House Hunting

Wow, what a crazy few days we have had! We met Richard on Friday morning. He is great! We met him for coffee and juice. He started talking about some potential projects for the summer. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life. He works as a welder and builder, and dedicates a lot of his free time to helping improve the schools and Belize in general. I am really amazed by people who are so dedicate to building their communities.


He recently was able to redirect a dental x-ray machine to Belize that was suppose to go to Africa, and he is trying to get it set up here in Belize. The hospital in Belmopan has a room for it, and he is working with a local doctor to arrange for a specialist in Guatemala to do a training on how to use the machine. We would be working with him to prepare the room for the machine by cleaning and sanitizing the room.

After three cups of coffee and two cups of orange juice, the three of us went to look at some of the projects that past schools have worked on. One of the projects involves a local high school. The local high school is very expensive and a lot of families have a difficult time paying for books, uniforms, supplies, and food. Because of these high costs, many students do not have the money for lunch. Last year, volunteers helped put together a garden and then taught nutrition lessons. The vegetables were used in the cafeteria, and the students could work in the garden to get lunch. Unfortunately, the rain damaged the gardens, and the natural dirt is very red and it does not hold water very well. Richard has procured some black soil that will hold the water better, but we still need to figure out how to help the gardens not get destroyed by the rain.

Richard also took us to visit the technical school where he would like to replicate the project. Apparently, there is a group of Native Americans who are coming down in December to do a similar project. We are communicating with them to see what we can start now, so that they can tak over next December. They come and teach aggrcultural lessons about improving organic aggriculture and the practical uses of different plants. It'll be great to collaborate with them!

We also visted the Elementary schools where Richard has worked; he showed us one where he build new bathrooms, and another where he built several classrooms. It was impressive. The government will pay the salaries of the teachers, but the communities have to build the schools. This why locals have to pay a lot for high school (I think), but elementary school is still more affordable, since there aren't as many needs for text books.

We are working on expanding a lot of our contacts. I was researching partner organizations for some of the projects that the volunteers are interested. More information to come later. Let's just say that I am super excited. It is a lot easier to understand the country once I am here. It is a collaboration of cultures. It has a culture that is a lot closer to Jamaica than it is to Mexico or Guatemala. One thing that has surprised me a lot is the large number of North Americans here. I hear a North American accent almost every day. There are also a lot of Chinese people here.

Also, Richard warned us to not talk to the Rastafarians too long because they are watched closely by the police. If the police see us talking to them too long, they will assume that we are buying drugs. I had this in my head (along with the silly roller skating youtube sensation) when a rasta brother offered to sell me some "herbs" while Hilary and I stopped to buy mango. I didn't understand, so I kinda ignored it while we finished paying. He asked me once again if I want to buy some "herbs to smoke." We were done by now, so I said "No." and turned away. As we walked away, I realized that I probably came off extremely rude. At least I didn't finish it with a, "No! I'm going rollerskating!"