Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Belize Climbing
Here are some pics of April and I enjoying the climbing wall I built. I originally built a too-wide hand crack from wood that our host family had intended to use for firewood; I will probably build another one out of wood that won’t break in 3 days. The new wall is missing a couple of boards because when I went to the lumber yard I didn’t have quite enough cash on me for all that I required (not that wood is expensive, not including tools, the entire thing thus far only cost me $140 US), the gaps do provide big jugs for the kids. I made the headwall adjustable, it can be parallel with the slightly less than 45 degree section, or vertical like shown. I made the wall so that it could be disassembled into three main pieces for when we move into our own home in the middle of December. Unfortunately the wood is heavy because it is fresh and they don’t cure it like in the states, hopefully I’ll be able to get a few people to help me take it apart and move the pieces.
The town we live in, Bella Vista, is a community of 3000 with mostly Spanish speaking Immigrants from near-by Central American countries, mostly Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and a few hundred Belizean Mayans. The majority of people moved here to work at the nearby banana and orange plantations, shrimp farms and the nearby tourist town of Placencia. The town is relatively healthy, people brush their teeth, get three meals a day, and most have running water, but only for an hour in the mornings. The main health problems we’ve seen here are the ones typical in the US, kids eat too much candy and everyone drinks too much Coke, and the food is very salty therefore many of the adults have diabetes and hyper tension. We are supposed to work on projects that the Village Council and the local health clinic need help with, but neither act very excited for us to do anything. We have been working with a couple of Brazilians that have been here for a couple of months for an NGO called Humana. They are creating a community garden, building a playground and teaching adults to speak and read English, and some basic nutrition classes, we plan to continue with several of their projects and find a few of our own.
Peace Corps takes good care of us, Belize is an expensive country and although we don’t feel rich we definitely won’t be starving. Belize has a rather good selection of American foods, although they can be somewhat expensive for our living allowance, we haven’t had to miss out like most of the Peace Corps’ folk spread out around the world. Although I really was looking forward to all the coastal cliffs in Jamaica I’m really glad that we came here, Belize is much safer, there are a lot more options for traveling to other countries, I could actually buy all the hardware and wood for a climbing wall, Mennonites are spread out all over the country and make the best cookies which are sold in stores throughout Belize, we get to learn Spanish so when I get to Tucson I’ll have one nice thing on my resume, siestas aren’t looked down-on in our town, we are 30 minutes from Placencia and a couple of hours from a sick limestone cave that has a river flowing out of it (the water is sometimes deep enough for a little bit of DWS), we have bikes and even a fun trail that connects our community to one that a fellow PC volunteer lives in, and we have a decent variety of American foods. There are definitely things I miss about the states, most notably climbing but the rest of the things I miss will be there in two years, and hopefully I’ll still have the finger strength to come back strong into climbing.
P.S. Do you have any good training tips or routines that will keep me injury/boredom free for the next two years???
The town we live in, Bella Vista, is a community of 3000 with mostly Spanish speaking Immigrants from near-by Central American countries, mostly Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and a few hundred Belizean Mayans. The majority of people moved here to work at the nearby banana and orange plantations, shrimp farms and the nearby tourist town of Placencia. The town is relatively healthy, people brush their teeth, get three meals a day, and most have running water, but only for an hour in the mornings. The main health problems we’ve seen here are the ones typical in the US, kids eat too much candy and everyone drinks too much Coke, and the food is very salty therefore many of the adults have diabetes and hyper tension. We are supposed to work on projects that the Village Council and the local health clinic need help with, but neither act very excited for us to do anything. We have been working with a couple of Brazilians that have been here for a couple of months for an NGO called Humana. They are creating a community garden, building a playground and teaching adults to speak and read English, and some basic nutrition classes, we plan to continue with several of their projects and find a few of our own.
Peace Corps takes good care of us, Belize is an expensive country and although we don’t feel rich we definitely won’t be starving. Belize has a rather good selection of American foods, although they can be somewhat expensive for our living allowance, we haven’t had to miss out like most of the Peace Corps’ folk spread out around the world. Although I really was looking forward to all the coastal cliffs in Jamaica I’m really glad that we came here, Belize is much safer, there are a lot more options for traveling to other countries, I could actually buy all the hardware and wood for a climbing wall, Mennonites are spread out all over the country and make the best cookies which are sold in stores throughout Belize, we get to learn Spanish so when I get to Tucson I’ll have one nice thing on my resume, siestas aren’t looked down-on in our town, we are 30 minutes from Placencia and a couple of hours from a sick limestone cave that has a river flowing out of it (the water is sometimes deep enough for a little bit of DWS), we have bikes and even a fun trail that connects our community to one that a fellow PC volunteer lives in, and we have a decent variety of American foods. There are definitely things I miss about the states, most notably climbing but the rest of the things I miss will be there in two years, and hopefully I’ll still have the finger strength to come back strong into climbing.
P.S. Do you have any good training tips or routines that will keep me injury/boredom free for the next two years???
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A Future
We're happily settling in. The Sotos are a wonderful family and treat us affectionately and openly. They seem to be as interested in us as we are in them. They truly care about us!
Ruth Soto is a very admirable woman. She works from sunup to long after sundown. She cares for her four children, cooks, cleans with diligence with the little water available on any given day, runs the little store they have connected to the front of the house, and maintains her household with calm dignity and authority, and with apparent ease.
I have only seen her sit to mend clothes. She works tirelessly, except for the intermittent, nagging migraines and an occasional toothache or backache. She taught me how to wash the dishes, after I insisted, with only a few handfuls of water at a time. She wants to learn to cook with more variety and healthier with the local resources, which have been few lately with the flooding and the bridge washing out. Ruth also wants to learn English and Maya Kekchi, how to use a computer, and more about health topics, especially nutrition. Her father could only afford three years of education for her back in Guatemala, but she has quite a vision for her children.
Ruth is an ideal host mom and in-country friend.
Upon her request, we have begun English and Spanish lessons together at the kitchen table, when time permits. It allows for cultural exchange and benefits both of us. She has requested I teach a nutrition class for her women's group at the church that occupies the corner opposite their house. Her husband Demetrio is a kind of pastor and plays guitar and sings. Almost every night of the week, we can hear familiar Christian songs being sung with much heart and at the top of people's lungs.
Ruth says that she and Demetrio work so hard because they want to raise their children right and want them to have more than they have had here. Ruth and Demetrio want to give their children their best, so that they can be educated, good people. As parents, they want their children to understand the sacrifices that are made for their futures.
Ruth Soto is a very admirable woman. She works from sunup to long after sundown. She cares for her four children, cooks, cleans with diligence with the little water available on any given day, runs the little store they have connected to the front of the house, and maintains her household with calm dignity and authority, and with apparent ease.
I have only seen her sit to mend clothes. She works tirelessly, except for the intermittent, nagging migraines and an occasional toothache or backache. She taught me how to wash the dishes, after I insisted, with only a few handfuls of water at a time. She wants to learn to cook with more variety and healthier with the local resources, which have been few lately with the flooding and the bridge washing out. Ruth also wants to learn English and Maya Kekchi, how to use a computer, and more about health topics, especially nutrition. Her father could only afford three years of education for her back in Guatemala, but she has quite a vision for her children.
Ruth is an ideal host mom and in-country friend.
Upon her request, we have begun English and Spanish lessons together at the kitchen table, when time permits. It allows for cultural exchange and benefits both of us. She has requested I teach a nutrition class for her women's group at the church that occupies the corner opposite their house. Her husband Demetrio is a kind of pastor and plays guitar and sings. Almost every night of the week, we can hear familiar Christian songs being sung with much heart and at the top of people's lungs.
Ruth says that she and Demetrio work so hard because they want to raise their children right and want them to have more than they have had here. Ruth and Demetrio want to give their children their best, so that they can be educated, good people. As parents, they want their children to understand the sacrifices that are made for their futures.
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter
Excerpts from a lovely book my Brazilian friend lent me, set in Zimbabwe during its social upheaval, by J. Nozipo Maraire:
There coexists the timeless poverty of the villages, the fear, the old prejudices, the familiar injustices, and the eternal existence of evil. These things have not changed; my parents saw them before me and you shall observe them after me.
But I have loved, and surely this is enough. It is to have tasted from the cup of milk and honey.
Courage is, after all, to take great risks--and in loving, I have known the pain of risk and loss.
I no longer see the world as ready-made, requiring only that we occupy our own little spot and do unto others as we would have them do unto us as they taught me at the Sunday School in Chakowa Mission...I am coming to understand that this world is as yet unfinished. There is no Eden here save the one we create for one another. Our mission is to complete and preserve the work that was started.
It can be terribly difficult at times to be at peace within. I wanted a smooth life. But I have learned that the furrows and ridges of inconsistency and pain are the very contours that give life a meaningful form.
And, from Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love:
The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving, self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.
There coexists the timeless poverty of the villages, the fear, the old prejudices, the familiar injustices, and the eternal existence of evil. These things have not changed; my parents saw them before me and you shall observe them after me.
But I have loved, and surely this is enough. It is to have tasted from the cup of milk and honey.
Courage is, after all, to take great risks--and in loving, I have known the pain of risk and loss.
I no longer see the world as ready-made, requiring only that we occupy our own little spot and do unto others as we would have them do unto us as they taught me at the Sunday School in Chakowa Mission...I am coming to understand that this world is as yet unfinished. There is no Eden here save the one we create for one another. Our mission is to complete and preserve the work that was started.
It can be terribly difficult at times to be at peace within. I wanted a smooth life. But I have learned that the furrows and ridges of inconsistency and pain are the very contours that give life a meaningful form.
And, from Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love:
The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving, self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever!!!
That's right. Kroppf's Bakery, Belize: absolutely the best chocolate chip cookies we've ever tasted. So far in training, Scott has lost 12 pounds, and I've lost 7. About the cookies, we don't know if this is our conclusion simply because we're hungry, or because they are truly light, crispy yet slightly chewy, cinnamon-y sweet morsels of perfection. No offense, Mom.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Muy Amable
Meet our new host family! Demetrio y Ruth Soto, y Brian, Ronald, Ludin, y Keylin. They are so sweet and caring. They have been hosting our fellow trainee Alejandro and are graciously accepting us for a couple of months after he moves to nearby Trio. They are from Guatemala. These pictures are from dinner preparations one night during which Ruth taught us to make tortillas, Scott cut chicken from the bone for fajitas, and I taught Ruth to bake peanut butter cookies. It was exhausting and hot, but a lot of fun.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Which Brazil?
These are our Brazilian friends, Denise and Bruno. As part of a different humanitarian organization, they are living in Bella Vista for 4 months and are involved currently with health projects similar to what we hope to have. They also travel to several communities near the banana farms, promote HIV/AIDS prevention, teach English classes, and lead meetings about organic gardening in this area. They hope the gardens families begin to plant in Bella Vista will not only improve nutritional intake, but benefit budgets as well. With the price of food similar to America, it is nearly impossible to make ends meet on the amount of money a person makes working on the farms. Most workers make $2.50 an hour, which is $1.25 US.
A gardening resource for Peace Corps Volunteers is a book called How to Grow More Vegetables and is a result of the research and practices of an organization based in California called Ecology Action and its program GROW BIOINTENSIVE. They propose working toward sustainability by returning to small-scale farming to meet each person’s caloric needs, taking care in turn to grow crops in a way that replenishes nutrients in the soil up to 99%. The GROW BIOINTENSIVE mini-farm model is proportioned as 60% grains and other high-carbon crops, 30% high-calorie root crops, and 10% vegetable crops (Jeavons 28). A percentage of the vegetable crops can be grown as income crops. A living project called Biosphere II, which used Ecology Action agricultural techniques, proved that a complete year’s diet for one person could be raised on the equivalent of 3,403 square feet (Jeavons 30). By contrast, commercial agriculture uses 15,000 to 30,000 square feet to produce all the food for one person for one year, 16,000 in the developing world. These Biointensive methods are used as nutrition intervention in Mexico and are spreading throughout Latin America.
We hope to build on the interest in family gardens here in the coming months.
Jeavons, John. How to Grow More Vegetables* (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains, and other crops) *than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine: A Primer on the Life-Giving Sustainable GROW BIOINTENSIVE Method of Organic Horticulture. Ecology Action of the Midpeninsula. Willits, California: 2002.
http://www.growbiointensive.org/
A gardening resource for Peace Corps Volunteers is a book called How to Grow More Vegetables and is a result of the research and practices of an organization based in California called Ecology Action and its program GROW BIOINTENSIVE. They propose working toward sustainability by returning to small-scale farming to meet each person’s caloric needs, taking care in turn to grow crops in a way that replenishes nutrients in the soil up to 99%. The GROW BIOINTENSIVE mini-farm model is proportioned as 60% grains and other high-carbon crops, 30% high-calorie root crops, and 10% vegetable crops (Jeavons 28). A percentage of the vegetable crops can be grown as income crops. A living project called Biosphere II, which used Ecology Action agricultural techniques, proved that a complete year’s diet for one person could be raised on the equivalent of 3,403 square feet (Jeavons 30). By contrast, commercial agriculture uses 15,000 to 30,000 square feet to produce all the food for one person for one year, 16,000 in the developing world. These Biointensive methods are used as nutrition intervention in Mexico and are spreading throughout Latin America.
We hope to build on the interest in family gardens here in the coming months.
Jeavons, John. How to Grow More Vegetables* (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains, and other crops) *than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine: A Primer on the Life-Giving Sustainable GROW BIOINTENSIVE Method of Organic Horticulture. Ecology Action of the Midpeninsula. Willits, California: 2002.
http://www.growbiointensive.org/
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