Letters From Belize -- Summer 2008

Bumpers College students and faculty members continued a service learning project this summer in Belize. The campus-wide project includes work in agriculture, social work, creative writing, education, health, engineering and business. >>Read more

Students participating in the St. Matthew's Sustainable Farm Project this summer include, seated from left, Raymond Jones, Lindsay Copenhaver, Jillian Harper, Amanda Simpson, Ashley Gatlin, Edison Froelich and Audrey McCoy; (not pictured are Brooke Jackson and Ashley Jones.) Standing are, from left, Laura Sossamon, Nilda Burgos, Jennie Popp and Misti Clark.

Posted By: Amanda Simpson
June 30

Looking Back
 
          On our last day in town, Dangriga Day was scheduled. I painted a sign for our booth while some went to set up the booth and some went to do last minute things at the garden. The booth was slow for awhile, but once the kids started coming, it was nonstop. Our booth was fun and simple plus we offered candy when they finished planting their seed so we were a hit. We had examples of growing sunflowers, corn, red beans and okra, and the kids got to plant red beans. The process included filling a cup ¾ of the way up with soil, plant 3 red bean seeds, top off the cup with soil, and water. We gave the kids directions of how to take care of their plant before they grabbed their candy and ran off to the next booth. Once all the kids came, Dangriga Day was a success and the agriculture group was thanked by the business group for our preparation for their activity.

           That afternoon we met in Dr. Burgos’s room to edit our report to the mayor. After an ice cream party, we were set to pack and prepare for a long day of traveling starting first thing the next morning. Once I first walked into the  Atlanta airport, I had to put on my sweater from it being so cold.

Posted By: Amanda Simpson
June 13

Edison is still taller than Dr. Burgos.

Some ag girls on the boat headed to Glover's Reef.

Our project has not included much teaching up to this point, but starting our last Tuesday here, we have made up for lost time. Tuesday afternoon, our group went to teach lessons at the After School Program about recycling. We taught the lesson twice, first to the younger kids, and they were definitely bursting with energy. Needless to say, the older kids were a relief to teach and easier on the ears. Ashley’s AGED major shined through because she definitely held the reins while teaching.

           Yesterday we started out the day with more teaching, this time about the crops in their garden. Prior to that, the school had invited us all to attend their church service that morning which was an incredible experience to see the kids so involved in the service. Then we went straight to the classroom and I taught about okra and corn to Standard 4. I didn’t have a partner already, but Nate from the ecology group volunteered to help both days. The kids enjoyed the activity of planting okra in  Dixie cups for each kid. I was so proud of the St. Matthew’s students after an afternoon with the After School Program; they were very attentive. The literacy group came with us and taught Standard 6 about poetry, and a few people from other groups came as well.

           After teaching, we all went to Marie Sharp’s for a tour. It was cool to see the difference between manufacturing here and in the US, which isn’t much difference! We all bombarded the gift shop afterwards, then headed back for lunch. I met with a local at the Jungle Huts that afternoon to get cornrows in my hair which was another first for me. It was a lot cheaper here than anywhere else I have heard of! My hair was done just in time for me to go with the business group to their trash pick-up event with students from schools in the area. We picked up trash for about an hour along the beach.

           Today we taught first thing in the morning at St. Matthew’s. I taught about carrots and sweet peppers while Nate taught tomatoes. After teaching, the students sang us farewell, and we booked it back to Dangriga to get on a boat to go to…Tobacco Caye! It was a great afternoon of enjoying the island and the sun. It’s too bad there aren’t any beaches in Arkansas!
 

Posted by: Nilda Burgos, Ph.D
June 13

Hi Jen,
 
Yesterday, our students taught another batch of lessons to Standards 3, 4, and 5 at St. Matthews.  I think our students are enjoying the teaching activity very much.  I did not get to observe the classes yesterday as I was with Rachel, showing her everything that we have and also what was all planted.  I gave her copies of the crop calendars and the inventory list.  We went through a simulation of spraying something so she will know how to use the spayer.  Later, most of the faculty went to the garden for their turn of getting acquainted with everything.  
 
We got the signs for the vegetable beds all made.  Now we have two big signs also - the one from last year and a new one that Amanda designed for this year.  Rachel, Ashley, and I drove to Ms. McCoon's house last night to drill holes into the boards. We will hang these by the garden gate where there is solid support.  
 
This morning, Raymond, Ahsley and I are going back to St. Matthews to do last-minute things.  I observed that the carrots were coming up yesterday; I showed them to the teachers, but they could not consistently identify the carrots from the weeds.  The carrots were just at the cotyledon stage and still very small.  Unfortunately, the weeds are already getting a head start on the carrots so I decided to go back there this morning to remove tiny weeds from the carrot bed.  This should allow the carrot to grow some more before the next batch of weeds come up.  The radish beds also need some weeding.  Did I already tell you that the corn we replanted all came up and the radish that Brooke and Jillian replanted all came up.  They seeded it really heavy to ensure a good stand. Yesterday I told the teachers to make sure they thin those out so they can harvest some good radish. Only about 4 plants came up of the local spinach.  I will also need to apply some fungicide and insectide today.  Some of the cabbage and tomato are dying from toot disease.  Some insects have eaten all the tops of a few pepper plants.
 
The rest of the students will stay in Dangriga to man our booth for the community day.  Before we leave for Pomona, though, we will haul all necessary materials to the park where the community day will be held.
 
Regards.
 
Nilda

Posted by Amanda Simpson
June 10
 
          This last week in  Belize is becoming a more active week than the others I have spent here. Friday night we had our pizza party and several St. Matthew’s teachers and three students from the EJC joined us. After that, several of us went to the Pelican for karaoke night which was a lot of fun! Edison and Elena are both such good singers and everyone else had a good time at the mike as well.

Ashley Jones, Amanda Simpson, and Jillian Harper at the pizza party on June 6th.	Ashley Gatling and me at the Pelican listening to karaoke
Steadfast Community Center: passing out buckets and bleach to community members.	Garden sign painted by Amanda

             Saturday my day consisted of then meeting a group to buy and distribute buckets and bleach with leftover funds donated to flood relief by UA students. We were each given some money and then sent around to all the stores in Dangriga to buy all of their stock on those items. We ended up with about 70 of each and hauled it out to Steadfast in the Pineapple. I was not entirely ready to see the commotion in that little community center. I had been out to the area once when just a few people were around, but everyone in the town was around that little building. There were trucks full of water and other personal items to give out. We unloaded all of our supplies and waited for the time we could start passing them out. Once that time came, it seemed like organized chaos, but the job was done and we loaded back up and came back to Dangriga. We had a late lunch and ate at Xiang Dang Dang Restaurant which was very good. I caught up with email and read my book for the rest of the night.
 
           Sunday was amazing, minus the sand bug bites. A group of 13 went out to Glover’s Reef for snorkeling, scuba diving and fishing of which I did snorkeling. It was beautiful and I can’t wait to see how my underwater camera did. The scenery was gorgeous and lunch was fresh shrimp, salad and French fries. The boat ride there and back was 3 hours and unbelievably bumpy. I would go again in a heartbeat though!
 
           Yesterday we rode back to the school garden for another morning of work. I got to meet with my assigned teacher, Mrs. Peters, to tell her about the Sustainability Guide we put together and the lesson plans. She was thrilled to see the lesson plans because she thought the teachers would be given the topics to teach a lesson about and they would be responsible for researching and putting the lessons together. It turns out though that we get to teach our lessons on Wednesday and Thursday mornings which is yet another step up from her original assumption about the lessons. The rest of the garden work involved raking the beds, planting more carrots and radishes as well as sunflower seeds along the edge of the garden. When we got back, I went to the market and got a CD of some local music before heading back to the Jungle Huts to work on the signs which included sawing, sanding and painting.
 
           Today I finished the signs for each row with Audrey and then painted a big sign to put outside of the garden. It took awhile to cut and sand more wood and then paint it all. We went up to Audrey’s room and put newspaper down because the mosquitoes have multiplied after the tropical storm. There are many more things on the checklist before flying out of here and picking back up with a faster pace may be challenging after a much slower week previously.

Posted by:Jennie Popp, Ph.D
June 10

It is always good to hear from you. Yes, I knew the sawing was coming (and glad I got out of there before it had to be done! the concrete like ground the first two weeks did me in!). I'm glad the replanted things are coming back. I felt so badly for the school and our students to have that storm hit only 24 hours after we planted everything the first time. Now in hindsight, the needed replanting is a minor inconvenience compared to the damage that was done elsewhere. I am so proud to know how much all of the UA students/faculty have done - far beyond the reaches of our projects - to assist as needed in the relief. But that is what it is all about, isn't it? I think the students will all be the wiser for this experience.
How are Audrey and Amanda doing on their project with Val? I hope something comes from the work Ashley/Brook and Taylor are doing. Taylor and I met many times throughout the semester about it. I am just amazed he was able to identify folks so quickly. I am anxious to see how that will work. Ashley seems to be running full speed with the ag education efforts. It was a perfect side project for her.
What is the status of the ag office? Has Steve ok'd funds to help them? Are Antonio/John/Clifford around? I'm guessing they can't get back into the building yet. (Did they tell you they had redone the
inside last fall - painted it all a soft yellow, looked really nice).  How did the animals and the crops at the station do?

Glad you're getting the crop calendars together. That will be a huge help to the folks there.

I don't know how much the students have told you about the other assignments I gave them regarding their reports. Pre-storm, the plan was to do a two-page report for the mayor that focused primarily on the garden but it is useful to acknowledge the high school project, Taylor's project and any work done at Val's since that is Dangriga based. In addition there are some short forms to fill out that were prepared by one of Amy's former students for us but they are minor, we can fill out. The hardest part is making sure we have current contact info for: Ms. McCoon Teachers in charge of garden this year Ag Office PeaceWork volunteer in town (ie, Shauna/Rachel phone numbers) I also think it's helpful to have phone numbers for Hummingbird hardware Habots Prossor in Belmopan Bromley's (I think that's the right name?) in Belmopan I'm drawing a blank, the name of the place the seedlings came from.... contact info for all of the side projects Anywhere else you can think of? I would divide that up among the students. They should be able to collect names/addresses/emails where they exist. I've learned a lot of the stuff I kept last year have changed.

Can you also remind all the students they promised to get me a CD asap of their pictures so we can put together the thank you notes with a CD like we did last year. If they are local and just want to bring me their pictures on a stick, I can burn them. I'll make copies of everyone's pictures for everyone. I'd like to do this asap. Also find out when folks will be in town. I'd like to offer my house again as the post-Belize meeting place. The sooner we do that, the better.
It will really help us focus things for next year.

Let me know how everything is going. Give my best to everyone!

Posted by: Nilda Burgos, Ph.D
June 10
 

Digging Trenches

Replanting

I have been watching this rain cloud across the horizon from the ocean, while working here in the Bonefish lobby early this morning. The internet is up this morning so I am trying to catch up on some emergency e-mails before walking over to breakfast. Well, the rain just got here, but I don't think it will last long because the cloud is moving fast.  This is the normal morning rains here in June.  Laura just passed a few minutes ago, asking me to join them for a morning workout, but I don't want to aggravate my aching muscles, anymore.  We had been sawing off pieces of scrap plywood yesterday afternoon, for our vegetable signs.  Since there are now several crops planted and the bed lengths are subdivided, we need to make it easier for the teachers and students rotating garden duties to know what was planted in the beds because several of them got replanted and are not yet up. We are also going to redo the big garden sign, which the girls made last year.  Having the artistic Amanda with us is a great bonus in this aspect.  Well, the sawing part was hard work.  You would never think a quarter-inch thick plywood would be that tough to saw.  We had to make 12 pieces so there was a lot of sawing needed.  Edison, Gilbert (from Engineering), Amanda, and Jillian pitched in with the sawing part.  Audrey and Raymond were also sanding and painting.  We painted them white and Amanda is going to write the vegetable names on it using a small paint brush. Ahsley and Brooke went with Taylor (from the Business group) yesterday afternoon pertaining to their special project.  
 
So yesterday was a productive day for us. Besides the activities in the afternoon, we worked at St. Matthews in the morning - weeding, replanting carrots and radish, spraying Bt insecticide, and spraying glyphosate on the weeds around the fence.  I did not get to finish the glyphosate spraying, though because it starting raining lightly; will finish that this morning.  The corn we replanted last week are up - we had good emergence.  If we can only keep the bugs away from them, it will be fine.  Our students also met with their respective teacher partners for the standards that they were supposed to be teaching.  They went through the teaching materials with their respective faculty counterpart.  Only Jillian and Raymond did not get to do that yesterday as Mr. Stevens, their teacher partner, was very busy.  So they will try to catch him again today.  I am going to finalize the crop calendars between tonight and tomorrow so we can give all that to the St. Matthews faculty by Thursday.  That will be our last day at the school because we are having the community day this Friday (after it has been moved several times). Thursday will be the turning over 'ceremony'.
 
Steve Darr, Carol Babb, and Maria arrived last night.  Steve will be going with us to St. Matthews this morning to look at the garden.  
 
We have a few things to do there including staking the tomatoes, finishing the glyphosate spray,  putting padlocks on the garden gate and one of the toilets (converted to storage), and replanting one more row of corn border (toward the citrus fence) because the stand here is also very sparse although we hoped that some more will emerge over the weekend.   Ashley will stay in Dangriga to follow up on her meetings with the schools she is working with on her special project.  Amanda and Audrey will also stay in Dangriga to continue working on our signs. The rest of us are going to St. Matthews.
 
Regarding the flood relief operations here, it will probably continue another week or so.  The Red Cross and Belize Army have been working nonstop on this, leading and coordinating efforts from several volunteer groups also.  The U of A students have done their fair share of contributing time and effort - I am proud of them.  We went to Hope Creek last Friday afternoon to help with the relief operations there.  This is one of the worst-affected communities.  However, at that time, the Red Cross crew were not prepared to have a swarm of volunteers.  They sent us to a home site where the house was completely washed away to the other side of the street, about 2000 - 3000 ft.  The Belize Army arrived to help move sections of the house back, but us girls could not help them with it.  We had three boys who did.  They were also building a structure over a toilet, which also got washed away.  There was shortage of implements, of course, so that took a while. The girls and I picked up and sorted different kinds of debris, just to put some semblance of order to the place, but that was about what we could do.  I got to drop four bags of donated items to the Red Cross office in Dangriga, yesterday after lunch.  The lady in charge there said that they have far too many clothing donations now; sorting them is a major undertaking.  While I was there, they loading several USAID boxes into a semi trailer.  It seemed that those aid items just arrived and they were in the process of distributing those to different locations.  

Posted by: Jillian Harper
June 9, 2008

Monday, May 19

Hello all! I hope things are going well there! I arrived safely in Belize, thank the Lord! I was a bit nervous leaving XNA since I have never flown before, but luckily, I knew two of the girls that I would be traveling with. The flight from XNA to Atlanta was wonderful -- I officially love flying! We had about 40 minutes to make the change between the incoming flight and the outgoing flight bound for Belize City. Thankfully, we landed in terminal D and our flight left from terminal E, so we were pretty close. The flight to Belize City was not very crowded, so the flight attendants let us switch seats, which allowed me to get the window seat.

Ashley Gatling stands near the top of Xunantunich.		One of the first corn plants that germinated in the garden.

Once we landed in Belize City, we sat on the air plane for a little while, but unfortunately, nobody warned us that sitting there on that plane was the last bit of constant air conditioning we would have! We got off the plane and registered with the country, then got our luggage and went through customs. Then, we got a packaged lunch with our first taste of rice and beans (not beans and rice) and chicken. We loaded onto a school bus for the three-hour trek to Dangriga with “natural air conditioning,” which was windows down. All along the way, our bus driver kept us informed about some of the local landmarks, and halfway to Dangriga, he went past the top of a hill (headed downhill now), and put the bus into neutral, and the bus literally went BACK UP THE HILL!!!

Once we arrived in Dangriga, we unloaded our things and got settled. Our room is very comfortable, and I am able to sit anywhere in the room and get wireless internet. We open the windows at night so the cool air can be circulated through by the stand fan and ceiling fan. We also have a TV, and we are planning “watch parties” with the people in our group, so we can have some interaction without traveling so far to the Jungle Huts. There are two beds, and we even have a dresser and a bar to hang clothes from to dry.

Today, I went to “The Price Is Right” grocery store and purchased peanut butter, bread, and Marie Sharpe's Hot Sauce. I plan on eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, which is on our own, and also to help get full after eating the meals provided, just in case I can't eat much. The Marie Sharpe's hot sauce is mild, and so I will use it to season my food.

The locals are very friendly: if you are in a small group, the children say hi to each person individually, and nearly half of everyone on the street greets us. We took a tour of the downtown area of the city today, and it is a lot larger than I had imagined. In most buildings, there are lizards that dart in and out of little spaces. The lizards are good, however, because they chase off the small insects. Unfortunately, there are no lizards in our room. Last night, we had our door open to get some air moving, and a huge cockroach flew in! It was about 2.5 inches long, and must have flown in through the balcony that is outside our door.

Even though this is my first full day here, I have started to adjust to the heat, sweat, sunscreen, bugs, and food. Tomorrow should be another day for adjustment, because we are going to go to the garden at St. Matthew's school and survey the work we have to do. Tomorrow will consist of pulling weeds, doing inventory of tools, and working with the locals to ensure that we have plants, as well as rice hulls and citrus peels to use as compost.

Monday, June 2

Well, it has been about two weeks since I wrote my last letter, and a lot has happened since then. I'll start off with the events leading up to now, and then go into the situation now. When we arrived at the garden for the first time, we were delighted that the garden had been weeded. Apparently, the teachers at St. Matthew's School got the students involved in weeding. The children were eager to get to work, and somehow, it was not communicated that some of the partners at the school had planted corn around the parameter of the garden a few weeks before we arrived. So, as you might imagine, the corn got pulled up along with the weeds. Easy problem to correct, especially since we did not have to spend the three days weeding the entire garden, like we had planned on doing. So far, that has been about the biggest bump in the road.

Left: Edison Froelich checks a tree planted in the garden. Above:  Dr. Nilda Burgos proofreads a teaching outline at The Pelican.

The first week, the agriculture group got up early to beat the heat, and worked in the garden from 6:30 to sometimes as late as 2:00. We spent this week tilling the garden up, and building up the beds. Some of the plants we planted needed to be planted in beds that were built up at least a foot. This is pretty hard work, especially considering that the Stann Creek District of Belize has not had rain since the beginning of March. We went over the entire garden with a tiller a few times (there is a chain link fence around the garden, and the gates are too small for a tractor, plus the garden might be too narrow for a tractor to turn around if it could get through the gates.), and then started building the beds up. The students, who were all elementary age, helped us break up big areas of dirt, build the beds up, and chop roots from the ground. They know how to use a machete better than anyone I know! My first thought when showing up to the

During the second week, we spent our time digging three-inch holes about six inches apart around the parameter of the garden so we could plant corn. Planting is so much different down here -- it's all by hand, and is nothing like planting back home. I can remember having to pull some of the corn plants out of the ground if there were some growing too close together, and down here, they are careful to waste nothing -- not even a seedling if they can help it.

It was nice to get up early that week and get the work done, so we could have the rest of the day for other things. Some of the girls and I usually walked to the other side of Dangriga and hung out at a resort called The Pelican Beach Resort. There is a pier with a little hut on it and hammocks under the hut, where you can hang out by the water and avoid the sun. We often slather on our 50 SPF sunscreen, and then lay out for a little while. There is a little restaurant at the Pelican, and they have the best grilled cheese I have ever tasted, and wonderful fajitas.

After we were done with our work for the week, we loaded up on Friday onto a school bus and traveled to San Ignacio for a weekend to relax. San Ignacio is now one of my favorite cities -- it is in the mountains of Belize, and is amazingly beautiful, and a lot cooler than the region of the country that Dangriga is in! We stayed at a hotel called Cahal Pech, which is near the actual Cahal Pech site. Cahal Pech means “Place of the Ticks”, but luckily we did not have many tick encounters. On Friday, as soon as we got to the hotel, we got in the pool and pretty much camped out there until dark. It was so nice to be in a cooler place, and get to swim! The only area that you can swim in Dangriga is the ocean, and that's actually pretty warm.

On Saturday in San Ignacio, I decided to go cave tubing with three other girls from the group, while everyone else went to see the ATM Cave, which is a cave filled with Mayan artifacts. Cave tubing was so much fun! We picked out inner tubes, and hiked through the jungle to the mouth of one of the caves, and got in the water. We floated through the cave on the river, and when we got out of the cave, we witnessed the first rain of the season! It was the most beautiful rain I have ever seen because it was sunny outside, and it was so peaceful hearing the drops hitting the water. It was the only time it rained that weekend, and the big rains held off for a few more days. On Sunday, we went to Xunantunich, the area where the Mayan ruins are located. I got many pictures there, and even some great souvenirs. That afternoon, we headed back to Dangriga.

Audrey McCoy consults with Dana about future plans for the upper level of Val's Hostel.

Monday was a holiday for Belize, so everyone was out of school, and very few businesses were open. I spent the day in Dr. Popp's room in the air conditioning working on projects, like lesson plans and reports for the Dangriga Mayor. On Tuesday, we went out to finish most of the preparations in the garden for planting.

Our planting day was Wednesday, May 28. We advertised it on the community channel of television for a few days, and invited parents and community members to come out and help plant. Wednesday came, and we had a few parents show up to help plant, which made about 20 people working in the garden that day. Total, we spend four hours planting, and we got all of our crops in the ground. We planted several hundred sweet pepper, tomato, and cabbage seedlings. Then we planted the spinach, carrot, okra, and radish seeds, and watered everything, and we were done. We starting praying for rain almost immediately after we got everything planted, and we soon got rain! As you may have seen on the weather, there are two storms that are affecting Belize.

The rain has been wonderful for the garden -- even more corn had started to sprout by Friday, and then we were off for our weekend trip! We were scheduled to go to Caye Caulker, but since the tropical storm was scheduled to hit Belize on the weekend, the group leaders decided that we should all go back to San Ignacio. So, we arrived on Friday, and we stayed in a different hotel -- one closer to downtown. It was much more convenient, because the last time we went to San Ignacio, we had to get a cab every time we wanted to go into town to eat. Since we had not planned to be in San Ignacio, and it was also raining constantly, we decided to not go on any excursions. Instead, I have had the opportunity to hang out and enjoy the city.

Today was the first day we did not get significant amounts of rain. This weekend, it rained for three days straight! I honestly have never seen so much rain in my life! I am guessing that most of you have seen the reports of tropical storm Arthur on TV. So far, we have just had a huge amount of rain, but I am in the best area of Belize to handle the rain. In other parts, there have been landslide threats and massive flooding, so some of the people from those areas are being evacuated to Dangriga. If I go outside on the balcony outside my room, I can see the ocean, and it literally looks like chocolate milk. I am in a hotel with several other U of A students, but most of the students are located about a mile away. They are located fairly close to a river that dumps into the ocean, and it has been steadily rising from the rain. The faculty here has taken so many precautions regarding our safety, so we are fine.

Posted by: Brooke Jackson
June 9, 2008

My first week in Belize was beyond amazing, and I couldn't wait until the next tjhree weeks. Since we didn't work on Monday, we went to the garden Tuesday morning to get everything ready for planting the seeds and seedlings the following day. We wanted community involvement, so we advertised on cable the date of planting. Although no one in the community was able to help (we started planting at 3:30 and most factories don't close until 6), many students and teachers stayed afterschool to plant. We planted corn along the borders (to help keep people from stealing the crops), sweet peppers, tomatoes, okra, carrots, cabbages, radishes, and spinach. We finished planting before dark since we had so much help from students and faculty from St. Matthew's and the University of Arkansas.

To celebrate the “completion” of the garden, we ordered three large pizzas from a local woman in Belize. It was amazing! We sat in Dr. J's air-conditioned room and just hung out. It was probably one of my favorite nights so far in Belize. Since we had already planted, the only thing left to do for the rest of the week was the “rain dance” so that we wouldn't have to water the garden anymore with five-gallon buckets. Well, I officially performed my version of the “rain dance,” and needless to say it beyond worked!

Thursday afternoon while we were at the Pelican (a really nice resort on the beach with awesome food and a pier) finishing our lesson plans, the rainy season began. Actually, I just thought it was the rainy season, but I later discovered it was something much more. We drove to St. Matthew's because we wanted to see how the garden looked with water on it -- absolutely beautiful. I spent the remainder of Thursday in a state of oblivion. Everything had happened just as planned so I just knew the next two weeks would happen the same. I was looking forward to traveling to Caye Caulker the following day; however, there soon was a major change in plans.

For precautious reasons, the faculty decided the entire group would go to San Ignacio just in case the weather got too bad. Well, two tropical storms emerged from opposite oceans and decided to cross each other in Belize. The really extreme weather occurred once we arrived back in Dangriga. Flash floods became our major concern. Luckily, we were all right; however, many citizens of Belize lost almost everything. The road to Pomona was closed for several days after the storm so there was no way to assess the damage at St. Matthew's. During those days we all got caught up on reading and writing and helping the other groups however we could.

Finally on Wednesday the water decreased enough for us travel to Pomona. I had no idea what to expect. I thought the entire garden would have been completely washed away. Luckily, the garden only had minor problems. We were able to fix the garden all in a few hours. We had to replant corn and some okra because the seeds were carried away with the water. Also, we shoveled up the beds and dung up some trenches but all in all most of our work wasn't ruined. St. Matthew's school was closed for the rest of the week because of all the damage to people's houses throughout the area.
I had completed three weeks here in Belize; however, it felt like I had only just arrived.

Posted by: Amanda Simpson
June 6, 2008

Amanda Simpson at the ATM Cave during the San Ignacio excursion. This is the start of the cave where we swam in wearing our hardhats.		Trash can painted by Amanda Simpson.

Brooke Jackson ready to get started.

The past two days have been very slow paced. Since the students at St. Matthew’s were predicted not to go to school for the rest of the week, our group was encouraged to participate with other groups and to work on our side projects. So yesterday afternoon, I designed and painted a trash can with the business group. In high school, I was very active in art, but as an agribusiness major, I don’t get to paint much anymore. I had a lot of fun painting again.

The past two mornings and some last week, I have attended Elena’s (Edison’s wife) workout sessions. She is a personal trainer and offered to have classes for those that were interested. This morning was definitely the most I have ever sweated, and if I'm not sore tomorrow, I will be shocked. My three-hour nap this afternoon was well worth it.

After breakfast, the ag group and the HIV/AIDS group went out to Pomona to pull some weeds and take inventory of all the tools we had. We finished right in the nick of time when it started pouring rain and lightning and thunder were not even a second apart. There was not much warning, just a few dark clouds. It was amazing to see the sky open up like that for a few minutes and be done.

Ashley Jones leaves in two days, so as a celebration we are having a pizza party tonight! I had no idea that was possible here, but yes, in a local house, the kitchen is used for Dangriga Pizza. We had pizza after the Planting Day to celebrate, and I was surprised to have loved the pizza. It was very good. We will have the teachers at St. Matthew’s as our guests tonight to talk about the garden over the summer and see who will be in charge during that time.

One thing I think was underestimated by the girls who presented to my class about this trip was the amount of downtime there is. It’s definitely not jam-packed with activities everyday; we run on Belize time (their motto: Go Slow). This is a change of pace for me and it has been nice to have time to remember to take my vitamins everyday and wake up before my alarm clock goes off.

Posted by: Ashley Gatling
June 6, 2008

As my third week in Belize comes to an end, I begin to look back on how I ended up here. This has been one of the most amazing experiences in my life, and I can't help but to remember the first day I saw a flyer on campus about this project. One day during the fall semester, as I was leaving class, I noticed on the exit door a flyer that talked about this community development project. So for the next few weeks I would see it just about every day and I always thought to myself that would something that I would love to do. So one day, I mentioned the project to my mom and told her that I might be interested in it, and to my surprise she thought that it would be a neat experience for me. Finally, one day during Dr. Popp's microeconomics class, one of the student who came on this trip last year, gave a presentation to the class on her experience here in Belize, encouraging other students to go this summer. It was then and there that I decided that this would be a li

I remember the morning that I was coming here just like it was yesterday. My parents were driving me to the airport and my mom was thinking of all sorts of advice that she thought she hadn't given me yet, but when in reality she probably told me some of the same things a million and one times. Like don't go anywhere alone, be cautious of your surrounds, and anything thing else that she thought was important. We got to the Memphis airport and my dad told me good bye at the car, and I couldn't help but notice he was doing everything in his power not to cry. I mean his little girl was going off to another country for a month with people that she hardly knows. You would probably want to cry too. My mom walked me into the airport and helped me get all of my luggage checked in and as I was telling her good I realized that I had reached a point in my life where I was grown. I was going to a place where I had never been, a place where I knew none of the locals, a place

Although I was really excited about being here in Belize, during our WALKING tour around Dangriga (the town that we are living in) I couldn't help but to think: oh my goodness, I am going to be living here for the next month in this hot weather, in this humidity with no air conditioning! But now I have realized it isn't that bad. Believe it or not, but I have actually gotten used to it! Anyway, the next day I found myself working in the garden, in some of the hottest weather I have ever been in. I thought to myself, could this get any worse? To only realize the next day that it could. The second day that we spent out in the garden was the hardest day that we have had yet. We had to dig out trenches between all of our rows. This would have been something that could have taken very little effort to do, but considering it hadn't rained since our spring break, the ground was as hard as concrete! I knew after that was finished, and I had survived, that I could make i

The first weekend that we were here, I went with the group to San Ignasio. The place we stayed at was amazing. It had a swimming pool and it was a lot cooler there, because it was more in the mountains. Oh and did I mention that my roommate had to share a bed that weekend? But we were totally OK with it because we had AIR CONDITIONING (something that I never thought that I would consider to be a luxury)!!! That weekend three others girls and I decided to go cave tubing, which was very relaxing and in much demand by my body. That Sunday before we left, we went to see some of the Mayan Ruins there, and it was amazing. I had seen some before, but I think that I was just too young to appreciate them.

The next week we continued to be sure that the beds were ready for planting and were able to plant Wednesday. Which when we were done, and I looked out at the garden, I thought to myself this is so beautiful, this is something that I took part in doing and our group had accomplished the main part of our goal, which made all the hard work we had done the week before totally worth it. By that time it still hadn't rained any, so we had to water the WHOLE garden by hand. Which could have been very easy, but the water pressure wasn't very good so it was taking a long time to fill up the buckets, and then we a pretty good walk from the water faucet to the garden. But we were really helped out by some of the strong guys from other groups, like the engineers. The Thursday after we planted, my roommate did what she liked to call her rain dance, and needless to say it worked.

It rained from Thursday afternoon till Monday! Something that we here in Belize like to call a tropical depression or storm. I think that there you probably heard about it on the news as Arthur! Well, anyway, that weekend was still amazing, even though we didn't get to out to island as planned, because it was my birthday! Yes, I turned 20 on Friday, May 30, in Belize! Although that morning I fell down some stairs because they were wet and really hurt my foot, but we won't get into that! We spent that weekend back in San Ignasio, because they felt that would be the safest place for us to stay.

When we came back on Sunday it was still raining and it was about to get worse. One night some of us were even evacuated from our hotel to go to another because we were so close to river, which was already overflowing on one side, they didn't want our rooms to flood with us in them. Although the chances of that happening were pretty slim, Peacework didn't want to take any chances! Although it didn't flood too badly in Dangriga, it did in Pamona, which is where are garden is. A lot of the students at that school were affected by the flood, and they haven't even had school all week. We were finally able to make it back out to school on Wednesday, because until that point the roads had been closed. When we got to the garden, we found that all of our rows were still in tacked. But the bad news was that many of the seeds that we planted the day before it started raining, had been washed away. So Wednesday we were able to replant some corn and okra.

We haven't been able to teach our lessons yet because they were scheduled to be this week, and that is a real bummer to me because I love to teach. That is my major after all. But I have been working on another project. This is with one of the local high schools, Dilelle High, who doesn't have a very developed agriculture program yet. So, they asked if one of us could help establish some type of guide to go by for the class. I was given the agri book that they are using and I came up with some objectives for each chapter of the book, as well as some discussion and activity ideas.

I went today to take what I had done to the principal and the ag teacher, but neither were there. So, I went over to one of the other high schools, Ecumenical High, that is more established and talked to their ag teacher who has been there for a number of years. He is a very interesting and intelligent man. He gave me some more ideas to work on for developing their curriculum, and I can't wait to get started on those. I m also going to talk with the Principal there about helping them set up a block scheduling version of classes. They want to switch in way or another, because they want to have more time to do hands on activity as well as lectures. So I will get started on that next week. That is all that I have for now, maybe I will be able to write some more later on.

Posted by: Ashley Jones
June 5, 2008

Ashley Jones (second from left) with St. Matthew's students.

In the midst ofTtropical Storm Arthur, great things are happening in Belize. This being my second year to join the group in Belize, I wondered if the foundation we had built last year would hold or if it would have to be rebuilt by this year's group upon arrival.

I was pleasantly surprised. Each of the groups have accomplished so much already this year, in addition to what everyone did last year. What I find even more amazing is the cohesion amongst the entire UA body in Belize. The agriculture group has been blessed by having members from almost every project join them at some point in the different phases of the garden. It is so amazing to see each individual group working together for the good of the whole group.

This year, I have returned with the task of completing research for my honors thesis. It is such an amazing opportunity to be able to return to a project that is so near and dear to my heart for academic purposes. My thesis deals directly with the implementation of school gardens, in other areas. My goal is to survey restaurant owners, school officials, and agriculture department officers about various economic aspects of school gardens. I am inquiring about the steps needed in: production, maintenance and marketing to find out what it will take to make this project a successful one in other areas.

Plants after the May 28 planting day.

Belize never ceases to amaze me in that its citizens are always so willing to help. I can simply walk into a restaurant or school, explain what my purpose for being there is, and they jump to help me complete my research.

I am relying on this willingness greatly as I finish up my research and return to the States. This week held a detailed trip to the market to identify current vegetable prices, as well as to speak with local vendors. It also held various trips to other restaurants, schools, and hardware stores in order to gather more information that will help me to complete a successful production budget for other school gardens.

Having two completely different experiences from Belize, I am amazed at how much this country has grown on me. Last year, a month seemed to go on forever and I couldn't wait to get back to my luxurious life filled with air conditioning, iced tea, cell phones, and wireless internet. This year, I couldn't wait to get back down here and experience the amazing culture and mingle with the wonderful citizens of Belize. Despite experiencing Tropical Storm Arthur, this year's trip has opened my eyes and made me so much more appreciative of the life I live. One in which I can live comfortably in the States, but also one in which I can travel to a developing country for academic purposes, and come back with a completely different perspective on the life I live and the views of the lives of those around me.

Posted by: Nilda Burgos
June 5, 2008

Good news first: We finally got to St. Matthew's yesterday as you have already learned from the students. The garden is still there and much better than I expected.  Parts of the beds were washed off and we did what we could to patch them up. We dug up drainage ditches and replanted most of the corn and some of the okra. We also applied a fungicide treatment to the pepper, tomato, and cabbage, as this much moisture is so conducive to diseases.  

Students at work in the St. Matthew's garden.

Some of our students got to participate in other volunteer work. Today after lunch, Amanda is designing the artwork for the empty barrels that they are painting for trash containers in Dangriga. Raymond went with the literacy group yesterday afternoon. Audrey is actively involved in other groups, as well as Edison. Jillian is acting as Ashley J.'s angel in visiting schools, hotels, and restaurants for Ashley's survey.

I worked with Ashley Gatling on her special project in the last couple of days and we finished her syllabus outline last night. She and Brooke went to Delille High to meet with her contact faculty there about the project that she is doing.  

Audrey also got the chance to consult some more with Ms. Dana about plants for her building.

Community day is still on, so far.

Damage at agriculture building in Pomona.

Bad news:  Edison, Audrey and I went back to Pomona this morning to solicit help from the Ministry of Ag Office in fixing the water catchment and irrigation system.  We were not prepared for what we saw. The agriculture building was actually flooded, too, during that weekend storm.  We just did not realize it the first day we passed  by because it looked alright on the outside. As we pulled up to their office, they had already emptied the whole building and were in the process of scrubbing and cleaning. The sight was heartbreaking. They lost EVERYTHING -- computers, paper files, AC units, electric fans, etc.  The flood water was 6 to 7 ft deep inside the building so everything was covered in water and now caked in mud. (I wish we could donate at least one computer). We helped in the clean up process, but there was not much else we can do. I did not get to see Antonio - he was out assessing crop damage. 

So for now, we have not done anything yet to the water catchment system. I will ask Tom Soerens for advise tonight. Their group have their own major problems, too, with water pipes being washed out in the area that they are working in.

The kids are not back in school, yet even if the school is already declared open. So we have not taught the lessons we intended to teach this week. We will try to catch the faculty at St. Matthews in the morning tomorrow to meet with them regarding the garden.  Will confirm with Ms. McCoon. I will meet with our students again this evening for updates of various activities. I am planning on having them work in pairs to conduct an inventory of all the things we have at St. Matthews for the garden, while we have the time. Our stuff are stored in three places at the school. We will leave a print out of this with Ms. McCoon, a faculty in-charge, and Shauna.  

Posted by: Brooke Jackson
June 5, 2008

In preparation to our arrival in Belize, a student in the agriculture program traveled to Belize over spring break to get a jump start on the project. He met with various people in Pomona and took pictures of the “garden” from last year. It basically resembled a plot of land completely covered with weeds taller than I. Needless to say I wasn't exactly thrilled on our 20-minute bus ride to St. Matthew's School; however, we were in for a very pleasant surprise -- the students of St. Matthew's decided to clear most of the weeds before we even arrived! I was so excited that I almost cried; however, there were still plenty of weeds to pull. We spent the remainder of the day tiling the ground and pulling weeds. Since it hadn't rained in Pomona since the beginning of March, the ground was extremely dry to say the least. With the help of several students throughout the day, we were able to clear the ground in one day -- putting us three days ahead of schedule
Since May is the hottest time of the year in Belize, we decided we would rather get up at sunrise and work until noon so that we wouldn't have to be outside during the times of extreme heat. Some mornings we woke at 5:20 a.m. and others at 4:30 a.m., but we usually were back to the jungle huts by lunchtime. Other students from different projects were willing to get up at sunrise and aid us in the garden. It really demonstrated the true reasons why we were here -- not for show or selfish reasons but to come together as one team and work alongside the Belizeans as needed. This project is a true partnership-combining the resources at the University of Arkansas with the needs/wants of Belize.

In the first week with help from about everyone on the trip, we were able to clear the land, build up the beds, and plant corn along the border of the garden. Basically, we took flat ground and turned it into what actually looked like a garden. It was an awesome feeling to see what we had accomplished in only four days, but there was still much more to be done. Since it was so dry, we had to water the garden with five-gallon buckets. We would fill the buckets with a pump without any water pressure and then carry them about 500 feet to the garden. We only had to do this for about three days because it started raining.

The first weekend in Belize we traveled to San Ignacio by the Guatemalan border. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I stayed at Cahal Pech (Home of the Ticks) -- with air conditioning!!! It also had three pools, hot tub, and wireless internet so needless to say I thought I was in heaven. On Friday night we walked around the town and ate at a local restaurant called Eva's where I ordered a hamburger -- my first American meal since leaving the states. On Saturday, four of us went cave tubing, which was amazing. We hiked up the jungle for about 30 minutes then floated through a cave for an hour or so. It was very relaxing and well needed since we worked so hard during the week in the garden. Also, later that evening we discovered a delicious bakery selling all kinds of American cakes and pies. That was my favorite part of the weekend.

When I arrived back to Dangriga on Sunday, we were told we would get Monday off too! So we spent the day with the engineering group in Steadfast at a beautiful waterfall. It was truly unlike anything I had ever seen. All my fears and doubts had completely disappeared by the end of my first week in Belize. I had no idea what to expect for the next three weeks but that was OK with me because I had already fallen in love with this place!

Posted by: Amanda Simpson
June 4, 2008

Yesterday was a very slow day because the highway was still closed due to flooding so we passed the time by playing cards and visiting The Pelican Beach Resort just a mile down the road. I learned how to play rummy and took pictures of the crabs since they were out a lot more lately. Locals keep saying that they go through floods like this every year, but it hasn’t been this bad in a long time. It hasn’t rained much here at all since Sunday night, but it is still raining inland so the river was still going up and down. I live on top of a hill at home and have never seen a flood affect people like this, so it was a new experience for me.

Today the agriculture group loaded into the “Pineapple,” the short yellow school bus, and made our way out to Pomona to check out the flood damage to the garden. But, we were pleasantly surprised. Our beds had held their own, even though Mrs. McCoon, the St. Matthew’s School principal, said the garden was underwater during the flood. We could tell that some seeds had been swept away so after building up the beds and digging better trenches, we planted more corn and okra where sprouts weren’t shooting up. My assigned crop was okra and I was excited to see that there were sprouts coming up, but we still had to fill in a few gaps. Cabbage, tomatoes and sweet peppers were all transplanted and were in good shape. It was amazing how much easier it was to use the shovels than it was the first week! Then we put Phyton on some plants and headed back.

School was “in session” today, but the attendance was zero. We are hoping to start our lessons tomorrow, or that enough students will be in school to teach our lessons. After seeing some of the damage done to homes on the way to the school that morning, I could see why some students wouldn’t come to school. If anything, we hope to at least have a meeting with the teachers tomorrow to discuss the sustainability guide.

I have been so impressed with the involvement of everyone in different groups; I think that all but a few other students and professors have been out to the garden at least once to help us. This is apparently a big change from last year where each project pretty much kept to themselves. So far, I’ve helped the HIV/AIDS group with tallying up surveys and gone out with the ecology group to see the waterfall and the work they have done.

Today my roommate, Jillian Harper, and I rented bikes from Val’s and that has been both fun and very beneficial because of going back and forth from our hotel to the Jungle Huts for breakfast and dinner. There are 10 days left for us in Belize and I hope to make the best of them!

Posted by: Brooke Jackson
June 3, 2008

How did I end up in the mix of two different tropical storms? I have no idea but it all began while I was sitting in Dr. J's class in the fall of 2007. During one regular class period, two girls who went to Belize for the summer gave our class a presentation over what they had accomplished. They encouraged students to participate in the agriculture project for the following summer. I thought anyone who would pay to go to a developing country with no hot water and no air conditioning to dig in the dirt for a month was absolutely crazy! I blew off the presentation and didn't think another thing about it; however, a few days later I got the same presentation in Dr. Popp's class. Once again, I really didn't even consider going to Belize. After that class as I was talking to Dr. Popp about a grade, he persuaded me to go talk to his wife about the trip to Belize. So to be nice I decided to walk down the hall to Dr. J's room.

As we sat and talked, I began to ask lots of questions about the trip to Belize. Suddenly I became very interested in traveling abroad over the summer term; however, I didn't think my parents would ever allow me to go to a country like Belize. Later, I discussed the idea with my parents, and I immediately signed up for the Belize global development class for the upcoming spring. I still wasn't dead set on actually going to Belize, but I was going to at least give the idea of going a try!

Throughout the spring course, I learned many facts about Belize and got to meet some amazing professors and fellow students at the University of Arkansas. Since I knew absolutely NOTHING about gardening even though I live on a farm, I had a lot of learning to do. I was introduced to many knew topics such as composting, seed vs. seedlings, and the steps for planting a garden. Out of all the students in the agriculture group, I was the most clueless of all.

Once classes had ended for the spring semester, I started packing and planning for traveling to Belize. I still wasn't convinced I would actually like my month stay in Belize! I knew this trip would open my eyes but I just wasn't fully aware to what extent it would. I came with the mind set that if needed I could always return home and this could be an experience of a lifetime. When I stepped off the plane in Belize City on May 18, I immediately knew that I wasn't in America anymore. Half of me wanted to get back on a plane and fly to Arkansas, but I knew if I did that I would regret it for the rest of my life, so I went through customs and emerged outside into the humid heat. The bus ride to Dangriga was somewhat of an adventure. The two-hour bus ride turned into five! Our bus broke down three times, and then our bus driver stopped on the side of the road to talk to his family. I hadn't ever seen anything like this before.

I surveyed my new room in which I would be living for the next month once I finally arrived to Dangriga after dark. My room reminded me of a jail cell: stark white sheets with white walls, white curtains, white doors and white pillows --- no color and very little space ( Later I sliced my leg over on my roommates bed but that's neither here nor there). And did I already mention we had ZERO air conditioning and Belize is unbelievably hot and humid in May? Well it really really really is the hottest, stickiest place I have ever been. So the first night in my new home, I lie awake in my bed for hours asking myself what I was doing here, and soon there after I knew the answer.

As we toured the city, I realized how much I have been given throughout my life. Young children were playing in the ditches without shoes on their feet and trash everywhere. Homeless people were sleeping on the streets while others were begging for money. Since I'm from a very small town in Arkansas, I had never witnessed anything of the sort. The houses looked more like outhouses or shacks then anything actually livable. Men would ride around trying to sell fruit to everyone they saw. Although I had been taught what Belize was like, nothing could have fully prepared me for this trip. Throughout the tour and this trip, I knew I was meant to be here to make at least a small difference in the world.

Posted by: Nilda Burgos
June 3, 2008

Last night I met with the students for the first time, after we had dinner.  They were all looking good, except for one who got car sick during the trip back to Dangriga.  You know how the drive is; and they got the fast driver.  We were looking forward to digging trenches first thing in the morning today, but we ended up being grounded in Dangriga.  The torrential rain poured even more through the night last night, accompanied by major thunder and lightning bolts.  Power was cut off every few minutes so it was hopeless watching TV.  I am afraid to plug my computer in because it might get fried.  It was also difficult to sleep while the wind was howling outside, thunderclaps jolting me out of bed every once in a while.  I have not experienced this kind of storm since I was back home, in the mountains of Cebu. The only thing better this time was that I stayed dry, inside a building that did not sway with the wind.

So this morning we learned that the highways are closed (because of overflowing streams), including Hummingbird.  We cannot go to Pomona. After breakfast the girls and I prepared the teaching materials while the boys tried to amuse themselves with a game of cards.  They were disappointed that we could not check the garden out today.

Jillian, Ashley J. and I walked around after that to hunt for some bean seeds that they can plant to use as demo material for Dangriga day, which is on June 7.  We found one cowpea and one red bean
variety.  I picked these because if the seeds are viable they should emerge in three to four days.  Jillian envisioned demonstrating different growth stages, but we do not have enough time to accomplish
that, anymore.  The seedlings will most likely be at the cotyledon stage by June 7. We will pick up some corn and okra seeds from the school, too to add to the crops for demo.  They were going to have
kids plant their own seeds on Dangriga day.  Mr. Usher at the Chaleanor was kind enough to give us some home-mixed potting medium, but I think we will need more for the kids planting on June 7.  I saw
some peat moss medium at Hummingbird, but they only have big bags, the smallest being $27.

Hopefully, the highways will reopen tomorrow.

Here is what the sea looks like now in Dangriga, and probably all of Belize.  I saw the shorelines starting to get murky during my flight to Dangriga last Satruday.  Today, there is no more difference between the color of the seawater and the flood water from the river.  That river by the Jungle Huts has crested now, it is starting to overflow by the Sweet Watah building.  The current is so strong. Meanwhile, the wind has calmed down and the rain has ceased. That is good.

Early this evening the river by the jungle huts has overflowed its banks and a strong rush of water is now forming by the Sweet Watah, deeper than it was this morning. Rachel and Shauna evacuated some of the students from the jungle huts to the Chaleanor.

Although we want to go to the school to check the garden, the farthest we can drive on the road is about four miles, according to Shauna and Rachel who checked the conditions this morning.  Part of the road is washed out.  If it stops raining, they can hopefully make the highway passable again.

I encouraged the students to work on their reports and review the lessons that they are going to teach.  If the schools around Dangriga reopens tomorrow, some of our kids may join the after-school program just to get a feel of how it goes when their turn comes next week.

This is all for now.

Regards,

Nilda

Posted by: Amanda Simpson
June 2, 2008

Week 1

Audrey McCoy modeling her gloves before they got dirty.

Stepping in front of a full-size hair dryer describes what it was like to get off the airplane in Belize City. Our group then immediately experienced the typical Belizean meal of chicken, rice and beans, which was for dinner as well. With the heat and repeated meals, I was a little nervous about a whole month here. But in the following days, more variety in the meals and not-as-hot weather (sometimes) eased my skepticism. Needless to say, the first week was the most I have been homesick so far because of a complete change of everything I was used to. I never thought I would look forward to a cold shower, but it turned out that was one of the few times I was not sweating. Communication internationally is a hassle, but one I was not aware of before now. I was lucky to be put in the Chaleanor, where they have wireless internet, which is a step up from the Jungle Huts where a majority of UA students are staying.

After a day of orientation, a meeting in Dr. J's room with air conditioning, and a meet-and-greet with the community, we went to St. Matthew's School to access what needed to be done on Day 3. We picked up Mr. Blades on the way there to have his expert opinion, and other than that, we pulled weeds which weren't as dense as the picture Edison had from spring break. The ground was extremely dry though since there had been no rain for two months plus the heat made a shower very necessary by the time we got back. The kids were amazing though! I was so shocked by how willing they were to help, even though most of the willingness probably came from the fact that they got to wear gloves or use the hand tools. We started to love hearing their lunch bell because it meant we were going to get some relief.

Day 4 was our “hard day.” We shoveled trenches and built up the rows. We tried putting water on the dirt to soften it up, but wasn't much help. We left early and were at the school by 7am which was definitely beneficial. The kids once again were a big help that day, and the Social work group also come out for some manual labor. Mr. Blades got to the garden around 9 a.m. with a load of citrus peels which stunk a lot even though Dr. Popp said it was nothing like last year. After those were spread on top of each mound, Raymond and Edison traded off with the tiller over each row. I tried using the tiller the first day, but after two rows, I had had enough of that. We got done with that by 11:30 a.m., way ahead of schedule, so we applied the rice hulls to the rows and used rakes to mix it in. We had a short meeting and were back in our rooms by 1 that afternoon. It was nice to have a free afternoon off at the beach after working hard all morning. The Peli

On Thursday, our group split up into a morning and afternoon group. I was glad I chose the afternoon group because everything had almost already been done. Plus we had the help of UA students in different projects. We dug holes and planted corn around the perimeter of the garden, then watered it once we were done. On Friday morning we got up to water and we made it back in time for breakfast at 7:30. After that, we were done and had the weekend to enjoy in San Ignacio at the beautiful Cahal Pech hotel!

I had been caving before in Arkansas, but the ATM cave was one of the best experiences of my life and I was very glad I decided to do it. We walked straight up the river the whole time through the cave and had to swim through parts of it. At the end of the cave we climbed up to a big room where the Mayan ruins where. Plus we hiked through the jungle to get there. This is a must while it is still available; in the matter of a few years, the cave will be shut down to tourists. It was amazing to be able to see that after studying it in high school. On Sunday, we went to Xunantunich to see Mayan temples and we ended up climbing to the top. Then it was time to get back on the bus and head to Dangriga. I went to a soccer game with a few friends and took some pictures of the cutest little boy ever doing the Punta, a local Garifuna dance usually done by the women. Kids love having their picture taken down here.

Week 2

Everyone working hard on our shoveling day, Dr. J was at it more than any of us!

Belize has several holidays and Monday was one so a group went to the waterfall in Steadfast. We squeezed 23 people on a little bus. It was funny but very hot. The waterfall was sooo pretty though! But I was the misinformed one who didn't know to wear a swimsuit -- so my heavy clothes had to work. But I jumped off the edge about 10 feet into the big “pool” area, climbed up the first waterfall, then climbed twice as far up to the second and third waterfalls -- barefoot. And I didn't fall at all until I got all the way back down to swim for a bit. That waterfall was very pretty and definitely worth seeing. After that, the whole group helped us water the corn and we were done in no time.

Our group had nightly meetings to decide what needed to be done on the next day and each of us have a little side project to do on our own. Audrey and I are going to talk to Deana at Val's about getting some household plants in her shop; she is wanting to add on a second story, but until then, wants to make the top floor prettier.

This week's work in the garden pretty much involved watering, making the rows “pretty,” and getting ready for planting day on Wednesday. Three of us had gone to Cablevision to put an ad on TV for the event last week, but on the day of, help was scarce. Mr. Blades explained to us that the local plant's hours had moved through to 6pm which is where most of the community worked. We still were able to move fast with some help from both the school and UA students and be completely done with planting and watering the entire garden in just a few hours. It was a very successful day that the Ag group celebrated with some Dangriga Pizza. The rest of the week involved planning out our lessons for the next week and explaining them to each other so we can all teach about each subject. In the mornings I went to Elena's workout sessions, and a lot of my spare time was spent at the Pelican laying out to relax and build up some sun so I didn't burn all at once in Caye

But Thursday night it became apparent that the weather would not allow us to go to the island. A tropical storm was on its way to Belize and we were going back to San Ignacio further inland and away from the storm. So I didn't get to snorkel but we were told we were going to Glovers' Reef the next weekend for a day trip of snorkeling. It's supposed to be very nice so I'm praying the weather will cooperate!

In San Ignacio for the second weekend, it was definitely a relaxing weekend. The rain was consistent throughout the whole weekend. I did some more souvenir shopping, got a massage and read my book. That was about it, all weekend. I was sorry for the other group who didn't get to go to the cave or the Xunantunich because the water was too high. Both of the groups missed out on what the excursions had to offer because of the rain, but it couldn't be helped. We did find through watching the Weather Channel that this little storm had turned into tropical storm Arthur, the first of the season.

Week 3

Today is Monday of Week 3 and we are seeing the effects of a tropical storm. The river is flooded, the ocean is brown far out to the horizon line, and the road we take to the Jungle Huts for breakfast and dinner is flooded in parts because it is right next to the river. The Hummingbird Highway is closed which means we couldn't go out to the garden today in Pomona, and all the schools are closed in Dangriga today too. This morning we sorted through our supplies and got ready for our lessons tomorrow, if the schools and roads are open. The weather has definitely taken its impact on our project so far, but we are making the best of it and our time here. I have gotten close to several in my group and other groups which is definitely helping us pass the time by playing cards and passing around our computers to check e-mail.

I am amazed at how much more I am learning about Belize just by being here. I haven't traveled abroad before, and after taking a whole semester about Belize, I have definitely learned more in the past two weeks just from being here than I had through lectures all of spring semester. It's an experience a classroom just can't replicate.

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