friday was Belize Independence Day, and all of us were in the parade in Belmopan. Our friend Daytha and a couple of the young Garifuna GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Girls also rode on the Peace Corps float.

Aliyah, Shaniah, Daytha and Cathy

The front part of the float was covered with thatch to shade the riders, and the back part had a dove of peace that looked a little like a chicken.

The "Dove" of Peace

Most of us marched out in front of the float. Cathy and I got to carry the banner most of the way. We all danced along the way to the tunes from the float in front of us, but Cathy did Zumba whenever the music permitted. We were exhausted after marching in the tropical heat and humidity, but we all made it without incident.

We have also been preparing for next week’s anniversary event at the US Embassy. The Ministry of Health and Peace Corps will celebrate 50 years in Belize (Peace Corps has been around for 51 years), as well as formalize the invitation to work in Belize. On the day before Independence Day, I was at the embassy to help the audio visual man start preparation for our event. The arrangements will be very professional and will be detailed in next week’s blog entry. I found the security arrangements to be impressive, but some things should not be posted on the internet.

The day after Independence Day a bunch of of us crazy volunteers worked at a nearby school on a number of projects. Jess and Melissa painted a mission statement on the wall outside the gate. So the statement would look good, we made a level. We used a bottle mostly full of water except for a bubble and put it sideways on a straight piece of wood.

Making a level for Jessica

I worked mostly with the team pouring the foundation for a library building. There were half a dozen professionals in charge of the work. We helped with the vapor barrier and the heavy wire mesh over it. Then they cranked up the  cement mixer. We carried hundred-pound sacks of cement mix and buckets of water. The most physically demanding job was shoveling a lot of sand into the mixer. When it was mixed, it was transferred to wheelbarrows to get to the pour site. And I thought marching in the parade in 90 degree tropical humidity was challenging. Ava’s picture of me shows the sweat line down to the lower edge of my shorts. I think all of us guys who thought we were tough enough to work without gloves wound up with blisters on our hands, but everyone survived without heat stroke.

Trying to rehydrate

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Just a little postscript from me. Our GLOW girls are doing another fundraiser - bottle cap Belizean flags. Aidra's idea. The one in this picture has a little fishing line so it can be worn around the neck. Only $2 BZ. We also made earrings for $5 BZ. I made the Belize coat of arms on the computer, using mailing labels that stick when you peel off the backing. One sheet had about 72 of those little suckers. Had to cut every one out and stick it on. They sold "like hotcakes."

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Just a couple more pictures from Independence Day -

Setting up the afternoon before Independence Day

Adding de tatch

No vehicle went undecorated

Some people really get into the spirit

Steve and Nina Hernandez, our Country Director

Something to do while waiting for the parade to start

GLOW girls on the float

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.

Steve's Turn to Write about Life in the Fast Lane

This has been a week full of excitement for me. At the Polyclinic staff meetings, the administrator has been asking each of the work sections to produce an educational program that can be played through the TV monitor in the waiting room. Our video for the nutrition section, which I created, is about 10 minutes long and has great music in the background. The still pictures have simulated motion with zoom or zoom and pan (Ken Burns effect). The weak link is still the narration which is done in my foreign sounding voice. It is hard to persuade a native speaker to do the voice-over, although it would clearly add credibility to the educational message. We still have time before the administrator’s deadline.

Screen shot from the movie

We seem to be well into the rainy season with really heavy rain early in the week. I was amazed to see the torrent that Stann Creek has become. It was amusing to see the birds riding chunks of debris zinging along in search of food.

  

Tylon, my work counterpart, and I went to Belmopan for three days of Peace Corps training on project design. I learned a tremendous amount of material from dreaming about making a change in some little part of human society all the way through goals, objectives, evaluation and management to writing an effective grant proposal and finding funding sources that share some common interest. We worked together on our own project and had extra help from Ms. Carmen Silva who is in charge of the grant program at the US embassy.

Me with Tylon and Carmen Silva

Helmuth Castro, on "loan" to us from Peace Corps Honduras

We also had great team-building activities. One of my favorites was a competition between two blind man’s buff teams. It was a quiz, and the various answers were taped to the wall at the other end of the room. The blind-folded team member had to find the sheet with the answer on it. The answerer of the question could see the seeker and the answers but could only give directions with hand signs to the speaker on the team who could not look at the wall or the blind-folded team member. What a great way to make learning fun!

Blind Man's Buff. In the background you can see Mickie Post, one
of the PCVs trying to manhandle her opponent to win the game ;-)
Since she weighs less than 90 pounds, we felt the strategy was a gamble.

For a culture exercise we had a dance break led by Des and Gwen, who both work for the Ministry of Education. Des is also with the professional dance group we have seen perform the traditional Garifuna dances. I tried to shoot video and dance at the same time but finally gave up in favor of trying to learn to dance.

On Saturday we had a work-day in Hopkins village. Several other volunteers also gathered to paint the building at the Sandy Beach women’s co-op restaurant, which is Meghan’s main project. The ladies also taught us cooking lessons in Garifuna native dishes. Cathy pitched in to pound the boiled plantain to make hudut, to be eaten with the fish soup.

Here is Cathy mastering the mortar and pestle.
Belizeans call it the mahtah.

Ken Post and Meghan partaking of the hudut and fish stew.

We had also hoped to see Meghan’s dog Belikin who is a sister puppy to our FuWe Dog, but she was out on a walk with a neighbor, and we missed her.

Several other events were notable. One was dinner last night with the other two married couples in Peace Corps Belize. I still cannot believe that none of us took a picture. This morning our dog got a bath. It is probably the last bath she will get in the plastic tub that she has outgrown. Fortunately Breezie was there with the camera for all of us to enjoy again. 

Future baths will be outside with the water from the
rain barrels. FuWe is now 35 pounds!

The Beautiful Plants of Belize

The rainy season brings more than just mildew and blue crabs. All the trees and shrubs that were just staggering along have awakened to Belize's "spring" season. I'm feeling pretty lazy today, so it seems like a good day for PICTURES. We've accumulated quite a few, so we'll share!

For your viewing pleasure.  Please do click on the pictures so you can see them at full size. Sorry, sorry, sorry, Aunt Jean. I know this is going to wreak havoc on your dial-up connection.

Everybody's favorite, the Flamboyant Tree (sometimes called the Royal Poinciana), are everywhere in Belize. Main flower color is orange, but sometimes we see them in yellow, white and purple.

 Banana trees and coconut palms.

In our front yard

Other palms.

Cohune tree. Provides fronds for thatching, and fruit
for very high cholesterol oil. Wood for furniture and
carving.

Decorative shrubs and bushes.

Hibiscus

Every kind of hibiscus you can imagine

Bougainvillea. The "bountiful" time for bougainvillea is still ahead
of us. Sometimes the spiky vines look like they are taking over the
front of a building.

Don't know what this is, but ain't it pretty? Some kind of coleus?

Looks like clematis

Crape myrtles are popular, but they have trouble with so much rain.
They don't like "wet feet." (See the flamboyant tree behind?)

Crape myrtle and a mix of others

 And just some plain old flowers.

Vinca (periwinkle) is very popular

Everybody has some of these, but I don't know what they are.

White lilies grow wild everywhere

 Ornamental trees.

Camouflaging the outhouse??

And MANGOS. Belizeans loves mango and children gleefully climb the trees to retrieve them. Or find something to reach with.

This is our neighbor's tree, heavily laden. And the reason there is
fruit still there is because they have a really mean pit bull to protect it.

He got several mangos from this effort :-)

Happy Father's Day, everybody!