To view the clips of students' responses about self-esteem, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CpY7aLfo7k.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tell the World How to Change
To learn more about the Millenium Development Goals, go to: youthink.worldbank.org/issues.
People say the scum of the earth live in this village. How can we call another human being scum, as though one could step on another like a boot on trodden ground, to crush another as easily? Meanwhile, human beings, no matter their label, breathe and feel and struggle alike.
I believe this addresses the heart of what is at stake in the Millenium Development Goals: human dignity. How much do we bestow by respecting one another and how much do we cheat one another? I thought dignity was a possession both innate and self-determined. But if a human being defines his or her worth according to a community, as in the developing world, what responsibility has the world community in bestowing such dignity?
I live in Belize as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I stand out as a gringa. What I represent upon sight has already been determined for me by the world. The approach of Peace Corps isn't immediately to gloss it over and make everything shiny and clean and right. How can we pare away the layers of perception we have of one another to appreciate the basics?
We live side by side. We see that we can be friends, and we teach each other. In so doing, we claim our own dignity as human beings and support the dignity of others and the larger community.
What is the significance of human dignity in the world today? I know a young Nicaraguan family here of which the mother and father work ten hours six days a week, their five-year-old daughter caring for her younger brother all day. They cannot afford to send her to school. Each parent makes only $2.25 per hour on a banana farm, while food is priced congruously to that in the United States. A pound of tomatoes costs $4.50; a box of cereal, $8.75; a jar of peanut butter, $5.25; a papaya, $3.00; a head of lettuce, $7.00. Consequently, people eat rice and beans everyday in Belize. This is basic.
So, how does this family, hard-working, trustworthy, and upstanding, conceive of justice and equality among human beings? How do they view me and conceive of the contrasts between people in this world when chancing to glimpse even one of my possessions, such as a Chaco sandal? Or a headlamp, which would be quite useful for late night trips to the latrine? Or a mosquito net, which was issued to me and which they cannot even find to buy here?
Poverty and wealth are relative to some extent, and happiness does not reside in riches. But where is the line defining the basics and human dignity from the whole of resources humankind utilizes and enjoys?
As a health education volunteer, I coordinated a self-esteem activity for several groups of primary schoolchildren in Belize because I believe human dignity is central to overall health and well being. The children didn't know the word in English, Spanish, or Kriol. I will post clips of a few responses when I find a CD Rom that actually works.
People say the scum of the earth live in this village. How can we call another human being scum, as though one could step on another like a boot on trodden ground, to crush another as easily? Meanwhile, human beings, no matter their label, breathe and feel and struggle alike.
I believe this addresses the heart of what is at stake in the Millenium Development Goals: human dignity. How much do we bestow by respecting one another and how much do we cheat one another? I thought dignity was a possession both innate and self-determined. But if a human being defines his or her worth according to a community, as in the developing world, what responsibility has the world community in bestowing such dignity?
I live in Belize as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I stand out as a gringa. What I represent upon sight has already been determined for me by the world. The approach of Peace Corps isn't immediately to gloss it over and make everything shiny and clean and right. How can we pare away the layers of perception we have of one another to appreciate the basics?
We live side by side. We see that we can be friends, and we teach each other. In so doing, we claim our own dignity as human beings and support the dignity of others and the larger community.
What is the significance of human dignity in the world today? I know a young Nicaraguan family here of which the mother and father work ten hours six days a week, their five-year-old daughter caring for her younger brother all day. They cannot afford to send her to school. Each parent makes only $2.25 per hour on a banana farm, while food is priced congruously to that in the United States. A pound of tomatoes costs $4.50; a box of cereal, $8.75; a jar of peanut butter, $5.25; a papaya, $3.00; a head of lettuce, $7.00. Consequently, people eat rice and beans everyday in Belize. This is basic.
So, how does this family, hard-working, trustworthy, and upstanding, conceive of justice and equality among human beings? How do they view me and conceive of the contrasts between people in this world when chancing to glimpse even one of my possessions, such as a Chaco sandal? Or a headlamp, which would be quite useful for late night trips to the latrine? Or a mosquito net, which was issued to me and which they cannot even find to buy here?
Poverty and wealth are relative to some extent, and happiness does not reside in riches. But where is the line defining the basics and human dignity from the whole of resources humankind utilizes and enjoys?
As a health education volunteer, I coordinated a self-esteem activity for several groups of primary schoolchildren in Belize because I believe human dignity is central to overall health and well being. The children didn't know the word in English, Spanish, or Kriol. I will post clips of a few responses when I find a CD Rom that actually works.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tools and Toys
Part of settling into life as a Peace Corps Volunteer is finding activities that help other people and that also make you happy. Scott has been successful at this by acquiring all the tools and materials for building the climbing wall in the backyard and building it as quickly as possible. I have noticed that each child learns a different lesson from the wall, whether it's simply confidence or perseverance or even teamwork. I admire the determination and ingenuity projects like this require.
Yesterday our Brazilian comrades completed a final project, in which we got to take part, of fashioning a school playground out of tree trunks hewn from the jungle into an obstacle course of steps and high bars. Scott helped dig holes and set posts. It was their final project before leaving Bella Vista this morning for farflung parts of the world. They may soon be living in Namibia, for example, and with their contagious enthusiasm for world development and for cultivating and conserving the earth's resources, both human and material, they will surely continue to make a remarkable difference in people's lives. They will be sorely missed here.
We only hope to continue the ongoing projects they have begun and to attain some measure of their positive energy.
Here Scott is all smiles with his fancy new drill from the States. Thanks, Dad! He says.
And below are pictures of our trip to Placencia several weeks ago to purchase a saw, another important toy-I mean, tool- for the project.
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.
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