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.

Bridge to Service and Swearing In

Steve and I have only half energy right now, so we’re sharing the writing. BE FOREWARNED: This entry is really long and schmaltzy!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011.

Steve:  We caught the James Express bus to Belmopan. The seats had leg room, and it was air-conditioned. Rainy season has officially started. After lunch we went to the Peace Corps office for a debriefing on the site visit. Most of us are thrilled, but we probably are in a “honey-moon phase” right now. We received a box of toiletries and rain boots for Cathy. It is amazing how excited we get over little things like that.

Cathy: We hated to leave Dangriga for our last days of class, called Bridge to Service. After just a taste of what live would be like for our two years of service, it seemed cruel to send us back to the American side of things at the Peace Corps Office. And, yes, I was excited about my new rainboots. Thanks, Stephanie!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 2 - 4

Steve:  We had sessions all day long on how to teach about HIV/AIDS. On Friday we got our iPhones back from Belize City. They are unlocked and will work now with the local network. On Saturday we had the day off and did some walking. I worked on updating the contact list for my phone. It has not been a very challenging day, and it may be a test to see how we handle our down-time.

Cathy:  I wasn’t too enthused when I heard we had yet another session dealing with HIV/AIDS. We had already had two days on the topic, but that’s because our sector is Healthy Communities. These particular two days was really provided for the trainees in Business Organization and Education. There was a half-day that was a repeat; it was presented by US, the health trainees. The other day and a half I found fascinating: people living with HIV, directors of various awareness outreach and BCC (Behavior Change something) agencies, gay men’s rights organization, maybe a couple of others.

I volunteered to create the “class slideshow,” so I was busy on Saturday. I worked on the soundtrack, and did some editing of the pictures. This is the kind of work where I really dig in :--)

Sunday June 5, 2011

Steve: This afternoon we went to Camalote to visit our former host family. The girls from next door were the most glad to see us. Back in Belmopan,, we ate lunch at Corker’s, and I had a Caesar salad with grilled chicken. It was wonderful. It is really hard to find fresh vegetables here in restaurants. Cathy is working tirelessly on the picture presentation for the swearing in ceremony. I think it will wow everyone, and I anticipate many requests for copies of the slide show.

Cathy: Thanks, Stevie.

Monday, June 6, 2011.

Steve: We had a presentation by the Volunteer Action Committee this afternoon. Cathy nominated me to be the junior member from the Stann Creek district, and I was elected by acclamation. I will have meetings every quarter and work on issues that affect volunteers. This afternoon we also had a presentation of the pcbelize.com web forum. It is a closed forum to share information with staff and volunteers without worry about our counterpart people reading and taking offense at our rants. I appreciate the kind messages from family via email.

Cathy: One of the activities we did was to create an action plan for the volunteers in each district. There are six districts, with some volunteers in the main town, such as we are. There are others who are in close or remote villages. We want to insure that people have a support structure. We decided to have monthly potluck or activity get-togethers. We can share our woes and our successes, network regarding our primary and secondary projects, and play. Steve will make a great representative/leader of our group.

Tuesday and Wednesday, June 7-8

Cathy: Slideshow, slideshow, slideshow. Excuse me while I geek out. I used Mixmeister for the music (5 song portions had to be mixed and timed), PowerPoint and Corel Paint Shop Photo Pro to edit and create the slides and transitions. The latest version of PPT allows me to create a video from the show. I am very proud of my production. There is one slide where the faces of each of the trainees slides onscreen exactly on the beat of the accompanying song. It was tricky. I knew that the song had 126 beats per minute, so Steve helped me calculate the exact fraction of a second required to give two beats for each picture (it’s .945).

I’d love to hear from somebody how to put up this movie (it’s about 160MB!) or at the very least one of the songs that’s my favorite (about 7MB). Ideally, someone would be able to link to it, nothing that would play automatically.

Anyway, I handed it over to the reception organizers on Wednesday morning. Finally, I can sleep.

One very sad note here – one of our fellow trainees was “terminated” today. Stephanie was a sweet sensitive girl, and we will miss her. She was the first and only person in our cohort to leave (against all statistics).

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Cathy: Hardly slept last night. Couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to Stephanie. It was almost like a death. And although my reaction couldn’t have been one scintilla of what she went through, I felt it very deeply.

Last day of activities in our Bridge to Service. We practiced the details of our swearing in, including singing the two national anthems. Every CBT group (there were eight) presented a (usually funny) summary of their time in their villages. SO Creative. Then they had a talent show, with random talents. I read Goldeelaks ahn di Chree Byaas in Kriol.

I loved the very last activity of the day. We were divided into two groups. One group formed a tight circle, and was instructed to close their eyes. The group who was left, was instructed to “touch the shoulder of someone you admire; . . . from whom you learned something; . . . who makes you laugh; . . . who you trust.” And so on. Then the second group formed the circle and the first group had a different set of reasons to tap shoulders. It was moving.

Little did I know that was just the start of my emotional crying (happiness, of course) for the next two days.

Friday June 10, 2011

Steve:  This morning we took the oath of office and are officially Peace Corps volunteers. I felt a lot of joy and enjoyed the moment immensely. Several things the speakers said brought tears to the eyes of all of us in the graduating class of Training 2011. I thought of all the people that I wanted to have there with me to be proud of what I have gotten through. This sounds like an acceptance speech at the Oscars, but I didn’t get here by myself. That’s for sure.

My clinic administrator and my director of public relations and education were both able to be here for the ceremony and for the luncheon.

This afternoon I watched the soccer match between the old volunteers and the newbies. We won 4-1. I was careful not to get sucked into playing.

We got to spend some time with some veteran volunteers, Roger and Tracy. They are really nice people to be around. I hope we will get to spend more time with them in the future.

This evening we have a reception at the ambassador’s residence. There is a two drink maximum, but all the food we want. 

Cathy: Why am I always getting caught off guard? I should have known I was gonna be emotional.  Everyone looked so nice for the ceremony at the Governor General’s House (Belize House). We had done such a great job of rehearsing, so I wasn’t worried about any of the logistics. The grounds were manicured and lush, and the organizers had set up about 4 large tents for the occasion. At the front was a huge poster of John Kennedy, initiator of the Peace Corps, Belize banners and flags. Lots of flowers.

However, when the music hit those first three notes of the Star Spangled Banner (O-oh say), my heart just flipped and the tears started flowing. I looked around at all the people who came to honor us and was overwhelmed – current volunteers, host families, counterparts, and some bigwigs. Such high hopes from everyone, including us.

We didn’t have hats to throw into the air at the end of the ceremony, but I felt like we should.

The reception Friday night was first class. It was held at the US Ambassador’s house, which was even lusher and classier than the GG’s house. Great food and lots of camaraderie for the new volunteers – our last time together for awhile. The slideshow was a hit – Yay! And we had “superlatives” for each person. Steve was “Most Qualified,” (duh) and I was “Most Likely to Whip You into Shape.”

This day will keep me “up” for a long time. I feel so proud to represent our country in this peaceful important mission.