A week in Belize May 2011 - Kat Marshall

Our week in Belize was an incredible and rewardingly productive experience, largely because of the friendliness and helpful nature of the Belizeans we worked with through TIDE. Although we had a rough idea of where our help was needed going in, the outline for the week given to us by Stephanie upon arrival was reassuring and definitely a crucial contributor to our ability to be productive. Having never been to Belize before, I initially felt a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of diving right in without a detailed itinerary, and laying out our plan through Stephanie and the experience of Mike and Walt at the onset of the trip really helped with that.

Deviating slightly from our schedule, we ended up spending two days at St. Benedict’s School, Wednesday and Friday. In terms of need this was definitely the project that stood out in my mind as being the most productive. While there, I spent my time in an Infant 1 classroom (ages 4-6), assisting the teacher with anything she needed (which was a lot—she has supervision over 35 students) including grading tests/homework, helping with lessons, and making copies and worksheets. Much like the greater PG community we encountered, the students came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds—Creole, Mayan, East Indian, etc. Lessons were conducted in both Spanish and English, and some students spoke Creole as well.

Mike and Walt had the slightly more sweaty responsibility of helping to lay foundation in the hot sun for a new classroom, but also got the chance to interact with students during PE.

Olive, the school’s principal, essentially dedicates all her time and energy to the kid. She takes on the responsibility of not only all the administrative work, but also teaches Year 5 students, does all the fundraising, stays after class to teach the older girls how to cook and supervise the boys soccer practice, and even is the go-to person for fixing the schools lacking office equipment that frequently breaks down. She expressed worries about the future productivity of the school as she has been planning to retire, but there really isn’t anyone on the horizon to take over her critical role. Although the students travel (mostly by bike or foot) from neighboring communities and come to PG just to attend the school, a roadblock she cited is the lack of jobs in the area for the students to go on to afterwards, and thus their education cannot be fully taken advantage of. It was clearly evident and reiterated by Olive however, that the biggest obstacle for the school is lack of necessary funding. In my classroom almost every student wrote with a pencil stump with no eraser, many did not have workbooks, and some did not even have desks.

It was cool to see the ways that the school and its partners in the community actively try to instill values of environmental sustainability into its students. Every Wednesday afternoon the students are required to spend time working in the school’s fruit and vegetable garden, the products of which they use as snacks that the students can then purchase (their food program recently had to cut). The kids make signs that they put up around the schoolyard as reminders to recycle (i.e. “If you litter, the world will be so bitter!). A taxi driver told us of a competition among schools in the community in which the student who comes up with the best environmental sustainability project is rewarded by an NGO with a scholarship and the resources necessary to complete the project. There is also a soccer competition that requires completion of some sustainability or community project for entrance.

In addition to talking with Olive we also had the opportunity to sit and talk with Michelle, a Peace Core Representative whose primary project was working on the library of St. Benedicts. Her main observation on development in PG was the lack of consistency and longevity of NGO programs in the region. She felt that while many groups traveled to the area and work there, few established the necessary permanency or training of the Belizeans to have any significant long-term impact.

Tuesday we went to the Port Honduras Marine Ranger station, where we spent about half the day before doing beach cleanup on a small key. There was definitely no shortage of trash and it was not a task high on the priority list of the rangers so this would be a good initiative to continue for future interns.

With a larger group to divide up the work it would not take long to really make a big difference. We then went to Payne’s Creek where we spent the night. The sun was starting to set as we arrived so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to explore but we did walk for a while on one of the nature trails, which was flat and wide open and would be great for birding. We saw a lot of wildlife on our way in, and the ranger told us that jaguars and toucans are also a common sight at the park.

We went to the Machaca Hill to help out on the organic farm on Saturday. Because it was a Saturday, there really was not a lot of work for us to do. The farmhand they had us working with told us that he never usually works on Saturdays for this reason but came in just because we were coming. We worked for a while putting soil into bags to be used for planted Cacao.

The tour of the farm and the grounds (led by an incredibly friendly and knowledgeable supervisor named Elin) was really interesting and informative. We saw the dolomite mine where they get fertilizer, the river site for future expansion, the ruins that they hope to make an addition farm attraction. Elin was able to identity and explain the function of almost every plant or animal we encountered along the way. For a group really interested in learning about the farm and its specific role in Belizean culture and community he would be the perfect guide.

Sunday we took a bus to Lubaantun for the final day of the Cacao Festival. There were vendor tents and live music, and it was set up on a Mayan ruin site. It was a great cultural experience to get during the trip.

We finished up our trip on Monday and Tuesday with our stay at Lime Caye. As Mike mentioned in his write-up, the boat ride out there really isn’t for the faint of heart. It took about two hours, and was very bumpy and wet throughout. This is important to keep in mind when packing for the excursion, as the only thing that saved my camera from getting completely drenched was me wrapping it in my QLF waterproof shirt (Thanks Larry!). That being said it was definitely the most beautiful spot we went to in Belize, definitely worth the trip and not to be missed.

We did beach cleanup on Tuesday, which was rewarding, as it didn’t look like the beach there had ever been cleaned. The best part was the cook—every meal there was absolutely phenomenal, especially the red snapper that I caught during the day that she made for dinner that night.