Photos

Playing with Delia, a Mayan girl I met at the bus stop in Laguna Government Village, Toledo.

Skeletons in the Aktun Tunichil Muknal Cave



Teaching at Christ the King School in Dangriga, Stann Creek.

Aktun Tunichil Muknal

This past weekend being a long weekend here in Belize as well (go commonwealth!) the entire team headed off to San Ignacio, a beautiful town not far from the Guatemalan border. The team went off to do some cave tubing, and I headeded off on a little adventure of my own to Aktun Tunichil Muknal, Mayan for Cave of the Stone Sepulchre ... ATM as the locals call it. ATM is an archaeological treasure in the heart of the Belizean jungle. After a 1 hour hike to the entrance of the cave we swam in pristine saphire coloured water to reach the beginning of our real adventure. The cave was used in ancient times by centuries of Mayans to perform bloodletting ceremonies, make offerings to the gods and make sacrifices. We crawled over giagantic rocks, squeezed through tight spaces and waded through chest-deep water all while admiring the amazing rock formations that surrounded our every move. Stallagmites (on the floor) and stallactites (on the ceiling) formed cathedral like walls around us and above us. Thousands of years of tiny drops of water all combined into one amazing sight. After about two hours of caving, we climbed up into a more secluded area of the cave to find the floor littered with broken clay pottery. One tiny step in the wrong direction and you could easily step on an ancient piece of history. Mayans would bring the beautifully crafted clay pots into the site and break them in honour of the gods. Some even contained detailed carvings on the side depicting the gods. The most fascinating part of the caves were that they were used for human sacrifices. 16 different skeletons were found inside- most of children under the age of five. The skeleton after which the cave was named after is found in one of the uppermost regions of the cave and has been partially coated with deposits of calcium carbonate from years of lying in the cave. It was an amazing sight! And I met a lot of neat people on the tour as well, including one woman who became the "team mother" making sure everyone knew where the sharp rocks and dangerous turns were. It was an amazing trip, one which has apparantly also been chronicled by national geographic.

The teams split again with my foursome staying here in San Ignacio to teach in the Cayo district. Yesterday we trekked our way to St. Martin's school in a tiny town called Blackman Eddy only to find that the principal wasn't expecting us and also wasn't the person on our information sheet. We soon realized that we were supposed to teach at St. Martin's school in Belmopan, the country capital. So we hopped on the bus and did our best to teach at the right school for the rest of the day. Because of Cayo district's proximity to the Guatemalan border, we've found that most of the kids are hispanic so it provides us with new challenges when we teach. My favourite part of teaching is by far the question and answer period. This is when we experience the funniest and saddest parts of the project. Today during the session Katie picked up a paper with a question on it and read aloud "Will..you..marry me?" We looked up, turned to each other and simultaneously said "uhh no" much to the delight of the class. Unfortunately we also received a question saying "What happens if a nine year old girl is being sexually abused and right afterwards she gets her period for the first time?" It is sad to have to tell someone that what she thought was her first period may have very well been the result of internal bleeding. But we are providing them with numbers for all the services and maybe a little bit of hope for something better.

The weather here has been cooler as the rainy season sets in a little early. Mangoes are ripe and we have been trying some new fruits including one fuscia one called pitaya. Hard to believe we've allready been here for three weeks! Looking forward to the next four and thinking about everyone at home!

Condoms in church??

We have had a wonderful week here in Punta Gorda. Teaching in the mayan villages was quite an experience, but I must say that the most memorable teaching experience so far happened yesterday right here in town. We arrived at Punta Gorda Methodist School in the afternoon and spoke with the principal. Unlike almost every principal we have encountered so far she was completely comfortable with us talking about everything from condoms to birth control to homosexuality. They decided that because we were short on time they would combine the three older grades and do one giant lesson in responsible sexuality. We thought this would be a little challenging to handle a large group of giggly pre-teens but went along with it anyway. Lacking a large enough classroom they also decided to hold the session in....get this...the church! So we set our demo condoms on the altar, our penis diagram in the bible, filled the pews with kids and set off on one of the best presentations ever! The kids loved it and even the teachers wanted to know more after our presentation. It was pretty funny though...there's something so ironic about teaching contraception from the front of a church! We're off for a few days as it is a long weekend! Hope everyone is enjoying May 2-4 at home!

Punta Gorda and around...

On the way to Placencia to meet up with the other half of our group on the weekend, the four of us decided to stop by the Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary home of the highest density of jaguars in Central America. We went hiking up in the rainforest and saw all kinds of neat plants and wildlife. We also scored free dinner from a group of senior birders who were also staying there. Anyone who has traveled on a budget will know that free dinner is worth its weight in gold...especially when you're eating peanut butter every day (although we have gotten creative with a banana hot dog with peanut butter).

The night was a long one. I spent very little of it sleeping and much of it listening to the birds chirp or convincing myself that the pack of jaguars growling at the decibel level of a lawnmower wasn't going to eat me if I had to make the trek to the outhouse 500 yards away. Somehow I survived the night and found out that the growls were actually from pekaries a type of wild pigs.
In the morning we hiked up another trail in the jungle and went swimming in the basin of a waterfall. We hiked to a peak that overlooked the entire jungle. It was beautiful! We also saw a jungle snake on the hike down...that was NOT so much fun.

We then made our way to Placencia, a touristy beach location to meet up for the weekend. Placencia is known in the Guiness book of world records for having the smallest main street--only 3 feet wide. There is one other normal main street and the rest of the town is sand. We sat out on the beach, went snorkeling (until we realized that the only wildlife we saw was jellyfish) and listened to the stories of the other 4 travelers.

We have now been in Punta Gorda for a few days. The town is more vibrant and exciting that Dangriga and our teaching has been a little more interesting too. The past two days we have been busing out to remote Mayan villages to teach. And by busing I really mean busing and hitchiking in the back of banana trucks or whatever car happens to pass by. Some of these places give new meaning to the word remote! Most of the schools only have two or three classrooms and all the villagers live in thatch huts with dirt floors. We even got to tour one of them. All the children wear uniforms or their best dresses and most don't have shoes. They are also a very different bunch to teach as they don't participate at all, a totally 180 from the kids in the city. But they were very intrigued by us and I ended up making friends wit ha 3year old mayan girl while we were waiting for the bus. She was adorable and we played for nearly and hour...she wasn't too pleased when we had to get on the bus... For most of the ride I chatted with a menonnite girl about my age who was heading into town. That was really interesting.

We are now off to teach another school this afternoon in town! This weekend is a four day weekend and we're thinking of heading to Guatemala! Should make for some exciting stories.

Good morning Miss Anne!

This was our first week of teaching, and what a week it was! We showed up to our first school a little nervous but we left all smiles! The children here are wonderful. A dream compared to Canadian students for sure. Before every class we are greeted in chorus: "Good morning Miss Anne and Mr. Kyle! Welcome to standard 5!" They are then seating calmly in their maroon and white uniforms and are quiet...for a bit anyway...because the minute I say penis for the first time the class errupts in squeals and laughter. Oh I remember the days when hearing the teacher say penis was a funny thing too so I can only smile and wait until they hear erection...then we're in trouble. The lesson is a huge success! The kids love our boys vs. girls trivia games and are captivated and shocked to hear about some of the changes they are going to experience in the next few years. We've also been teaching responsible sexuality, HIV/AIDS discrimination, sexual abuse and child abuse.

I think my favourite part of the lessons are the Q&A portions. It really lets you know that you are making a difference. My personal favourite experience was during a puberty lesson. One girl shyly passes up her question: "Can you get pregnant if you've had sex only three times?" My teaching partner Emmi loudly announces..."You can get pregnant if you've only had sex ONCE!!!" The girl looks shocked. Her eyes open wide and she slaps her forhead in disbelief. Clearly we are at least preventing an early pregnancy in one person's life. In one class we tried desperately to make our voices heard over a class of older children next door practicing their native Garifuna drumming and singing about rice and beans.

So lots of happy memories are starting to develop, but also some sad ones.
The kids love to get involved in our teaching. They yell out every person they know when we ask for examples of people they could tell if they are being abused. During one of our child abuse sessions we explained that physical abuse is when someone hurts you and it leaves a mark on your body. One kid was so excited to participate he raised his arm as high as he could and with a beaming wide smile yelled "LIKE THIS!! LIKE THIS!!" pointing at the 4 inch frankenstein scar on his arm. We spoke to one teacher who said that sexual abuse within the family is common place and that although he constantly tells the administration, nothing is ever done.

We leave tomorrow for Placencia, a beautiful beach town for the weekend and then down to Punta Gorda in the south for a week. I can honestly say that ths experience is turning out to be 1000 times more incredible than I could have ever imagined. It is clear we are making a difference in many children's lives and many children are making a difference in ours.

Initial adventures

After a long, but relatively uneventful day of flights, Katie and I landed in beautiful Belize! It is incredibly hot here...with humidity like I've never seen. Belize city was our first stop. The first thing I noticed about Belize is that everyone is reeeeally nice. So nice that my inner traveler warning lights were going off. That's really great you'll be taking us to a cheap hostel...but what will you be taking from my bags? Haha... It took me a few days to realize that the people here really are that nice and in general they're not trying to swindle you into accepting some "special deal".

My first impressions of the city itself were a little disappointing. Because it is on the coast, the city is periodically ravaged by hurricanes, and for the most part is looks like they don't bother making repairs and just keep on living in whatever is left of the building that once stood in its place. The farther you move away from the city centre though, the more upscale the buildings become, moving from small run-down wooden shacks to well built cement homes with pastel painted walls. The city is built around a swing bridge that crosses an ocean tributary. It is rotated entirely by hand, and anyone who is around at the time is expected to help out. Streets of the city are lined with water-fillled gutters the kids play in and signs of "AIDS, don't turn your back on it" compete for space with the "Only abstinence protects love" signs. There is clearly a lot of awareness about the problem... it's just a matter of how useful it is in its goal.

The first few days Katie and I met with our contacts in Belize. We found out that despite having prepared to teach 3 of our 5 kits to highschool students we have only been booked into primary schools. We had to make some major changes and we won't know if they work until we try! Here's hoping! We also found out that kids here are often sexually active by age ten and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wasn't at age 15. We also found out that girls who get pregnant essentially have no options. Abortions are illegal, and those performed underground often result in gross infection or infertility. Adoptions are virtually unheard of and are usually the result of foreigners who are looking for kids. Needless to say we are here to teach about responsible sexuality as more of a preventative measure.

Since arriving, Katie and I have eaten several times at a great restaurant called Nerie's. Rice and beans is the fare of choice- not to be confused with beans and rice which is a different meal. In an interesting test of practicing what you preach, I noticed that the arms of our young energetic waitress were covered in white sores. This is often a sign of HIV/AIDS. An initial discomfort sits in my stomach...but reality also hits. We are here to teach people about AIDS discrimination, we have a skit about a person with HIV in a restaurant being refused service. This is where it all starts...I stop and calmly review the facts: HIV can only be transmitted by blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breastmilk. It's a common misconception, but you can't get AIDS from a fork. I sit back, relax and enjoy a great dinner of rice and beans. We returned several times for more delicious food and the friendly face of my favourite waitress.

Thursday, Katie and I picked up the remaining travelers and we headed off to Caye Caulker for a relaxing weekend of bonding. The Caye was ripped in half a few years ago by a hurricane and now lies in two pieces. Dreads are the hairdo of choice and everyone seems to think we are "special, attractive girls". We ate dinner at a local place with a local character named Maurice who cooked up the catch of the day. We swam in the ocean, practiced our teaching and laughed at Kyle and Ian who returned to their boyish roots chopping coconut and chasing crabs. We have since returned, split into two groups and headed off to our first teaching towns. We start Tuesday... I'm getting hot....time to jump in the sea!