fotos nuevos

PACA meeting and my Peace Corps soccer team














School field trip to Xunantunich Ruins












Kite Contest afternoon at the primary school













My good friend Sandra and her family. Her oldest son is a first generation high school graduate, and her youngest son is a future preschool student!

The mangos are in full bloom.

"Don’t worry about what you don’t know, life’s a dance you learn as you go.”

Shortly after writing my last blog, I was able meet with the education officer to discuss the preschool project Ive been working on. He gave me his full support acknowledging that there would be a paid teacher by the government when the school opens, and the following week we were able to have our meeting with the parents. 18 out of the 20 parents attended, which is a record! The meeting was a success- both the education office and the parents were able to give information, ask questions, and look at taking the project to the next level- transferring the responsibilities from me to a group. After the meeting the formal project committee was created, with a chairperson, treasurer, secretary, three advisors, and myself.

I had been planning with the PCVLs (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) to come and assist in a PACA workshop for the committee once it was started, and I was able to convince the committee of having it almost immediately following the committee elections. PACA (Participatory Analysis for Community Action) is a set of tools that Peace Corps advocates us to use when working on a community project. The tools help group members recognize their own strengths and assets, how to write clear goals and objectives, set project priorities, create timelines and budgets, and how to delegate tasks among committee members. Needless to say, it was a LONG day filled with a lot of very useful information for the committee. Although not all of the members were able to stay the entire day due to family obligations, each one attended at least half of the day. The workshop gave me an opportunity to facilitate and teach useful information to the women I have been working with, which was a really great feeling for me. I felt knowledgeable, and useful in a sense that I was helping them, not just doing things for them!

After mapping out every single item that the school needs to be repaired, along with everything a preschool needs to be productive and functioning, our total budget came out be right over $7,000 bz- about 7x the amount of money we have raised over the past 4 months. What to me seemed like a clear wake up call meant nothing to the committee. Their simple answer was, “Well, we will just sell and do fundraisers every week until September.” That’s a great attitude, but the group only makes about $100 a week doing their sales… meaning at best they will only bring in about another $1,500 before September arrives. One would assume that after looking at the big picture: such as what we need vs. what we have, the budget, and timeline (only having 3 months to do all of this) would have been a light switch for them. I thought that they would realize that we must change our goals for the opening date or at least have a Plan B for the location of starting the school until the building is ready- but it didn’t faze them at all- all logic was out the window.

Something else I realized when facilitating the workshop is that none of the women I am working with, and probably most Belizeans, have no former education of analyzing and breaking down “big picture ideas” down to smaller ideas. For example, one of the activities was that the committee create a to-do list for one event. They chose “Plaster the school walls.” In order to plaster the school walls, I immediately think: find a person to do the job, buy the supplies for the job, create a date and time the job will start, decide how much the person will be paid, etc, etc. Having the women break down each task necessary in order to plaster the walls took us close to an hour. It was completely foreign to them- they were unable to break down what steps it would take in order to actually plaster. This thinking process was a whole new way of thinking for the committee.

Unfortunately, all of the great information that the committee learned and all of the planning that they did during the workshop was tossed aside the following week. Plans had been made to actually start the process of plastering the walls, and the walls are still bare, old concrete. The one thing that the committee did that was on their weekly to-do list was their food sale. In their mind, as long as they sale food and make money, the preschool will open in September. They still do not see that in order to have a preschool, we must also do manual labor on the building, look for outside funding (such as donations from businesses in town) and continue planning as a group. They have begun setting up fundraisers without my help, which I am proud of them for. After doing small tasks such as selling on their own, they will hopefully work their way up to taking more initiative in the project. Often times one committee member or another will ask me for the “answer” about something, as if my vote or opinion is always the right answer, and I have to remind them that I am simply a committee member now, and that we have to ask everyone for their opinion. Since the committee has been started, there have been a few situations that have come up where the members have completely disregarded my opinion and did things “their” way. It has been a big pill for me to swallow, but
I am keeping in mind the end goal- Individuals working on their own to maintain their progress, rather than expecting someone to do the job for them.

After accepting everything that has come into light about the project, and my “job”, it is as though my mindset has completely changed about being here. The village’s success does not depend on me. It feels amazing to say that. I want to scream it with joy over and over. The village’s success does not depend on me! I am simply the catalyst, motivator, and advisor. Success will happen, but at a much, much slower rate than I would have guessed when starting this project 6 months ago. I am here only for a short time in their lives. I can befriend them, listen to them, influence them, assist them, and I can only hope that it is enough to improve at least one person’s quality of life. I know they are improving mine. Acknowledging all of this has been the best thing that has happened to me here. The pressure is gone, the stress is behind me, and now my role is much more clear to me.

What does the future look like now? Well, the preschool committee is still holding strong to the idea of receiving the grant that the village chairman always says “is coming next week.” Ive put that idea out of my head, and unless a miracle happens, I do not believe that the preschool will open in September like we had been anticipating. If anything has become quite clear to me, its that you can’t plan for anything and expect that it will happen exactly as you dreamed. I am not disappointed about that- I still have 15 months before I leave- more than plenty of the time to make it happen. Right now it looks like Ill be focusing a lot on my girl’s after school group, GLOW, and I will still be doing weekly activities with the preschool aged students. I would like to expand the activities I am already doing with them. Right now its only a once a week 1 hour session, with all 20 preschoolers together. I am thinking about splitting them into two groups and having longer sessions with each group. Some of the moms that I work with have expressed interest in having something like a women’s group, to learn more about parenting, nutrition, women’s health, etc. Im not sure how this will play out, but I am really interested in creating presentations for them, on whatever topics they are interested in.

I have had in mind for a couple of months that I want to teach adult computer training classes. I started talking about the idea of it with one of the villagers who happens to have recently had computer training in town, and she was immediately interested in the idea of it. I was able to convince her that she could take what she learned from her training to help me in the classes, and we decided that we want to do once a week, 4 hour course for 6 weeks. The course will cover everything that a course would offer in town, at a much lower cost. Right now the café’s internet is free until January, through a grant it received. Starting in January, the café must start paying the internet bill, and currently the café is making less than $20.00 a week. This is because nobody in the village knows how to use a computer! Therefore, the participants will pay a small fee for the course, which will be used pay for the internet bill each month. Theoretically, if more people know how to use a computer, more people will come to the internet café, bringing in larger profits. This will be my first opportunity to work with a Belizean in a partnership such as this. We will plan the curriculum together and teach the classes as a team. This may not sound like such a big deal- but it is! I am so excited that I have found someone in the community who has gained knowledge, and will now turn around and pass that knowledge onto others in her village. ITS GREAT!- A perfect example of what development is (or should be) all about.

The countdown is ON! I will be home in 3 weeks, and am looking forward to so much! I will be in Texas for two weeks, which seems like a lifetime to me now. A few things Im looking forward to- getting a haircut, catching up with all of my family and friends, being amazed at how big my nephews have gotten, air conditioning, carpeted floors, walking around Target for hours, Starbucks, relearning to apply makeup and fix my hair, having an excuse to get dressed up, getting my fill of celebrity gossip, trashy tv shows, and less than amusing Top 40 hip hop music, driving, southern accents, grapes and diet dr. pepper, LUCKY LOU’S with my Chili’s crew, Saturday morning Goodwill shopping, going through all of the boxes of clothes I left behind and finding things to bring back with me, aaahh the list goes on and on!

fotos.

a moment in time.

Where have the past three months gone? It seems as though they have flown by, only leaving a small trace of their existence. I feel like Ive been on a roller coaster that I cant slow down, stop, or get off of. Some days life seems incredibly slow and never ending, while other days fly by so quickly. My reality of time is quite different from the one I left behind in the states. Sometimes its as though time is standing still, but days are continuing to turn into weeks that continue to turn into months. I must surely be living in the twilight zone. Errands that would have taken me an hour tops with the luxury of my car take a solid 3-4 here. Waiting for the bus, missing the bus and hitching a ride town from a villager, dodging in and out of shops until Ive found everything I'm looking for, waiting again for the bus, walking 2 miles back to my village from where the bus drops me.. All a typical day if I plan on doing anything in town. Lately Ive found myself feeling paralyzed in my hammock from the heat and my lack of being able to just go out and “get shit done!”

SO.. What have I been doing? Good question. The preschool project is well underway, and each day my outlook on it changes. Right now I feel like I am stuck at the bottom level of this project. It has so much potential, but not all of the major players have stepped up to the work that it will take to make it happen. The parents, community members, village council, and Ministry of Education all have a major role in this- but for the most part, I get the feeling that they see it as “Ms. Elisha’s job.“

There are 20 parents of preschoolers here, but only about 4 that are actually involved. Those 4 have been great in assisting me with setting up fundraisers, which have been really successful. We usually sell food twice a month on a Friday night in the village park, and we also held the 1st annual Easter Fair here. There was an Easter egg hunt, followed by an evening of games, food, music, and prizes. Although it was financially successful, there were still parents arguing about children “cheating” at the egg hunt and the fact that some children found more eggs than their child. I guess crazy obsessed moms really do exist everywhere.

The village chairman may be receiving a grant that will pay for almost all of our building costs. In my few meetings with him about this grant with our mixture of my poor Spanish and his poor English, I have come to the conclusion that he has no idea if he is actually going to receive this grant or not. He has the group in charge of the grant telling him that money is coming, but they keep telling him the same thing week after week with no action actually happening. This has disabled us to have a clear idea of how much money we should be expecting to spend for the building costs, and we don’t want to start buying supplies that could possibly be free if we wait for about another month for the grant to come. I did do some letter writing for donations in early March to businesses around town and we were successful in receiving 2 doors, 4 buckets of paint, and 5 bags of cement!

The education office in town has been of little assistance to me. I plan for meetings and they cancel at the last minute. They are overworked and understaffed- like all government offices here. They did however, make a visit to the village last week and gave us the OK on the building we plan to use. There are 3 women from the village applying for the teacher’s position, and the education office told me they would be having interviews in April. May is here and still no interviews, still no decision on who the preschool teacher will be. Because the ministry works directly with the government, parents are still doubtful of their role in this project and do not necessarily believe they will come through with paying a teacher’s salary. I believe this has been a major reason why less parents are involved. They won’t believe it until they see it.

I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with my project supervisor at Peace Corps in depth about the overall situation last week. It was clear to him that I have taken on too much responsibility on this project, and there is too little of community effort or structure for this project to be successful unless things drastically change. Stepping back and reviewing my actions, I see that Ive had the mentality over the past few months that “If they don’t do it, Ill just do it myself.” Yep. Im still the stubborn Elisha that you’ve all grown to love. I must to step down and back off. Right now I feel like a burnt out social worker- overlooking my own well being in order to assist the client, when the client has not taken initiative to help himself. Doing things here by myself doesn’t solve the problem. It doesn’t teach the people I work with to cultivate leaders within their own community, it doesn’t teach them to believe in themselves, or to work hard for something that they believe in. It does however, teach them sit and watch, expecting the world to change for them because a white girl showed up. I see though, that this is the only way that they know. The country was a product of colonialism for so many generations- Depend and work for the rich, while seeing no change in your own well-being. Mission groups come in, build a water tank or a playground, and leave after a week. People promise them change and they never see that change. People here have not been taught to believe in themselves, have pride in the work they do, and expect to see positive outcomes that happen because of hard work and effort.

My supervisor advised that I start over, from the beginning. I am planning for a large, lengthy meeting that includes all of the team players- the education officer along with manager of preschools, the school’s principal, parents, community members, village council members and chairman, along with my supervisor and me. The plan is to get everything out on the table and start a committee that will take on some responsibilities of this project. I must make it clear that I AM here to assist in any way possible, but this isn’t MY project- its THEIR project. From this meeting, a time line and budget need to be created, along with delegating tasks to the committee members. This is the plan- I am hopeful but concerned. I have to accept that if they choose not to assemble leadership, this project will be put on hold.

I am on a Peace Corps committee that focuses on gender development in Belize. Last year the volunteers created a 4 day all-girls camp that brought 20 girls from all ends of the country together to focus on self esteem, self expression, and self reliance. The camp was created with the intention that the volunteers and the girls that they brought to camp return home and start a GLOW [ Girls Leading Our World] club at their school, with the PC volunteers as their club ‘leaders.’ The camp was a huge success, and we have began our planning for this year’s camp. I have taken on the role as co-coordinator of the camp, and am really excited to be involved with this secondary project. The camp is bigger this year, with 30 girls. Each volunteer on the committee gets to bring three girls from their site. The girls must apply by writing two essays about their intentions of going to camp what it means to them to be a leader in their community. Afterwards, I will have the teachers read the essays and choose the best three. After camp, a GLOW club will be started here in the village. The club will be open to girls between the ages of 10-14 and we will focus on everything- community service, leadership, goal setting, puberty, HIV/AIDS awareness, expressive arts, you name it. We will have club meetings each week and focus on whatever it is that the girls are interested in. This may mean playing soccer one week, making beaded necklaces the next, to having a session on sex ed the following week. Im excited for a number of reasons, but one in particular is that this will be the school’s first club! I hope that this will be something that each girl looks forward to weekly. Its funny- the girls love Hannah Montana here- They wear backpacks with her face plastered on them and listen to her CDs, knowing the songs word for word. It reminds me of my obsession with the Spice Girls.

Samson has been sick for about the past 2 weeks. He’s had 8 shots and will show signs of energy one day, and the next day back to nothing. Three of my neighbor’s dogs died last week with all of the same symptoms that Sam has- runny nose, cough, weakness, loss of appetite, loose stool. The vet thinks that its distemper, which I vaccinated him for. He is a fighter- still eating a fair amount, but I know that he is in a lot of pain. I have really become close with him in this short 6-month time that Ive had him. I don’t always like the work that comes with having a dog- but he’s worth it, every bit of it. He has been a significant learning tool for me- Ive never been an animal person and didn’t really understand the whole concept of companionship with animals. Now playing Frisbee with him and having him and our daily walks around the village has been something I look forward to. Please keep him in your thoughts and send positive energy his way. Only time will tell how this virus will run its course with him.

So, that’s about all going on here. People ask me regularly something along the lines of, “So you having a great time down there or what?” My answer is never black or white- never yes or no. Life is life wherever you go- I am often disappointed and feel like I am not making any progress, but encouragement comes when I least expect it- at the dinner table with neighbors, after a successful library day with the preschool children and their parents, or with a phone call from grandma. Ups, downs, laughing, crying, confidence, fear- I'm experiencing it all- only now with coconut trees and hammocks in the scenery.

The Snowball Effect

The holidays passed by just as fast as they approached and I couldn’t have asked for a more humble and fulfilling way to spend my first Christmas away from home. I attended a church service at the main village church, where I watched the children sing their Christmas carols in Spanish and wear robes with attached angel wings. I spent the rest of the holiday stuffing myself with black cake, a Belizean favorite.

A couple of other Peace Corps volunteers and I headed over to Caye Caulker, for a fun in the sun, relaxing atmosphere for New Years. The island was filled with tourists, which felt strange to me. I caught myself wanting to start conversations with people and tell them how “life really is” inland; the poverty, broken school system, corrupt politics, thatched roof houses, lack of medical care… As I continued to think more about it I came to the conclusion that people don’t know what is going on in developing countries because they choose not to. Travelers don’t set an agenda to scope out the dilapidating areas of a country- what fun would that be? Why ruin their vacation when they didn’t come to Belize to see or hear about things of that nature?

I actually regret a bit not staying in my village to celebrate New Years. After having such a satisfying Christmas visiting families in their homes, exchanging gifts with my old host family, and feeling the all around good vibes from my community members, laying on a beach with a bunch of other American’s just wasn’t doing the trick for me. I am at a really good place in my village, at the school, and with my overall well-being right now. Can I repeat that? I am very content at the moment. It feels great for me to finally be completely comfortable with being here. I have my daily routines, my women friends that tease me about my lack of cooking expertise, a dog that I am learning to love, and an empty house that I am filling slowly but surely.

The anxiety and self doubt that I was experiencing for a while has diminished. The new school term started in early January and I have been non-stop since then. I am currently running the library that was set up in the village by the previous PC volunteer, where I conduct mini lessons with the students when they come in as a class and read short stories to the younger children. I keep it open after school so that the kids can come in and do “arts and crafts” or check out a new book. My mornings start off with working with a group of students studying for the National Spelling Bee, which is held at the end of February. I have also started my remedial reading classes, and have taken on a writing class once a week for the 5th and 6th grade class to help prepare them for their national writing exam. This is definitely my favorite academic project. I never realized how natural and fun it would be for me to teach writing to that age group of students. Outside of school I have started a women’s fitness group, the other project that I love so dearly. Women ranging from young mothers with hopes of losing baby fat to women in their mid 40s and on the verge of diabetes come out and walk/run at the football field in front of my house 5 nights a week. I add ab workouts and fun little games, and Fridays are FUTBOL day- a half-field soccer match between the ladies. Imagine 12 women running around, half with no shoes on, the other half in flip flops, and not a single one wearing a sports bra- my group of champions!

Brace yourself- my most exciting news has yet to come. Are you ready? My village is working on starting a PRESCHOOL- headed by a group of focused community members and yours truly. I cannot even begin to describe how exciting and rewarding this project is to me. I am not able to imagine a better fit project for me to embark on for the next 2 years. I lie in bed at night and think about all of the theories and methods of early childhood education classes and the countless preschool observations I was forced to do in college, and now I will be putting these concepts into action!

The current status is as follows- My goal is for the preschool to open in September, when the schools open back up from summer break. A teacher would be hired and paid by the government, and he/she and I will co-teach the class. I will essentially “train” this person through the school year, and this person will continue as the head teacher when I leave. I conducted a village survey last week and there are approximately 21 children that will be between the ages of 3-4 next fall. I have partnered with an NGO that works with 41 countries world wide on garden projects for schools and families, along with starting preschools all around Africa. They have in their project proposal to start preschools in Belize also, but this would be the first one that they will have assisted with here.

They tell me that they can supply just about everything that a productive, functioning preschool needs- paper, glue, crayons, scissors, along with tables, chairs, and a playground. To add to this, they can provide the preschool with all of these things for 5 years. They tell me that there are no “conditions” or if/ands/buts to this, except that there must be collaboration and assistance from the community, me as a Peace Corps volunteer, and the government. The end results would look something like this: the community being in charge of refurbishing and fixing up the building, me training the teacher, the government agreeing to pay a full time teacher, and the NGO taking care of everything that goes inside the building. I am not being pessimistic, but I am being realistic- I am not putting all of my hopes into the NGO working out, only for us to be left empty handed when September rolls around. As the saying goes, If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

I attended my first village council meeting last week to discuss with the council my proposal for them to donate one of the rooms from an old four room school building that is no longer being used in the village. I gave my spill about the importance of preschool, the statistics of the village, and how much the students could benefit by having an extra 1-2 years of practicing their English speaking all in SPANISH- I guess I am picking up on the language more than I thought. The village council approved of the idea and gave me permission to start cleaning and fixing the room immediately. There is a lot of work to be done- a new roof and ceiling, plastering of the walls, rewiring of the electricity, a door, a bathroom and sink, the list goes on forever. I stayed at the meeting after my part was over and caught myself feeling like I was stuck in movie theatre watching a cheesy foreign film without subtitles. I was so lost in the fast Spanish conversation that I just sat back and begin to imagine my own pretend dialogue of what I figured they were saying by their actions and the words I could pick up here and there. Although I didn’t understand most of the meeting after I did my talking, I am glad I attended- it reiterated my opinion of everyone being disorganized and unprofessional in this country.

I have to send in a letter and application packet to the Ministry of Education next week, and they will decide if we meet the requirements for a paid teacher by the end of April, so they tell me. I don’t think that I would be as apt and ready to start such an extensive of a project in my village if it weren’t for the complete support of the parents. The parents of the future preschoolers are of the younger generation here- they see the importance of education, they know how crucial it is to know English in the school system here, and they have been fully supportive in this whole process. They ask me when we can start cleaning the old building, and the moms volunteer their husbands to be ‘handymen’ any Saturday that I need them. I will hold a parent’s meeting next week to talk about fundraising ideas and possible ways for us to receive donations in order to start working on the old room. The future starts today! Please, spread the word to anybody and everybody who might find my project interesting. Elementary schools might be able to donate old educational games and books that are age appropriate. Individuals might be interested in a monetary donation or may have puzzles, books, and games that their children have outgrown. I will take whatever I can get. Please keep me and my project in your thoughts- this is a very exciting, yet demanding project to take on. Everything from the building and equipment, to the policy and curriculum is in my hands-with seven months to make it happen.

Sunny, with a high of 85.

I spent the week moving into my humble home, my sanctuary for the next 2 years. I am slowly filling it up and finding a place for everything… attempting not to overwhelm myself! The biggest addition to my house is my new puppy, Samson. He is just over 5 weeks old, and I have had him for 2 weeks now. He is Pit mixed with ??? - and is the cutest little guy imaginable. For those of you who know me well, you might be a bit confused to hear that I got a dog, but that just goes to show that life is full of surprises! Having him has livened up my days and is teaching me to be responsible for something other than myself. I still have a lot to learn… lets just say it’s a good thing my floors are concrete and not carpet.

My village is growing on me daily. I love the students and the friendliness of everybody here. I walk through the streets and am always greeted with a “Hello Ms. Elisha,” even by people who I have not yet met. I have attended mass in Spanish at the village Catholic church and went to my first birthday party here a few weekends ago. I was able to spend some quality time speaking in Spanish with a few of the moms that attended, and I stayed around long enough for the piñata! It is evident to me that it is still unclear to the women in the village exactly where I fit in. I am unmarried, without children, unlike them. I live by myself and cook for myself, which is different from a child. I do however, work at the school and participate in activities with the children they do not- I read with the kids, play soccer with the girls after school, and chat with the children on my front porch. Does this make me a girl or a woman? Confused looks on their faces arise every time questions are answered about me living alone and cooking for myself, being so far away from home and being here for the next two years without a husband. The thought seems almost daunting to them.

The soccer field sits directly in front of my new house, which has been a blessing and a curse. There are futbol marathons on Sunday afternoons, which has provided me with entertainment and a chance to have small talk with the villagers who I would not usually see at the school, but the field is left a wreck with water bottles and trash once the day is over--- leaving it to sit and blow into my yard and the other yards on my road. Nonetheless, I LOVE the location of my village. It is isolated and small enough to give me the real sense of “village life”- the pure quietness after dark, everybody somehow being related, buying things from the one corner shop… but it is close enough to town that I can hop on my bike and ride 3 miles in whenever I need to.

Not only do I now have a bike, but I also joined a gym that sits right on the edge of town across from the exit to my village. I have been really pleased with the accessibility and amount I have been able to work out. Gym membership… sounds crazy- definitely not something I thought of having when signing up for the PC, but hey- Ive got cement floors, mosquitoes galore, and the option of burning my trash or throwing it down an old latrine pit… does that equal things out a bit?

Guilty feelings of “cheating in the Peace Corps” have risen since moving to the village. I never imagined having everything so accessible to me- the internet, foods I am accustomed to, English speaking, and all of the general things that make my life easier here. I’m accepting that regardless if this experience will never be anything like living in a hut in the middle of West Africa, my life here contrasts in many ways different from the states. I will learn a great deal from my time here and in return hopefully give something back to my village- and at the end of the day, that’s what I came here to do… Even if it means that I am reminded of home while eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and talking on my cell phone.

Things have been pretty casual at the school. I came here just over a month ago so determined to find my place immediately, to fill the void and rid the overwhelming sensation of stepping into a new situation. I desperately needed something to focus on and sought after a sense of security. I’ve since realized that there is no need to rush, and doing so is virtually impossible here. I go and hangout on the school grounds a couple times a week, staying after school to play soccer or open up the library for the kids to exchange books. I began giving reading assessments to all of the classes shortly after I arrived and was ready to start a remedial reading program, only to be reminded by my principal that there was only 3 weeks of school left before the winter break. So, since then I have been focusing more on getting my house ready and making plans of things I want to start up when school starts again in January.

Between learning to take care of Samson and getting things situated in the house, I’ve been learning to sew my pillow slips and curtains. I also have planted an aloe plant in my front yard and have already managed to burn a pot of beans!

I still haven’t met the village chairman, which may be a result of my host family belonging to the opposing political party that is currently in power. We were all informed during training how intense the rivalry is between the two political parties here, but until recently, I had not particularly realized how engrained one’s political connections and affiliations are into the lives of Belizeans.

Students sometimes receive scholarships for high school if their parents are affiliated with the party in power, and some of the brightest students miss the opportunity for a scholarship if they come from a family with close ties to the opposing party. Government jobs (anything from political office positions to teachers, policemen, border patrols, etc) can be taken away over night with new elections, leaving once middle class citizens to start over again at the bottom. Replacing them are affiliated members of the new party, who may have less or no experience in the field. Many of the other volunteers tell me stories of their villages being absolutely divided between the parties, and how nothing productive is able to take place in the village because of it. I noticed a group of villagers gathered a vacant old building a few nights back and went to check it out. What was apparently supposed to be a “village meeting” turned into a closed meeting for only the villagers that belonged to the current party in office… leaving me uninvited, even though I don’t belong to either party!

Last week my school held an official planting ceremony of the school garden. Students and the principal have been working hard on getting the soil tilled and the posts up for the past few weeks. The school was contacted by a government agency here that asked if they could donate seeds for the garden. That sounded great, but they also called the day before the scheduled event and gave ambiguous instructions to the principal on a ceremony that would be held for the planting of the seeds. Because this was instructed directly from the government and my school is a government school, he had no choice but to oblige and rush the following morning to get things situated for the orchestrated event. The ceremony started off the same as any typical Belizean occasion; 20 minutes late, unprepared and informal guest speakers, and everybody a bit confused on the main purpose of the affair. After singing the national anthem, the president of the organization took the mic and preceded to invite a small girl, around 8 years old or so up to the front. She began speaking about how “loyally and energetically” the girl had been singing the national anthem, and because the girl did “such a great job,” the president took out her purse and handed her $100.00 to help her “further her education.” Political Propaganda at it’s finest! I was shocked and a bit amused, trying to grasp just exactly what had just happened. Children in the states are sheltered from the ins-and-outs of politics. Even at the legal age of voting, many 18 year olds wouldn’t dare butt their opinions into a heated political discussion. It was strange to me how passive aggressively the event had been arranged by government officials. Now this political party can not only say that they started a school garden in my village, (which would have happened even without their seeds) but that they also care deeply enough about education that they awarded money to the child with the best national anthem singing abilities. Lovely.

Thanksgiving was very satisfying. Peace Corps set up a beautiful dinner for all of the volunteers in Belmopan. Each district was designated a dish to bring, and the dinner was a success- I managed to get my share of deviled eggs and cranberry sauce, along with some surprises like hummus and bruchetta! I am planning on spending Christmas with my host family and New Years with other volunteers, either on one of the beaches or at an eco-tourist lodge in the south. My host mom is head strong about making sure that I have a Christmas tree and lights for my front porch. We’ll see- it seems bizarre to me that Ill be celebrating Christmas in Sunny, 85 degree weather. Tree or no tree, presents are still most definitely welcome!

Holiday Wish List
*Fitted cotton shirts- solid or striped, Size S
*Dove facial cleansing wipes
*Dog training book- anything by the “Dog Whisperer”- Ive heard he’s good
*Vegetarian cook book
*Flavored green tea- surprise me!
*Bandanas- fun designs or solid colors
*Dog treats and toys- Samson celebrates Christmas too!
*Wash cloths- any color
*Crest Vivid White toothpaste
*Thread- any color
*Cooking mitt- any color
*Refrigerator magnets- surprise me!
*Newsweek magazine
*Seeds- cucumber, tomato, cilantro, spinach carrot, and any easy to grow flowers
*Anything vintage owl- its my kitchen theme, thanks to a goodwill look-alike store in town!
*School supplies of any kind- crayons, markers, construction paper, water color, anything kid friendly!

I also have a new address:

Elisha Holmes
General Delivery
Orange Walk Town
Orange Walk, Belize

Paz,

Elicia

Home is where the heart is.

Its wild how fast the past three weeks have passed! I left my training village on Thursday, teary eyed with a ton of luggage, and am now in my permanent site. I am living about 2 miles outside of Orange Walk Town, in a village with a population of about 350! Although I have just been here long enough to catch my breath, the atmosphere is friendly and the people have been welcoming. For any of you who are wondering about my well being, you should know that I spent the better half of last Sunday watching The Wedding Singer and Billy Madison in Spanish that I bought for $5- beat that!

My new host mom is very “motherish” with me. She insisted on walking me to school yesterday when I went to talk with the principal and introduce myself to the students… I felt a bit embarrassed to say the least. My host dad reminds me a lot of my grandpa actually, quiet and a bit stubborn, but quite knowledgeable. My host family has 5 adult children, and the daughter has introduced me to everyone as her new sister. She is a “hip” beautician… Ive already been promised a manicure, pedicure, and facial. The house is more mainstream and middle class than the one in my other village, I have moved up in my ranks.. now with indoor plumbing, a shower, and enough space in my room to do ab workouts!

It seems that out of nowhere the season has changed from hot and dry here to absolutely wet! Rainy hurricane season hit us about two weeks ago, and its rained just about everyday since then. Some towns have been receiving up to 10 inches a day the past few days due to a tropical storm, and about half of the country is blocked off from transportation due to an bridge that is currently flooded.

The school I will be volunteering at has 81 students and 5 teachers for the grades of Infant1- Standard 6, which is equivalent to Kindergarten- 8th grade. The Peace Corps volunteer before me left in July, and I can see that I have really big shoes to fill. My principal is interested in me working one on one with students who need extra help in language arts, along with being the computer teacher. My school just received a grant, and if time and money permits them to finish the final touches, the school should be receiving 5 new computers and the internet by mid November. This is HUGE for the village- right now nobody has cable or internet, and the children are busting at the seam to learn to use computers. I was also asked to be the girl’s volleyball coach- part of the ‘job’ description that I least expected, but just might be what I am looking the most forward to!

I will FINALLY get to live alone beginning December 15, and my house has already been chosen for me by the Peace Corps. The house belongs to my host mother’s son who lives in San Pedro. We went there yesterday for me to check it out, and I immediately fell in LOVE with the house and the thought of it being mine. As we walked in, I spotted a dead rat bat on the living room floor… but hey, Im in Belize. The house has a large veranda, indoor plumbing in the bathroom, kitchen/living area, and two bedrooms. One bedroom already has hooks for a hammock and I have designated it my exercising/yoga/reading/relaxing room. We are going to paint it a shade of green- what more could I ask for? The house still needs a lot of work, but I have the next two months of nights and weekends to get it ready to be my home for the next two years!

The teacher’s workshop that I mentioned in my last blog was quite a success! Each of us trainees did great and I think that although there were a few cultural barriers at times, the teachers and trainees both were happy with the outcome of the day. As I was doing my presentation, I could see that the information I was sharing was quite foreign to the teachers. One idea I presented to them was classroom newsletters that teachers send home weekly to inform parents about homework assignments, upcoming events, etc. At the end of the day the principal stood up to thank us all, and she mentioned that she really liked the newsletter idea and that she wanted to start that at her school. Needless to say, I was shocked and excited- just a simple suggestion got the wheels turning! I must keep reminding myself that I am here for a reason, and although I might not have been a teacher for the past 20 years and know everything there is to know about the classroom, I still have the ability to help others and to be a change agent in my community.

Ive started a list of things I want to do during ELISHA time:
Learn yoga
Learn to sew
Start a garden and compost at my house
Go scuba diving
READ READ READ
Practice mi espanol
……………………………
Thanks to everybody who has been sending me letters! It means so much to me to hear from you all!

Just a final thought for you- As soon as I introduced myself to the children, kids started coming into the office and began dropping off letters and pictures that they colored for me… and it was only my first day! One small girl stopped by right before I went home for lunch and handed me a note before quickly turning to leave. This is what I read:

Dear Peace Corp,
I am so grateful to have a new Peace Corp. I thanks you. I think you have put all your effort to come in our village. Thank for coming.

And with that said- I am home.

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! :)

day 19

The homesickness has sunken in a bit, but Im holding strong. I think the hardest part for me is the lack of communication I have with all of you. I am trying to save money for a cell phone, but that may not happen for about another month or so. I am so accustomed to my daily dosage of texts, facebook, emails, and chatting with anybody in an instant. Right now I am without a phone unless I pay about 50 cents a minute, and I will have the internet once a week (two if I go into town) for the next 6 weeks. I have written several of you letters this past week, so be looking forward to receiving some snail mail!

Ive been living with my host family for about a week ½ now, which has been quite the adventure thus far. I am living in a very small rural village, where the nearest doctor, post office, police station, or internet café, is a 15 minute drive away.. ironic that I have my option of 4 different stores within 100 feet to buy a Coca Cola. The permanence of my stay here still has not completely sunk in. I am a newcomer and outsider for now, but eventually I will be a crucial member of a village- for the next 2 years!

My host mom is everything one could imagine for a good old fashioned Mestizo woman. She is short, wrinkly, with hair down to the bottom of her back. She feeds me a ton, shows me off to everybody, and is very protective of me, calling me her hija (daughter) when she introduces me to the community members. We usually talk in some sort of messy Spanglish dialogue. She tries hard to make sense in English, while I try to make sense in Spanish, and eventually we just mix the two. I like helping her with the dishes and our attempts to have meaningful understood conversations.

She has 10 adult children, 30 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren- all who wander in and out throughout the day, coming over to eat, visit, have their clothes tailored, etc. The children are my favorite thing about the village. Its common for kids to roam from house to house throughout the neighborhood, considering that just about everyone in the village is related. If I have my bedroom door open I get a small crowd of little eyes, sitting and watching. I close my door around 8:30 to read, write, study, and simply be alone, which tends to be the highlight of my day. [We selfish Americans like our alone time and personal space!] I taught a couple of the grandchildren how to play Go Fish a few nights ago, and they can’t get enough of it. They were also pretty impressed with my “purple round flying thingy”- my Frisbee, until it landed on top of the church roof next door. My host mom has a young granddaughter and two adult sons that live with us. I must admit that she is my favorite, and she waits for me to come home from my school daily so that we can do our homework “together.” Reading at home is pretty taboo for most children of the village, so it is uncommon for the kids to see someone reading. The other night I was sitting on the veranda reading a book while the granddaughter and her friend were playing cards. I heard her whisper to her friend, “She’s smart.” I hope that little things can positively influence the children here, although my time here for training is short.

I am so very proud to announce that I am using an out house and bucket bathing from an outdoor concrete shower! My only form of vanity is a small mirror hanging in my room that I have to stand on my tip toes or bed to see. I have a semi washing machine, meaning that it runs the first spin, then I take the clothes out to be rinsed in two separate buckets, and finish by putting the clothes back in for a dry spin. I have a clothes line that runs from corner to corner in my bedroom. Our kitchen is also a separate building from the house. Chickens roam through it freely, and the ants have claimed their territory in it as well. The food here is pretty much what you would consider to be “Mexican food.” I eat a lot of beans, rice, and tortillas. My host mom knows that I don’t eat beef or pork, and I have had chicken every few days here. Peace Corps met with all of the host families prior and stressed the importance of feeding us fruits and vegetables. I have had a variety of fruits to chose from: bananas, plantains, pineapples, papayas, cantaloupes, etc. As for vegetables Ive had okra, cucumbers, cabbage, tomatoes, and sweet peppers. The trees in my backyard grow the biggest avocados I have ever seen! We also have an orange and a plantain tree. My host mom sells jello, ice, icees, and avocados to the villagers.

Being a southern belle, I really wasn’t expecting to have a problem with the heat, but I have quickly been proven wrong. Air conditioning does not exist and we Belizeans are in rainy season. This means thick, heavy air all day, every day, with a chance of showers in the late afternoon. My bedroom reaches anywhere from 92-96 degrees, and on lucky nights it gets down to 81 for bedtime. I’ve felt really drained for the past few days, and Im guessing that most of it is due to the heat. No worries grandma, I have been drinking plenty of water.

There are three other PC trainees in the village with me, a married couple and one other girl. We have class usually from 8-4. The Spanish training has been one of my biggest disappointments so far. Because Belize is an official English speaking country, our knowledge of a second language is not crucial. It may not be crucial for Belize as a country, but 99% of the people in my village have Spanish as their first language- only speaking English at school or if their jobs require it. I started a running group this week with one of the trainees. We have been running at 6am up and down the many hills throughout the village… trying to burn off all of the tortillas! I really want to explain more about the school system and economic situation, but that will be a blog within itself. I will try to get some more information out for everybody soon.

Muchos abrazos y besos -- Many hugs and kisses--

Licha

pictures