Wrapping Up Our Peace Corps Service - COS Conference

Cathy:  There has been a long time gap between now and our last blog post. Steve and I made the decision to leave three months earlier than the "assigned" June 10 exit date. We could not write about our plans because they needed to remain secret. We also wanted to be sensitive to people who might read the blog.

Because we both had been in country with (what can only be termed) bad assignments, we felt unhappy about our Peace Corps service. This was true for the majority of the time we were in Belize. My work with POWA had been terminated officially in early February 2012. I found things to do in Dangriga - taught Health and Family Life Education to kids in Standards III, IV, V, and VI at three schools, started the girls club, and led the Zumba exercise classes. Those were all good small projects (they averaged about 8 hours a week), and I derived a lot of satisfaction from them.

Of the two of us, Steve had the least to do. Steve was taken off his assignment at the Polyclinic in October 2011, and then reassigned to the same project about February of 2012. Unfortunately, nothing changed regarding the work partners commitment to working with a PC volunteer was practically nil. Steve spent very little time in contact with the people there, less than 3 hours a week, despite trying to "drum up" work many times with many different organizations. As he got to know the Cayetanos, he enjoyed doing the woodworking project for them. He also helped Anthony, the young boy who lived downstairs, with his homework almost every night.

Then in March of 2012, Steve was asked to participate in rewriting the Community Health Worker training manual, and he brought me on board. Writing that manual was quite a challenge, and we are both extremely proud of our work with the Ministry of Health. We completed the last of the drafts in January of 2013. Although we were challenged and happy with our work product, the work was not fulfilling in the way that working directly with Belizeans would have been. Basically, it was a sit-down job, researching, writing, and creating illustrations. Contact with the MOH was primarily through email and telephone.

Once the "book" was complete, we felt it was time to come back to the United States. Our country director was very understanding and sympathetic to our situation, and was able to obtain an exit status of "Interrupted Service" which will allow us to work with Peace Corps again if we ever wish to do so.

So . . . these last entries are a short recap of our last few weeks in Belize. We'll start with a description of our last official Peace Corps meeting - the COS Conference.

Steve:  The Close of Service Conference is a time for reflection of what our service in Belize has meant to us. It is also a get together with all the volunteers and all of the Peace Corps staff people for some “thank you” and some “good-bye” talks with each other.

It started with a cook out at the home of our country director. This was an all afternoon thing, and I think we all ate way too much delicious food. The next day we caught the bus to Cayo (San Ignacio Town) and checked in at the Cahal Pech Resort. It is right next to the Mayan archeological site with the same name. The manager of the resort smiled a special smile each time she told Cathy and me that we had the honeymoon cabana.

We had sessions to talk about our milestones as well as sessions about making the transition back to life in the US with gainful employment for some and graduate school for some. There was also a session where the top staff people went around the room and said something special about each of us in the volunteer staff.

Cathy participated in a role play as an interviewer.

We also had a surprise for the staff people. At lunch the last day we staged a flash mob. The director thought at first we had lost our minds. We used a mash-up of four songs (Hot Cheetos and Takis, Summatime, Gangnam Style, and We Are the World 25) that we could sing and dance to. We finished with “We are the World” after we went out and fetched each staff person to come and join us in a circle.

Twenty-five PCVs plus staff

Basically the entire three days were one gigantic “warm fuzzy” for everyone with lots of hugs and some tears (of happiness).

The Ambassador and his wife joined us one night for dinner.

Mrs. Thumalapally is every bit as qualified as her husband!

These are the education PCVs who worked with Mrs. T.

Our good friend, Shaz, participating in the "fun fact" exercise.

People participating in the photo scavenger hunt.

Some fun during a break

Winter is Over!

Some interesting and unusual things have happened in the last week or so. Last Monday a former Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter was in country with his wife Nancy and two close friends. Our country staff people put on a luncheon and program about what we are doing in Belize.

Cathy and I were invited to meet with him for a half hour before the luncheon and tell about the  training manual for the community health workers that we are writing. Country Director Nina Hernandez followed up by explaining how it will fit into the direction of Peace Corps in Belize. As we have mentioned in earlier blog entries, the emphasis for next year’s volunteers will be on health education, partnering with the community health workers in the rural villages.

After a wonderful lunch (I got excited about the fresh salad), some of our fellow volunteers gave presentations about their work in all the programs (health, education, and business development).

He posed for a picture with us. Cathy is right behind his wife in the middle, and I am behind Cathy. 

I have had fun working with my good friend Charlie Holliday (a transplant from northern California) on a project for Pen and Ingrid Cayetano. They have a door with great sentimental significance and wanted it used on a display cabinet in their house. It turns out that Charlie is a master wood finisher - mostly for marine applications, and he shares my reverence for beautiful wood. We have sanded the door and cleaned it up, but Charlie is still struggling to find a can of finish that will do justice to this wood.

Pen introduced us to a cabinet builder, Maurice Martinez, who has a woodworking shop with production level tools. I designed a corner cabinet for the door and delivered the precise dimensions to Maurice for the front door frame with mortise and tenon joinery. I think the wood for the frame is from a mango tree. We picked up the frame on Friday, and I was very pleased with his level of perfection. He is truly a craftsman.

Next week I will mount the door on the hinges and get some photographs. I have also selected wood for the back panels, and it has all harvested from Pen and Ingrid’s farm and is well seasoned.  We delivered the boards to get them planed and edged. I can hardly wait to see the grain. 

Taken from the upstairs at Pen's house.

You can see me through the palm frond working on the door. That's Charlie in the background in the blue shirt.

The highlight of the week is the visit by my sisters Nancy and Carol. They brought us lots of toys and goodies. They stayed one night here and left the next day for Tobacco Caye. Carol has been keeping us entertained with her photos and emails.

Yesterday I was able to spend the day with them and had a blast. In spite of many reapplications of sunscreen, I still got a little reddened. It was certainly worth the minor discomfort. 

We spent almost the entire day in Cap'n Doggy's boat, and I learned how to catch baracuda. We went snorkeling on the reef for a while and marveled at the beauty of the sea life. I also met many new friends yesterday and enjoyed good food with them. It was a wonderful time. 

Carol, me and Nancy - with Doggy in the boat

Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Celebration

Steve and I wrote this entry together, so sometimes the grammar is a little off. Apologies, folks, we have no pictures yet. For security reasons, none of us were allowed to take pictures. However, the media was present and two of our own were appointed as official photographers. They were all given specific instructions of what could and could not be photographed. We hope to have some pictures next time!

The official invitation from the US Embassy

This past Wednesday, September 27, was the Peace Corps celebration of working with Belize for 50 years! The highlight of the anniversary celebration was a series of events at the US Embassy. Preparations had been going on for months, and it was a first-class event. There were displays and video presentations about Peace Corps volunteers and what they do here in Belize. They also had lined up half a dozen or so talented performing groups from around the country to display their cultural arts.

The day before, the volunteers from all over the country gathered in Belmopan to begin final preparations. Rather than our less-than-deluxe accommodations at the Garden City Hotel, we were hosted by families who work at the embassy. We were fortunate enough to stay again with Barry and Donna Cuthbertson. They are career foreign service people and were very kind and generous to us.

They took us to dinner at a restaurant at the Roaring River Golf Course. The ONLY public golf course in Belize. The owner was from South Africa, and his wife was from Pawleys Island, South Carolina! That was some fine dining. Our favorite was the appetizer - lobster and avocado over boston bibb lettuce with a light frothy dressing.  Here is a link to their website - Roaring River Golf - The Meating Place

The morning session was restricted to various dignitaries of Belize and the Peace Corps. There were speeches and videos about Peace Corps that were very inspiring with multiple moments of teary eyes and goosebumps. We all felt so good about what we are doing here and how we are contributing to world peace in multiple small ways. Each speaker was introduced by a Peace Corps Volunteer in a local language and then in English. These included Kriol, Spanish, Q’eqchi’ (Mayan), and Garifuna. Guess who did the Garifuna introduction?! Steve introduced the keynote speaker - the CEO of the Ministry of Health.

Here's a little background on how that came about. Now normally he would have been practicing for many days to perfect the introduction. BUT he received the information about the speaker on late Monday afternoon. He immediately enlisted our friend Aidra to help with the translation. She spent Monday afternoon walking around Dangriga Town to get help from other native speakers (including a visit to the mayor’s office).

On Tuesday afternoon she went to the internet cafe and had them email her work to Steve. He wanted more than just the written word, however. That evening he called her, and went over some last minute changes handed down from the Peace Corps office. Then she read the introduction over the phone and Steve recorded it, to get the pronunciation and cadence. That was a big help for the practice sessions that night.

Tuesday night was pretty busy for him because after dinner he spent a l-o-n-g time practicing. He joked that she stumbled slightly on “lagaranihouniwa” on her first attempt, so he worked especially hard so that he would be able to let it flow "trippingly" off the tongue.

When he stepped to the podium to introduce the speaker he had to make sure the microphone was positioned high enough, his glasses were positioned correctly, and to make sure he spoke from the heart and made occasional eye contact with the audience. He gave the Garifuna introduction (flawlessly), and as he made the transition to the English version, there was applause! Steve wasn't sure if they were applauding his delivery or if they were relieved that they didn't have to listen to Garifuna any more.

Program from the ceremony

At the end of the speeches they had the signing ceremony. Peace Corps serves only in countries that have invited volunteers. The original invitation came from this country when it was British Honduras and had never been formally renewed after the country became independent in 1981. The signing Wednesday was a new invitation by Belize Ministry of Health as a partner for Peace Corps to continue to provide volunteers.

The signing of the agreement. See more about the ceremony
at Ministry of Health Signs Agreement with Peace Corps
and Peace Corps 50 Years in Belize

We were served lunch and then everybody scattered to various assignments as greeters, ushers, "exhibit explainers," and facilitators for the performing acts. The afternoon sessions were open to people we had invited from our communities.

Steve was assigned to run the DVD changer and the projector for the video room. One of the videos had a short clip him speaking Garifuna. Whenever it played, the kids in the audience pointed to him at the side of the room holding the remote.

Cathy worked at the health exhibit. Most people just looked at the pictures, but then the Ambassador arrived with His Excellency the Governor General Sir Colville Young. Our Program Manager Valentino Shal was running interference for them and warned Cathy that he was on his way - BE READY! The Ambassador introduced them, and then she got a chance to explain the training manual project that she is working on and show the sample module. She explained how the manual would have language that is culturally appropriate. He was a charming man. He shared a couple of stories with her that related to that subject from his school days. Cool!

Governor General
Sir Colville Young

Throughout the afternoon, the entertainment continued. Cathy sang in the first "act," Amazing Grace sung in Q’eqchi’.

Afternoon entertainment

There was a separate sound system in the courtyard (helipad) with tents for shade and to cover the possibility of rain. The embassy’s AV expert, Nicholas, (who was Steve's "boss" for the day) really got his heart rate up with the Mayan stilt dancers (read about them here) since their music CD showed off his speakers with the heavy percussion parts. People had to be warned ahead of time not to stand directly in front of the speakers when the stilt walker performance started.

The dance group from Dangriga, Lirahunu Satuye, was the last act, and they are perfect for a grand finale. They always finish with an invitation for everyone to join in the dancing. One of the people in the audience was a professional singer who performed with Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective. Steve  managed to get an extra microphone to him, and he joined right in with another beautiful voice.

Boom! Just like that, at 5PM the embassy grounds were cleared of visitors. The "do" was over! Barry drove us (along with our guests, the Rodriquez sisters) to the bus station. It felt great to get home and get a rest.