A Dance Item and a Disappointment in Orange Walk

Last week began what seems like a month-long holiday. Monday was St. George's Day and Tuesday was Carnival Day. Wednesday Dangriga had the Talent Showcase, and on Friday the primary schools held their big rah-rah rally!

Our Garifuna Glow Girls wanted to perform for the Talent Showcase on Wednesday. We didn't have much notice - about 5 days - so we had to keep things simple. The girls were already familiar with several dance routines, taken from music videos, so they made the decision to pull something together from that.

I volunteered to have the girls practice at my house. About 9 girls showed up on Sunday afternoon. More than an hour was spent selecting music and trying to download it. The songs they wanted were NOT available from anywhere online, and they wouldn't believe that it couldn't be found.

"No, Miss. Right there on YouTube."

"Yes, girls, it's on YouTube, but that's a video, not music. I can't find only the song to download." And I tried some of those so-called YouTube downloaders, but none worked. I guess Google has found a way to disable them.

Steve helped me record it from YouTube played through the computer speakers, so the quality was AWFUL. Girls didn't care.

As the girls left on that first day, they all agreed to come back the next day at 1:00, and I followed with my usual, "And don't be late."

When 1:00 o'clock rolled around Monday morning (St. George's Day, remember? So there was no school.), and no one arrived I wasn't surprised. One girl showed up at 1:15 and she had a good reason for being late. Aliyah is one of the "good ones," usually punctual, quick to volunteer, very polite. By 1:30 we had 4 girls here, but we waited some more before practicing. The de facto leader still wasn't there, and we felt like she knew the routine the best. (I certainly didn't know it.) They finally started rehearsing and we broke up about 3:00.

As I walked out with the girls, we saw four other club members strolling up the street toward the house. I kindly but firmly told them that practice was over and that I was very disappointed in their lateness, that it showed disrespect for their club mates and for me.

I don't know any other way to put this. Few girls here have been taught social skills. The four girls just stood there gawking, speechless. So I gave them the words to use. "The nice thing to say would be, 'I'm sorry, Miss Cathy. I messed up and I won't do it again.'" Those poor girls could still not get a single syllable out of their mouth, just stood there. Some looked down at their feet, another gave a half smile, and got a little tear (of embarrassment?). Another turned on her heel and just walked away. I waited a few moments, never got anything from the latecomers, and walked away with the other girls. As we walked away, I told them that last rehearsal was the next day after school.

This is dragging on too long, but I guess I'm trying to get across the basic frustration I live with on a daily basis. I did call the girls' mothers to tell them that their daughters had let us down and that I was disappointed in them. I also emphasized how each girl was special and that I thought they were special (which is true!). Each mother said she would talk with her daughter.

The next day - 4 girls showed up and practiced. Here's a sample:

The little girl in pink in the front row is the only one who came to all 3 rehearsals.

There's more, but I'm tired of writing about it. Short version, to get this whole show on the road, I  -

• Called Town Council
• Called Police Department
• Called 4 principals
• Called Central Education Center
• Helped the girls settle on what to wear and where to meet and when

I had to leave for Orange Walk the next day (see next section), so Aidra was taking over to make sure they did what they needed to do for the Wednesday performance. In the end, two girls showed up and one refused to dance. No dance item for the Garifuna Glow Girls. Sigh.

But they do look cute, don't you think?

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Several weeks ago, Peace Corps Volunteer Natalie Macias invited me to come to Orange Walk Town to teach a Zumba class to a small women's group. I agreed and looked forward to seeing a part of Belize that was new to me. 

It's a L-O-O-O-N-G bus ride, close to 6 hours I decided to take my big speaker - my Block Rocker - so we'd have good sounds for the class. It weighs a little over 20 pounds, but it's got wheels and good handles. It's manageable. I just have to be careful to make sure nobody "thief" it.

So I rode up on Wednesday morning. Natalie met me and we had lunch at a cool restaurant (air conditioned), and did some power shopping at A&R (sort of like Target). Natalie has a great house, a sweet fun dog, and a nice music collection. On Wednesday night, we met another PCV, Barbara Levy, and had shrimp ceviche and Belikin Beer at a fun spot. The only thing they sell at the restaurant is shrimp ceviche (except when conch is in season; then they also have conch ceviche). And I saw something that I never would have believed. Mennonite men sitting around drinking beer. They weren't even eating, just drinking. Natalie said there's a group of "very progressive" Mennonites in the OW area.

Thursday morning, we went early to the library, where the Zumba class was to be held. Natalie said the women's group was small, usually about seven, but a very enthusiastic and outspoken group. They meet once a week and have a different speaker or program each week. They had been looking forward to this fun class and even joked about what they would wear. The librarian texted everybody at 9:00 to remind them about the session. Class was to start at 10:00.

You guessed it - nobody came. By 10:50, I was disgusted and ready to pack up. One of the women walked in with her two kids. "Where's everybody?" The librarian "railed up" on her, but of course it fell on deaf ears. She said, "Well, I couldn't come because I had family court." She kept talking about family court. I asked her how it went in family court and she said, "Well, I didn't have it because I never called them back." Not quite sure what that was all about.

So I showered and got back on the bus. On the Belize to Belmopan leg of the ride, I had an interesting conversation with some guys who were ranting about how Peace Corps was trying to teach children in Belize to be homosexuals and that the anus is a sexual organ. They were getting pretty excited about it. I decided to speak up, identify myself, and set the record straight. They were referring to the HFLE curriculum, of course, which has been in the news a lot lately (see this link: HFLE PAGE LISTINGS and brief descriptions of issues). By the end of the conversation, I think five people believed me, and the last guy wasn't going to change his mind no matter what. It was fun and cordial, and I think the people appreciated hearing a reasonable dissenting view.

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So that's about it for me. Here's a picture of the journals that the Garifuna Glow Girls made. They are writing in them a little each week - about their name, their strengths and weaknesses, goals - topics like that. Some of the girls are enthusiastic, and some do bare minimum - just like school!

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Steve here. This week I traveled to the satellite clinics in Pomona and Hopkins with Mr. Tillett who is the nutrition social worker for the district. We went through all the charts of babies and children up to 5 years old to check on their growth charts. We picked out those that may be in trouble and compiled a list for home visits if they do not come in sometime soon for their routine immunizations. We have great data on how many kids are served by each clinic and how many of them are underweight and what their ages are and their genders are. 

Hopkins clinic

Nurse Martinez at Hopkins Clinic

Pomona Clinic

It was a good week for keeping in touch. I was able to video chat with my son and was able to talk to both sisters on the phone. We all look forward to getting together next month in the US.

Leap Year Day - Save our Barrier Reef!

Belize, the "Jewel of Central America," is rich in resources. At the top of the list is its natural beauty, including the coral reef situated off the coast, the second longest reef in the world. Every year thousands of tourists come from all over the world to explore the reef and enjoy the hospitality of Belize. Tourism is one of the country's largest industries. As the country's infrastructure improves and grows, tourism will continue to grow in importance.

Pumping station at Spanish Lookout

Another resource, although not so plentiful, is petroleum. One company, Belize Natural Energy, began exploring in the Spanish Lookout area in 2002, and now produces about 5,000 barrels a day. Before that, many companies had unsuccessfully explored for 50 years. The crude is processed here, but all of the oil is exported. None of the owners of the company are Belizean and they hire very few Belizeans. The sole benefit of BNE (other than some small grants to various local groups, such as POWA) to the country are the corporate revenue taxes.

According to an article on Belize.com, "Most of Belize’s 8,867 square miles of territory and much of the waters offshore have been allocated out in petroleum concessions to 18 different companies with a range of foreign shareholders from as close as the USA and as far off as Taiwan and even a local gambling den," and "Princess Petroleum Limited, belonging to the owners of the Princess Casino, has a contract to explore 1 million plus acres of Belize for oil. The license is mostly offshore, but also some inland exploration. The company is allegedly well connected with local politicians of the ruling United Democratic Party." (Read the entire article.)




So now to get to the focus of this blog entry - offshore drilling. The government is promoting offshore exploration and drilling "for the benefit of the people of Belize." Enter Oceana, an international organization dedicated to protecting the oceans and natural oceanic resources of the earth. They have been present in Belize for a long time, focussing on overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change. Barrier reef protection is at the top of the list. More than 20% of the Belizean population derive revenues because of the barrier reef. Regarding offshore drilling, Oceana, in partnership with the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage, has been advertising vigorously since before Steve and I arrived in Belize last March via posters, radio and TV commercials, newspaper articles and canvassing to spread the word about the issue, and the dangers to the barrier reef. (Read Oceana's overview.)

In 2008, the Belize legislature passed a law allowing people to bring issues to a referendum. The petitioners for a referendum must collect signatures from at least 10% of the registered voters (about 18,000 people) for the issue to be allowed on the government ballot. This is the first time the new law has been tested. Oceana turned in close to 21,000 signatures. When the signatures were reviewed by the ministry in charge of elections, more than 8,000 signatures were rejected.

This was, of course, a big setback. They were expecting some problems with duplicates or some whose voter registration was in doubt, perhaps up to 1,000, but not with almost 40% of the names. The group is following up by requesting documentation on why each signature was rejected. In the meantime, Oceana's next step was to announce that a People's Referendum would be held on Wednesday, February 29. The vote would be funded completely by Oceana and the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage.

One of the polling locations in Dangriga. More than 3700 people
voted from Stann Creek District.

The turnout was impressive (more than 29,000 voters), and the vote, not surprisingly, was against the offshore drilling by about 96%. Of course, it was an unofficial vote, and so holds no weight with the government. However, Prime Minister Dean Barrow went on record yesterday to say that he can't ignore the fact that so many people made the extra effort to voice their opinion. He said that if re-elected, he "personally would be prepared to support the Government sponsoring the referendum to be held at an appropriate time after we would have allowed for a full-throttle debate during which people will not just hear from one side."
I have met NO one here who is in favor of offshore drilling. Of course, I live here on the coast of Belize, so that's not surprising. I have read some articles quoting some who support the drilling initiative.
General elections will be held this Wednesday, March 7. As Peace Corps Volunteers, we do not get involved in politics. For our safety, we will be in a status of Alert and Stand Fast for March 6-8. Focus this week will be on the politicians, not the barrier reef. But I'll keep you updated on this important issue.

Great Resources

'Tis the last day of January, and we have spent the month trying to learn as much as we can about our assignment and the country of Belize.  How did we ever function without the Internet and email??  Here are a few of the sources we were lucky enough to find.

Mallory's Blog - Belize It or Not - mallorybegley.blogspot.com
Mallory is a PCV in Belize right now.  She arrived last March, so she's one year ahead of us.  Her blog is an excellent read, lots of information about the lifestyle of a (young) PCV, the food, the outdoors recreation opportunities, the hazards (lots of critters - rats, big biting lizards, roaches, spiders, bats).  If you take the time to read some entries, you'll really get to know her and you'll feel like you're right there beside her in all her adventures. VERY descriptive and energetic writing style.

One of the most important things we learned from her blog is that we will probably NOT be using Spanish down there.  We WILL be learning Kriol (their spelling), and it's pretty easy 'cause it's English Creole, not French.  If we go to the southern part of the country, we will learn some dialect of Mayan.  So I've stopped my Spanish lessons; Steve continues because he doesn't have as much of a background as I do.

We wrote to Mallory to say hello and strike up an email connection.  She was SO very nice and generous with her information.  One of the most important things she said is that it's fine to explore and research Belize, but that we'll have a better experience if we don't show up with a lot of expectations.  She suggested that we might be able to buy things we need from the volunteers who will be leaving in June.

We'll be meeting her in March when we arrive.  ALL the current PCVs in Belize  are together for a couple of days when the newbies arrive.  Looking forward to meeting her.  It's possible she's doing the same thing we will be doing - but I don't have any expectations about that, right?   ;--)

Rachel by telephone 

A friend from my Zumba class referred us to her friend Rachel, a volunteer in Belize in the late 90s.  Rachel generously talked with us a LONG time to fill us in on her extensive knowledge of life as a PCV in Belize.  She still visits Belize every year or so, and owns a home there with her father!  She talked about her family there, meaning her host family, with whom she stays very close.  

Her information was very succinct and practical.  She could not say enough about how friendly and helpful the people are.  She suggested that we should take "nice" clothes and keep them neat and ironed (yikes), because that is the way that the people there will expect us to dress, just like them.  I had heard that before about people in Latin America, that they want to look crisp and neat (to "defy" the heat, I guess.  "See, I still look good even though I'm frying!").  Well, assuming that we have electricity, I say "go for it."

Rachel agreed about not arriving with a lot of expectations, just take things as they come.  As a side note, the Peace Corps brochures, interviewers, and employees ALL talk about being flexible, so these ideas gibe.  Rachel said some PCVs who had done tons of research were incorrectly perceived by the Belizeans as "know-it-alls."  

Rachel also sent us links to newspapers websites, and email addresses of retired PCVs.  WOW - what a wealth of information.

Newspapers in Belize (the first 2 are the ones  most circulated in the country, and though "nonpartisan" tend to sometimes print articles that appear to have political slant)...
Amandala: founded in 1969    http://www.amandala.com.bz/
The Reporter: founded in 1967  http://www.reporter.bz/
The Belize Times: political paper of the PUP - Peoples United Party (blue party)    http://www.belizetimes.bz/
The Guardian: political paper of the UDP - United Democratic Party (red party)  http://www.guardian.bz/

YouTube videos

Holy smokes - I can't believe we didn't check this out earlier.  Just type in "Peace Corps" "Belize" and step back.  Here are a few of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIgzlCf7vqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIOl-NPwuBQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7KNsEkAosQ (kinda old but covers a lot)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJVD11dajzc

Norman from Puerto Rico

Norman is a returned PCV who has served THREE tours with the Peace Corps.  I know his mom and two sisters from Zumba class.  They have been telling us about Norman for about a year now, but he's been most recently in Vanuatu (coincidentally on the same island as some other friends of mine in the Peace Corps, Alex and Lucas, and he knows them).  OK, so he finally came home, but we haven't been able to connect yet.  He's originally from Puerto Rico, so we went down there right after Christmas and will return in February.  

You'll notice I didn't describe him as a "retired" PCV.  That's because I think he's planning to go back for a fourth tour of duty later in 2011!  I do think that we'll be able to learn a LOT once we connect.

Other blogs we like

http://catriona76.blogspot.com/ - A PCV who served in Belize.  Her blog includes a lot of info on her work there, and lots of pictures.

http://ourantarctica.blogspot.com/ - Alex and Lucas are in Vanuatu with the Peace Corps.  They married about three (?) years ago, went to work in Antarctica for 6 months, traveled around the world for another six months, and then went to Vanuatu.  Lucas does a great job of describing what Peace Corps volunteers do and their day-to-day lives.  They don't have easy access to the Internet, so it looks like there are gaps in the time, but he's pretty disciplined about getting a good description of what going on all the time.

Pat from Chapel Hill

I met Pat at one of my Zumba classes - surprise.  She and her husband go most years to Belize as health volunteers as a part of Project Belize.  They conduct medical clinics in villages for a week or so.  There are about 25 people who participate, some repeaters like Pat. She filled me up with great stories about her visits and the people there.  She warned about Belize City, the crime there, but loved talking about the nice, loving people.  Hmmm - seems to be a theme here.  

Pat also gave us some great ideas for host family gifts and "handouts" for people who come to our training sessions.  I think I will talk about those in a later entry.  If you've made it this far down, you must be taking NODOZ.