only the educated are free.

As my role as a teacher trainer is becoming more clearly defined, questions about my ability as a volunteer and my future are growing. The high of being a college graduate and having the answer to everything has quickly disappeared, leaving me feeling young, naïve, and lacking in any professional experience. I have gone from feeling like a competent adult to being back at square 1. I think I would be going through the same array of emotions if I were at home on the job hunt, simply because I long for answers and end results- two impossible at the moment. I lay in bed at night with law school vs. social worker vs. coffee shop owner vs. world traveling hippie running through my mind and realize that I DON’T have to know the answer because Im HERE right now, and THIS IS enough… for now.

The majority of teachers in rural areas have do not have formal education after high school. There are teachers who begin teaching at the age of 18 after being given a class roster, grade book, and a pat on the back. It is mandatory for teachers to teach in English, though I have mentioned before that English is not the first language for most Belizeans. Some students hear English for the first time when they start school. Imagine the scenario- untrained teachers teaching in English to students who don’t comprehend English… sprinkle in a lack of funding for materials, illiterate parents, and an inadequate amount of staff (the principal in my training village also the 4th and 5th grade teacher) and you have yourself quite the predicament that teachers and students face here.

Students must pass a standardized test (in English) to be accepted into high school. Tuition, books, transportation, and uniforms can easily add up to $1000 a year. For a family with 6 kids and a weekly income of $200, the chances of being able to send your children are slim. Because you have children coming from parents who may not be able to read or write in English, there is less parent participation in the school system and in the child’s overall learning process. The severity these school issues vary throughout the country, but this is the reality for almost all rural areas.

We trainees will be presenting a workshop for the local school teachers in three weeks. We have divided the workshop into four topics: Lesson Planning, Teaching to multiple levels in a classroom, Engaging students, and Parental Involvement. I am presenting the Parental Involvement and have mixed feelings about it- I am the most interested in this topic, but the thought of presenting in front of other “professionals” is absolutely nauseating!

I couldn’t have asked for a better Birthday here. My host mom had a pineapple-cherry upside down cake made for me, which was as DELICOUS as it sounds! I had a huge dinner, and had the other trainees along with a few of my host mother’s family members over to eat. The trainees showered me with gifts such as phone cards, chocolate chip cookies, Pringles, a mixed cd of Punta- the epitome of booty shakin Belizean music.

September is the national holiday month here, and the 21st is Independence Day. I am going with my host family at midnight into town to see the raising of the Belizean flag and fireworks display, and back Sunday morning for the big parade. Last weekend was the parade celebrating the Battle of St. George’s Key. Things here are ran a lot less organized… more of a “go with the flow and jump in” kind of atmosphere.

I have crazy vivid dreams here almost every night, some amusing and others just really weird. I keep dreaming that I am saying goodbye to everybody back home before leaving to come here. Im also shedding a lot of hair, but the nurse told us that shedding, along with acne (my new best friend) would be normal while we are adjusting to the environment and climate. I have a ton of extra time to sit around and read. Some days I feel bad, like I should be doing something else, but there is simply not much else to do here in the village. Ive become so accustomed to never-ending-to-do lists that I am going through withdraws not having one. So far I have finished two books I was reading before I arrived, and most recently read Angela’s Ashes. I adored and admired every bit of it. Anybody just dying to send me a current Newsweek or their favorite book? An old fashioned mixed cd would definitely spice things up here, but ponytail holders, ear plugs, and multivitamins would also be generously accepted! :)