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

Back to the States, and Good Family Stuff

The last few weeks have been filled with adventure for us. We made a trip to North Carolina to celebrate the birth of a new grandson and to catch up with the rest of our families. I am grateful for all the efforts of my family to let me see them; I got to spend time with all my siblings, children, and grandchildren.

We also had some great food and did some serious retail therapy, mostly for us, but also for some of our Belize friends.

All of our travel connections worked out well, and we escaped the catastrophic weather that pounded the Northeast as we were departing. One of the fun things we did was to purchase little cheap cell phones with lots of minutes so we could talk to relatives we missed seeing in person. It also made a huge difference in arranging get-togethers with the friends and family we did get to see.

We were able to help Nancy with her moving sale. Cathy and Carol were especially helpful with their disarming style of conversation. They could have sold ice cubes to Eskimos. It was a huge success.

Now we have settled back into our routine and are energized to get back to work on our projects. Clearly the second year of Peace Corps service is much busier that the first year was. We keep saying that we should not take on too many more projects, but after we accept each additional project we say the same thing again.

The trip to the northern latitudes also convinced us that winter may be much more tolerable in the tropics, but even in the tropics the nights are chilly. We have started using the blankets at night but have not yet fired up our little space heater.

Picture time! Sorry that we didn't get snaps of all the wonderful people we visited.

Working hard at the yard sale.
Then we pretty much sold the table and chairs out from
under us.

Burnham siblings

Grandpa, Jim and Kayleigh

Best friend from high school - Martha!

Dad and daughter Laura

 

Nanny giving Burke some good advice

The great crowd at the UNC Wellness Center.
That's my wonderful friend, Uma, in the front, pretending
that's she's really short.

 

"Liz" and me after a great vegetarian lunch.

Great night at Stacey's house, with Toni and me

Dad and Joyce with us at Lucky 32

There's that Toni-girl again. This time we are Mistress of Funky
Looks, Miss Quyen!

Steve with the happy parents

Babies do this a lot

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

Another Kind of Peace Corps Adventure - Just a Taste

Everyone's Peace Corps experience is different, but Steve and I envisioned that we would live in a small village, in a hut with no electricity or running water, and hoped to become accepted community members during our 2-year stay. Of course, that is NOT the environment we are in.

I was lucky enough to be invited to help Mallory Begley, a PCV living in Pueblo Viejo, with her kids' summer camp. Pueblo, as it's called by Mallory, is a small Mayan village of about 600 people. It's located in south Toledo district, close to Guatemala. I took the James Bus Line to the village of Dump (yes), then completed the trip on a local village busline - Bol's to Pueblo Viejo. The ride to PV is quite rugged, and slow, but the view is so beautiful that I didn't notice that it took so long to go 16 miles.

From Dangriga to Pueblo Viejo by bus - about 5 hours

The climate is delightful - warm, but not hot, cool in the evening.Mallory was waiting for me. Her house is right on the village road. I guesstimate her house at 300 square feet, with one very large room and two tiny bedrooms. The good latrine is out back down the hill a bit. One of the village wells is right across from her house, so it's easy to "back water" (carry water on your back) when she needs it. There is no electricity. There are wood sides and a thatch roof about 25 feet high. Very picturesque.

Beautiful countryside

It was almost dark when I arrived. She wanted to visit a family before it was too late, so we went to Miss Antonia's house. Just like here in Dangriga, visiting etiquette requires that you hail the people as you approach the house. Nobody knocks or touches a house without being invited to enter. Mallory will be the godmother of Miss Antonia's youngest baby, and she wanted to chat with her about the christening and some other matters. They fed us with a specialty of the area, green corn. The corn is ripe, but it's boiled in the green husks, and thus the name. It was very dark by then, but they had a little light coming from another room, a fluorescent bulb powered by a stored energy from a solar panel. All the other children were there, and one of the daughters I had met already at the GLOW camp last month.

When we arrived back at Mallory's house, two boys were waiting for us. The older boy, Filamon (that's a phonetic spelling), about 14, wanted help with his homework. His brother Joshua was about 7, and he was just along for the fun. He and I played cards while Mallory and Filamon worked on the science homework.

Homework help. Mallory has 2 chairs and some buckets for
seating. Small homemade kerosene lamps provide some light,
often supplemented with flashlights and headlamps.

It was 10:30 by the time we got to bed - LATE. She carefully checked around the mosquito netting and under the mattress to make sure there were no scorpions. It rained hard during the night, so getting up to pee was not even close to fun. Otherwise, I slept very soundly in the quiet of the countryside.

The next morning, I tried several new things. First we bathed in the river, in our clothes. Mallory also washed some clothes - with laundry detergent and a rough brush. Underwear, skirts, socks all get the same treatment. There is no such cycle as "delicate." She was able to change into clean clothes there at the riverside. I could not manage it - everything was sticking and I couldn't maintain modesty. So I just left on the clothes I bathed in and planned to change back at the house. On the way back, we stopped at another family's home, the Salams, and they gave us a delicious breakfast of beans, tortilla, boiled egg, salsa, and avocado (pear). They also served a very weak coffee with lots of milk and sugar. Even kids drink the coffee drink.

By 8:00 o'clock we were back at Mallory's home doing other morning preparations. Two other Peace Corps volunteers arrived to help with the camp for the day. Jay Schultz lives in a nearby village, Forest Home, in Toledo, and works with education. PCV Ellen came all the way from Belize City where she also works with education, special needs children.

Mallory had planned the summer camp with very full days, and it was very well-organized. But as with any big project such as this was, there were some snags. The man who was to talk about recycling, clean earth and organic gardening was not able to be there by 8:30. I started the day for them with some fun Zumba. They were hesitant at first, but as they heard the music and saw how easy and fun it was, they joined in - con gusto! I really hammed it up and so did the other PCVs, so the activity was a great success!

Mueve la Colita!

Gasolina

Santa Maria (stretch)

After Zumba and the morning presentation, we had a little time to kill, so we had some fun icebreakers and games.

Musical Chairs

Princess Pat - a real favorite with the kids.

We dined in style at lunch with Mallory's special pad thai rice!

After lunch, it seemed like the afternoon flew by. Ellen entertained the kids with magic card tricks, and gave them a very active lesson in self-defense.

HOW does she do it?

We finished off the day (for the campers) with a visit to the falls where they could have a fun swim.

Boys get to strip down to their underwear. Girls go swimming
in their dresses.

One of a series of waterfalls in this area.

The day didn't stop for us at 4:00 when camp was over. Back at the house, I took a bucket bath in her little bath house; it was very refreshing, and definitely the way I would go if that were my permanent place to live. LOTS of people came by the house. Low key visiting.

Then we went to visit her old host family. As soon as we went in, we sat down to make corn tortillas. I joined in, and did a lousy job, looks-wise, but they tasted OK. Scrambled eggs, beans, tortilla, hot sauce (Marie Sharpe's and some homemade), and pear! Also coffee drink. We sat around for awhile after eating and I looked at a picture album - parents and 11 kids - then we left. The 2 boys were waiting again for homework help. Replay of night before, except it was math help.

We fell in the bed after 10:30 and slept HARD till 6:00-ish. We at breakfast AT HOME - toast and pear. Kids were at the house by 7:00, so it was hard to do everything since there was NO privacy.

Time to start Day 2 of the camp week. The principal of the school taught the kids how to sing the Belize National anthem in Mayan. Well, some of them already knew the words, but other's didn't know it at all. I believe there will be something on television with the kids singing.

Then they made sock puppets. SO cute!

Lunch was back at the Salams' house, the people who fed us the first morning. It was the 2nd birthday for their 2nd youngest baby, and they cooked big-time to celebrate. Rice and beans, cole slaw, stew chicken, tortilla, COLA (now that is very special for these folks) and something else I can't remember. There was a houseful of people for lunch, including several teachers from the school where the camp was being held.

Domingo Salam and his family (one of the son's is not in the
picture). The boy in yellow, Imer, is the birthday boy.

Afternoon was more Zumba (the kids were VERY enthusiastic this time), and water balloon fights. We made more than 100 water balloons which disappeared in a nano-second. Not really. Mallory made up some crazy game that the kids understood, and they played with them for at least 20 minutes. Even Mallory couldn't believe that they figured out the game. SHE didn't even understand it ;-)

Just a few other things to describe.

• Pigs are kept by people, but they don't do a very good job of keeping them penned. Here's a picture of a sow and her piglets as they got caught in the school fence.

Pigs lost inside the school fence. In the background you can
see Mallory's house.

• We had MORE visits at Mallory's house and ANOTHER meal with a family on that same night. Shame on us - we turned the lights off so that the boy who wanted homework help would have to go home to get help. I guess Mallory didn't think that offering to help him was going to be a full-time job.
• I saw a scorpion crawl out from under the mattress, and didn't have a heart attack.
• Throughout the time I was there, I tried to place myself in that situation. I think I would be really happy to work in a setting such as that one - muddy, slippery footing, always wet, living in the fishbowl, afraid to go to the bathroom. I believe I could acclimate and enjoy!
• The Mayan people I met a beautiful people, proud of their heritage (as are the Kriols, Garifuna, Mestizo, etc.), and they seem to be very cordial and polite.

Finally, I admire Mallory SO much for her initiative in this project. She wound up with very little help from the school faculty (there WERE some who helped). She was everything that a PCV is supposed to be - flexible, enthusiastic, integrated in the community, resourceful, concerned about people's well-being. 

I can barely keep my eyes open this evening. It was a great trip.