Saint Barnabas-post #2

To say that we’ve had a great two weeks would not do our time at Saint Barnabas justice!

Since coming at to Saint Barnabas, we’ve felt nothing but love and hospitality at the school, making our time teaching incredibly enjoyable.  We’ve finished three weeks of teaching at Saint Barnabas, focusing on a different ecosystem in Belize each week. So far we’ve covered rainforests, savannas and mangroves.

Megan, Marcella, Idalia and Tamara with their mangrove diorama

This past week we held a “Feel Good Day” which focused on trying to create a learning community for the Standard 6 students at Saint Barnabas. Going along with the school’s desire to give the oldest children responsibilities, we had the Standard 6 students cook and serve a meal for the Standard 5 students. They made us proud with their Emeril Garcia- like cooking skills. The “Feel Good” day also featured a nature solo; time dedicated for each individual student to spend time in nature, enjoying it in whatever way they felt was best. This time was also used to collect natural materials to create a mangrove diorama, which featured the different  species of mangroves, as well as the creatures that inhabit them.

Giovanni and Idalia working on the salsa

It's hard to believe but this upcoming week is our last week at Saint Barnabas! We’re excited to end strong  by teaching about coral reefs and going on our field trip to the Community Baboon Sanctuary!

The gang on their way to the creek for their nature solo

Tiil the next time we write,

Saint B’s Group (Diana, Alyson, and Mel)

News from Faith Nazarene

It has been a very productive two weeks!

On Saturday we finally constructed our first raised-bed garden and today we finally collected all of the resources we need to start planting and growing!

Getting the Lumber:
Dan and Jay went on an eventful trip to the lumber yard. We were able to get the lumber donated to our project, but unfortunately that meant we would be working with odd scraps of wood that were all different shapes and sizes. They attempted to get the wood home by strapping it to the roof rack on Meg and Jay's rental car. Upon piling the lumber onto the roof rack, it snapped! Luckily, Dan and Jay were able to recruit one of the lumber yard employees to drive the lumber to Faith Nazarene in his truck.

Molly and Julia getting a tour in the buggy from Mick

Constructing the Garden:

Dan nailing down gardening fabric with Myran and Adonias

Once we got the lumber we were ready to build...sort of. When we started construction on Saturday, our spirits were low.  To tell the truth, we were very unsure about our abilities to complete the bed. None of us have very much experience with construction (and by not very I much I mean NO experience). Not only were we inexperienced, but we were unsure that the lumber we had would be efficient for our purposes. We had already decided that our original plan to make two beds was unrealistic given our limited resources. The process started slowly...We were using borrowed tools: two hammers, and one saw so dull you could saw your skin without even nicking yourself. Luckily, Jay went out and bought us a new (sharp) saw and the work really picked up. We slowly started to feel more confident in our abilities and after hours of work and really bad sunburns (despite applying sunscreen) we were finally done! We were astonished by how well our finished product looked.

Finding Soil:


Julia with our brand new transplants!

 Originally, one of the women from the Faith Nazarene PTA, Mrs. Elia, had volunteered to let us dig up soil from her farm. The only catch was we needed a truck. After asking around for weeks if anyone could lend us a truck, we eventually decided that our best option was to carry the soil in bags in the back of Meg and Jay's rental car. When we called Mrs. Elia to come by her farm for the soil, she was unavailable and suggested we use the soil by the river instead (soil from construction projects around San Ignacio gets piled by the river). We took Mrs. Elia's advice and filled up several bags with the dirt from the river. We then brought them up to the school, where some of the kids from class offered to help us fill the garden with it. We laid down a short layer of sand at the bottom to allow for drainage. When we went to put in the soil we had taken from the river and were disheartened to see that our "soil" was really more like clay. That wouldn't do! So we decided to put off our soil issue for a little while.

Green house at Mick's organic garden

Acquiring Transplants:
Mick Fleming is an angel! We were lucky enough to have Mick Flemimg, the owner of Chaa Creek (the resort we stayed at for our first 4 days in Belize), donate some small, already blooming plants to our project. Julia, Molly, and Jay took a trip to Mick's organic garden in order to collect the transplants. Mick gave us a tour of his garden on a little buggy while Landy, his garden manager, boxed up some transplants for us. We got a great variety of plants including basil, mint, chaya, plantains, chocho, and coconut palms. He even gave us bags of his home-made compost (YAY, soil problem fixed!...with the addition of some soil we bought). The day was great and left us feeling ready for transplanting our plants into the garden with our class tomorrow!

-Molly N., Dan D., and Julia S.

Mary Open Doors Update!

Along with all of the other service-learning groups, those of us working at Mary Open Doors (Jordan W., Storm L., and Hayley W.) have had a very busy couple of weeks! We have been working almost every day to develop a campaign titled "Domestic Violence and the Link to HIV/AIDS" which will be distributed to the rural villages in the Cayo district of Belize.  Domestic violence is a HUGE problem in Belize, as approximately 7 in 10 women report being abused in a past or current relationship.  Similarly; the HIV/AIDS rate in Belize is currently over 2%, the highest in Latin America!  So far, we have created:

-A flyer to advertise the date/time/location the presentations
-A PowerPoint presentation which defines domestic abuse, explains women's rights in Belize, describes the importance of a safety plan, informs women about the link to HIV/AIDS and lists all of the available resources in Belize
-A pamphlet with information about domestic violence and the link to HIV/AIDS and available resources
-An emergency contact card (with a list of relevant organizations and phone numbers) which will be handed out at the presentations

Since about half of the villages surrounding San Ignacio are primarily Spanish speaking, we also have been working to translate everything into Spanish. Luckily we have some Spanish speaking friends around town!

Jordan working with our friend Johnny to translate the pamphlet into Spanish 

The first presentation is scheduled for Thursday March 22nd in the village of San Antonio. We have been working very closely on this campaign with the two women who run Mary Open Doors, Mrs. Carmen and Mrs. Anna. They are both very passionate about this project and help us in any way they can.  Below is a picture of the three of us working with Ms. Carmen outside of Martha's (our usual breakfast spot)

We are also starting to sell raffle tickets to help Mary Open Doors raise money for a carnival/fair they are going to be throwing in May. This carnival will help raise awareness about domestic violence in Belize.  Unfortunately we aren't going to be around for the event...but we trying our best in the next couple of weeks to fundraise for them.  We are also attempting to create an AlertPay account (a program similar to PayPal) so that they can easily access (much-needed) donations.  We've got a lot on our plates but we're really excited about our project we can't wait to see how the first presentation goes on Thursday! We've been working hard and we're learning a lot so until next time...Thank you for your continued interest and support!

  From left to right: Storm, Hayley, and Jordan at our "home away from home" Mary Open Doors

The Scoop on Barzakh Falah

Things are picking up for the Barzakh crew as we continue to work on building a low-element challenge course for at-risk youth in Belize. Over the last two weeks our team has taken on a number of projects. We started putting together a needs assessment to better understand the community need for a challenge course as a therapeutic outlet for women and children who have undergone abuse or neglect. We have also begun a 'games & activities curriculum' that Barzakh can use when they run their "fun camps" for mothers and children. The curriculum will be filled with low-infrastructure games that help build self-esteem and teamwork skills, as well a section that provides information on future structures that can be built into the challenge course. Our last project consists of designing and constructing a challenge course structure that Barzakh can use.

Here's our main design for the structure so far.....

"The Hexagon"

       "The Hexagon" will consist of 6 sides, each with its own challenge for the children to complete. Some of the challenges we plan to build are a suspended log bridge, a wire traverse, a swinging tire traverse, a hanging ropes traverse, and possibly a ropes net.
        We have also set up "The Hexagon" so activities can be added to it by future volunteer groups. Some of these plans include  a 15 foot high climbing wall, and a possible zip line that will run from a nearby tree to one of the hexagon's poles. The structure will have a diverse range of uses.

 This Monday, the crew went out to Barzakh to begin building our hexagon. We spent the morning digging holes, gathering and smashing rocks, and wheeling loads of sand. And that was the easy part! By early afternoon we were ready to raise the 18 feet high poles that will act as the corners of our hexagon structure. With the combined brute strength of the Barzakh crew (along with some tricky maneuvering of  Jaime's truck) we were able to erect 4 out of the 6 poles. By the end of the day, our bodies were tired but our spirits were high knowing how much we accomplished in just one day!

3 guys, 3 girls and a truck.... that's how you raise some poles!

Breaktime Fun w/ Barzakh

As always, the Barzakh Crew likes to mix in a little fun and laughs with our hard work. During our breaks we enjoyed each others company under the shade of a giant tree. Jaime always brings our crew the most refreshing ice-cold drinks. This week we enjoyed fresh squeezed lime juice while we joked and laughed about the great times we've had working with Jaime and Nancy at Barzakh Falah!

We look forward to the next few weeks; we will be working on completing our hexagon structure and the games curriculum for the "fun camps" that Barzakh will be hosting in early April. Our only regret is that we won't be here to play the games with the kids! I'm sure we'll work some time into our busy schedules to test out all the games ourselves... ;)

The B.F. Crew,
-Julia P., Dylan E., John N, Demelza L, and Heather S.

St. Barnabas Environmental Education

A big hello from the members of St. Barnabas!

Earlier this week three students, Alyson Wall, Melanie Daly and Diana del Solar, began teaching an environmental curriculum at St. Barnabas Anglican School. The school, which is located in Central Farm, is home to 115 primary school students. The University of Vermont has been working with St. Barnabas for five years now and the 2012 group is excited to continue working with the school. Already we have been able to develop a great relationship with the
wonderful teaching principal, Joyce Shaw.

While at St. Barnabas, our group will be working with the 12 Standard 6 (the equivalent of 7th or 8th grade) students and teaching them about the different ecosystems of Belize. We will be focusing on rainforests, savannas, mangroves and coral reefs, highlighting the organisms, habitats and environmental threats of each system. This project will not only provide students with environmental literacy, but it will also prepare them for the science portion of the Belize National Selection Exam administered at the end of March. We have plans to make activities and lessons interactive in order to make learning fun and engaging. We are already planning a visit to Community Baboon Sanctuary!

So far we have loved our time with the students. Each day we are impressed with their knowledge, focus, and enthusiasm. We look forward to the next few weeks!

-Alyson, Mel, and Diana

Greetings from Faith Nazarene!

The boy's team rocking Celtics' jerseys and kicking some serious butt!

Hello subscribers,

The Faith Nazarene group (Dan Devlin, Molly Nagel, and Julia Stratton) has hit the ground running.  We arrived in San Ignacio January 31st and met with our project partners: Mrs. Pech (principal) and Miss Patty (standard 4 teacher) on February 10th.  Our project entails teaching nutrition, gardening, and basic plant biology to standard four (ages 10-12) at Faith Nazarene Primary School.  Our mission is to construct two raised garden beds which will be used to complement class lessons and provide an extra food source for the school cafeteria.

Awesome picture of the girls team running back down court after a score!

We took on a new challenge when we met Miss Terry, the athletic director at Faith Nazarene.  She informed us that the boys and girls basketball teams had qualified for a basketball tournament in the capital of Belize, Belmopan.  At their request and to our great pleasure, we were recruited to aid in coaching them.  The team had only two weeks to prepare for the tournament!  The day before the competition, the UVM crew scrimmaged the Faith Nazarene teams.  Both the UVM and FN teams had mad ballin’ skillz.  The next day we were all (Molly, Julia, Dan, and both teams) off to the games! The girls were undefeated after all four games, and the boys only lost one game out of four.  NINE HOURS OF BASKETBALL, YUSSSSS.

Jordan and Julia scrimmaging agaisnt the girls team

Once acquainted with both Mrs. Pech and Miss Patty, we requested a meeting with the PTA.  Three hours later we were discussing future plans for our garden.  The PTA was more than willing to help, but not everything comes for free.  After the meeting, the PTA had arranged for us to help mix and pour concrete at the school the coming Friday. 

Dan and Julia mixing concrete with the PTA

            We sat in on our first class Monday February 27^th.  We introduced ourselves to the students and explained our intentions for the next four weeks that we will be in their class.  After the brief introduction, we handed out observation journals for the children to decorate.  The purpose of these journals will be for the students to write down observations, measurements and sketches of the plants they will be growing starting next Monday.  The kids were full of energy to say the least.

            It is sure to be an exciting yet busy month and we are happy to report that our project is off to a great start!

-Dan, Molly, and Julia

Mary Open Doors!

A warm hello from Storm Leland, Jordan Walsh, and Hayley Williams over in San Ignacio, Belize. We have jumped into our work at Mary Open Doors (MOD) with much enthusiasm.  Many Open Doors is one of only two domestic violence shelters and resource centers in all of Belize. Mary Open Doors was started in 2008 when Ms. Anna Silva realized the need for a safe house that women could go to in order to escape abuse. Mary open Doors has been run by Anna, a leading example of a strong woman and community advocate ever since.

This year MOD received funding from the "International Friends of Belize" to address the needs of woman in rural communities through an awareness campaign.  The campaign we create will be presented in 32 villages around the Cayo district. The project is attempting to address two major issues, the link between HIV/AIDS and domestic violence and the lack of knowledge and access to resources available to help women seeking safe alternatives to abusive partners. Women who are subjected to domestic violence in remote villages are oftentimes unable to escape their situations because they are unaware of the resources available to help them. Our role in this project is to create a powerpoint presentation which does the following:
-defines domestic abuse
-educates women about the link between domestic violence and HIV/AIDs
-informs women about their rights under Belizean law
-discusses women’s empowerment.

We will also provide each woman with a list of relevant resources to address their needs (through a pamphlet and an emergency contact card). Finally, in order to ensure that the presentations are well attended, we are going to create flyers to promote the campaign.

We are extremely excited and passionate about the work we are doing at Mary Open Doors and the learning opportunity that has been presented itself. Updates to follow! 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"

Peace and love, 

Storm, Jordan, and Hayley