Getting Plastered

Sorry, but I've got to keep the post short tonight. This morning we worked at the orphanage. As you know if you've been following, the bags stage of the construction was finished last week and we began wrapping it in chicken wire. On Monday a lot of the other team members began plastering the outside while I was doing some other things. I helped today with the plastering process, which is kind of fun. You flick the plaster onto the building from your trowel with your wrist, then smooth it out. Here's some pictures:

The lighter layer was done on Monday. The darker layer is from today.

That building sure is getting plastered, isn't it? ;)

So, mud-flinging and smoothing was fun. Later we had computer classes. We taught them about online business skills, such as how to sell on eBay, etc. We are going to hold one last class with them on Monday to review all the skills we've talked about and implement self-learning techniques so they can continue to learn after we leave. They've been so much fun and the class has really grown in popularity. I plan the curriculum for each class, but we like to give one-on-one instruction, and today we needed four teachers, most with 2 students each to cover all our bases! 

Kyle gives some individual attention to Lancelot.

Besides all of that, my other work for the day was all more boring computer stuff again, like usual--just trying to get everything done for my main projects. 

Well, I told you it would be short today, but hopefully you enjoyed the update, especially on the orphanage construction process.

Crunch Time!

This picture of flowers is a happy way to start my blog. This is necessary because the paragraph you are about to read is full of a fair deal of vented frustration (albeit with a happy, resolved ending).

Sorry if my blog gets more and more sporadic. Things are really picking up here in Belize as we try to tie up all lose ends and finish our projects before we leave NEXT WEEK!!! I have been running around like crazy talking to businesses and council members trying to get all the pieces in place for my project in Succotz. I didn't mention this before, but now that things have been resolved I will tell you a "fun" story that happened with the Succotz project. On Friday night, hours after we'd put in the order for street signs, we got a call from Gilly, the council chair telling us that there was a sudden voice of political dissent on the council regarding the project. Now, I don't want to publish details or names all over the internet, but suffice it to say that while most of the council was on our side, there were some who had... other ideas and they called for a re-vote on clearing the street names to stall the project. So, we called the sign printer to put the order on hold until further notice while the council met that evening. Needless to say, despite the fun I had on the weekend I was rather distracted by the thought hanging constantly over my head that nearly everything I've worked for the last 5 weeks was hanging in the balance dependent upon a few political conflicts. I was mad. I really wanted to be at the meeting on Friday night, but looking back I'm really glad I wasn't because I probably would not have been pleasant. Instead, having had time to mull things over and put myself in a diplomatic mood, I met with the council, and specifically the dissenting voices thereon (I wish to make it clear again that the majority was in our favor all along). We had a great discussion and I was able to plead my case. It worked for the most part. They became very excited about the prospects of the project, in fact. Once again, I won't go into some of the original political motives that spurred this set-back, but ultimately where they found it easy to bash the project to their fellow council members, it was not so easy for them to look the project's architect in the eyes and bring up very many legitimate objections. Ultimately, their dissent was boiled merely down to a matter of the street names--which they've had opportunity to bring up for the past 4 weeks, but were silent! Nonetheless, as one of them in particular was a very important person to have on our side, I chose the diplomatic route and explained that we needed to get the signs printed ASAP but would give him 24 hours to make any suggested changes to the street names. When I came back tonight to get his suggestions, he was just beginning to make his list for the first time. (Have you ever wanted to hit your head repeatedly against a brick wall?) So, to insure that the job got done, Kyle and I sat down and watched him until he was done. He carefully weighed the name of EVERY street on the map for about five minutes and changed 40% of them (it would have been more, but I said NO to some of his proposed changes and I think he realized that he'd already looked the gift horse in the mouth long enough). Luckily, most of his name changes weren't too bad and some were actually very good suggestions (that would have been nice 3 weeks ago when we ASKED for suggestions!). Furthermore, in a further effort to appease me, he actually proposed switching 2 names around to give the name "Steve Kenworthy St" (named after my father) to a bigger and more important road! :D An hour and a half into the process Kyle had to leave, so he left me with his phone and I spent the rest of the night in Succotz on my own to finish my tasks. The name-changing game lasted another half hour after Kyle left. Anyway, patience paid off ultimately and all is a go once again, and all of the village council member are now on our side, which is very reassuring. Political loyalties can run deep in Belize, and it is very good news to see opposite ends of the spectrum unite over ANYTHING around here; I am glad to know that my project finally has such a unanimous approval!

I am only (barely) 23 years old, and sometimes I feel very young, like I still have lots of "growing up" to do. However, there are times when I feel so very adult-like. Facing off against a council member twice my age in a foreign country to defend a project I've poured hours and hours of time, energy, and concentration into definitely ranks up there in those "adult" experiences. Once all was settled I definitely had to pause for a moment and look around to see that this is the real life--is that ME doing these things? It's a weird feeling. I wonder if one ever grows accustom to feeling like an adult or if life's adventures continue to push one to more and more new experiences that  keep one wondering if it's for real. It is a weird feeling--this "adult" feeling, that is--that blends a happy sense of accomplishment with a wary sense of ever-pressing responsibility. When we were young, nothing we did truly mattered from a long-term perspective and even though it seemed like the entire world depended on Prom, we secretly always knew that our lives were completely care-free. It was a very free feeling, and I feel it less and less frequently now, but I think I like the greater depth of adulthood anyway.

Well, none of you came here to read rambling philosophical tangents, so I'll move on to more details from yesterday and today! But first, since I've addressed political matters in such a negative light thus far, I will balance with one happy political note: Sis. Medina won her election on Sunday to the San Ignacio/Santa Elena Town Council! She is now the first female Mormon in Belize to hold public office at so high a level! She will be an incredible member of the council.

Moving on now to other activities from yesterday and today, most of the first half yesterday was spent on the computer working on Succotz and Rainforest Haven (same today). Yesterday also had computer class and we taught them about email. Tomorrow will be our extra-long class on online business that all the students are extra-excited for. Computer class is definitely one of my favorite parts of being here. Our students are all very fun and intelligent and we've really been able to focus on useful skill in the class that will have lots of opportunity for use.

After computer classes, I headed to Succotz where I had my discussion with the dissenting council members, as mentioned earlier. We also did some final maintenance work on the adobe stoves and checked up on another stove that the village members have built all on their own at another location without any of our help! Isn't that great? They are building them for each other using the skills and design we taught them and now a healthier kitchen solution that vents harmful smoke out of the home is being employed at more and more locations in Succotz and the surrounding area without our having to supervise. I should have taken a picture of the new stove they built, because it also is very innovative and modifies the design brilliantly to accommodate specific circumstances. I'll get a pic next time I'm there.

Besides adobe stoves and my meeting with the council, I later met at the home of Jose Luis--one of the council members most supportive of our work and a good friend. (He's the one who's house is where we did Mackenzie's birthday after our tubing venture a few weeks back, and he often helps us out with anything we need when we're in Succotz). He had some additional business information for me to help the project. When I first got to his house, their adorable puppy, who was tied up, ran towards me but accidentally slipped and fell into the brand new 6-foot hole where Jose is going to install a septic tank and was essentially being hung by his own rope and collar. I jumped in the hole and saved poor little Negro (that's the puppy's name--it's Spanish, not racist). Their son Calvin wisely moved the stake where Negro was tied up to be a safer distance from the septic hole! By the way, Jose Luis has the two cutest kids in the world (at least for this paragraph). You've actually seen them before on the blog, but here's a new cute pic I got of them yesterday:

Calvin and Amy

Today, other than more computer stuff and the 2-hour street naming jamboree, Kyle and I visited some of the resorts near Succotz to solicit advertising for the brochure and had some positive responses. We also went to Benque Viejo Town to visit the print shop that is going to make the brochures for us. We go some samples printed, even though it definitely isn't done yet (after all, now I have to go back change half the street names!). The purpose of the samples was to see if the layout was correct for the folds and to see how the colors printed. Though they were only drafts, I must say I am very pleased with the quality of the print job! Take a look:

Now, the front pane on the folded pamphlet doesn't quite line up for the fold, so I need to adjust it. I also fully recognize that the front panel is as ugly as sin. Don't worry--it was a good concept gone terribly wrong and I intend to redesign it from square one (for the third time) tomorrow. However, the map looks gorgeous and We were very pleased. We are going to adjust a few colors on the map, but overall the design is just right!

After the naming meeting I attended (by myself--as you'll recall Kyle went back to San Ignacio during that meeting) I grabbed a quick bite to eat at Benny's kitchen (the best place to eat in Succotz, hands down) and then attended a meeting of the Environmental Youth Group of Succotz--a team of teenagers running an incredibly efficient and organized non-profit that is going to partner to build the up-coming Iguana Nursery for Succotz (similar to the one I toured a few weeks back). I was very impressed with how efficient they are and the initiative they show to get worthwhile projects done. If this group of young people (I was older than all 20 of them by at least 5 years--another one of those "old feeling" moments) is the future of Belize, then this nation is in good hands! After that meeting it was almost 8 (12 hour work days are exhausting!) and I took a Collective (long-distance taxi) back to San Ignacio.

The parrots who live at Benny's Kitchen in Succotz. Parrots can be either fun or annoying. These ones are domesticated, so they aren't so bad. The wild ones, you may remember from an earlier post, are the most annoying creatures known to man.

Meet the Team Part Five: Jacob Tonks

Once again I take some time for the recurring blog feature, "Meet the Team" to spotlight each team member one at a time so you can all learn more about the fantastic people I work and live with! Today's victim:

JACOB TONKS

Can you find the iguana? (Careful--I think he's trying to blend in with Jake's shirt!)

Jake is, I believe, the youngest team member (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Unlike the rest of us who have all gone to at least a semester of college, if not several years, Jake came here right out of high school! He starts his freshman year at BYU this next semester and after a year will then be going on his mission. Can you believe that? He's still a preemie and already off helping change the world! That says a lot about his character. Certainly he now has a lot of experience that will make him quite prepared for both college and a mission. He probably also hopes that it will help him in making a decision for a major. He is leaning towards political science right now, but we all know how things change once you get to school, not to mention serving a mission. 

Jake is a very funny guy and a blast to have as a roommate. He is extremely smart and very musically talented. In fact, outside the major construction and hard work projects we wear ourselves out with each day here, he takes some of his evening time on Thursdays to teach music classes to some of the local children along with a few other team members. He is going to try out for Men's Chorus for this next semester. I certainly hope he makes it in as it would be absolutely a blast to see him that frequently! I think he has a very good shot at making it, but I shouldn't say anything since I don't make the decisions! 

Jake is here along with his older sister Sarah, who will be spotlighted in another post (perhaps also written today). Seeing a brother-sister team like that made me wish that I could have brought one of my siblings along as well. Any one of them would have been great! :)

Waterfalls and Elections

Yesterday was, once again, our "day off" and we took a trip to do some jungle hiking and playing in some of the gorgeous waterfalls. It was peaceful and fun. Here's some fun pictures taken by myself and others depicting our escapades:

 Pretty landscape

 Pretty small waterfall 

 Pretty isolated pools of water near little waterfall

 Pretty sandy streams flowing to larger river 

Pretty Katie contemplating something on a rock

 Pretty natural garden formations

 Can you find the pretty little brown bird?

 Weird face carved into one of the rocks. Pretty sure this is NOT an ancient Mayan leftover, especially given the dreadlocks depicted.

 The foliage and these unusual purple spiked berries make for a nice nature shot

 Hiking to big rock falls

 Along the way we saw some horses

 Big Rock Falls

Big rock falls and me, wearing lucky hat, lucky shirt, lucky boots, and... jeans. (Sorry, the orange adventure pants were in the wash!)

Look at how intense we are. Yeah, we're totally tough like that.

Yay Team!

 This is my pull-you-in cute face for girls. 

 A lot of the faces in this picture are classic and just downright zany.

 Yay! Waterfall!

I give this waterfall two thumbs up!

So do Siskel and Ebert!

Okay, last shot of me, I promise!

Anyway, I figure the pictures tell the story much better than any words, so that's just about it for my report of yesterday! 

As for today, it was my last Sunday in the Santa Elena branch (very sad). Next week will be my last Sunday in Belize, but there will not be regular church due to the broadcast of the San Salvador El Salvador temple dedication. This will be the temple to service the saints in Belize now. The Guatemala City temple is actually closer, as is the soon to be dedicated Quetzeltenango, Guatemala temple, but Belize and Guatemala have never been on very good terms, and it is easier for Belizeans to make extended stay visits in El Salvador and Honduras (where yet another temple will soon be dedicated in Tegucigalpa). By the end of next year there will be 6 temples in Central America! The Church is very strong across this part of the world, though it is a little behind in Belize where the work started much later (1980) than the rest of Central America. The Belizean saints are still very excited for the temples being built and are confident that one day there will be a stake in Belize and eventually a temple as well. After the 3-hour block today I had my quick interview with Pres. Pinelo to recieve my...

...temple dedication ticket!

It wasn't too much of an interview. He mainly just asked to see my temple recommend and then asked if I was still worthy to have it or if there was anything I needed to clear up. When I showed him my recommend it blew my mind to realize that it is only good through the end of next month!!! Do I have a new item on the top of my priority list for when I get back to the states? Yes. Yes I do.

Church itself was great; a fantastic final week in Santa Elena Branch. The sister missionaries serving here spoke in sacrament and I got to teach the Gospel Principles class for non-members and recent converts. It was the lesson on the Holy Ghost and we had a fantastic discussion; everyone participated really well. One of the recent converts brought her non-member boyfriend Jamir for the first time, and he read along in the scriptures and seemed really interested, so the sisters will hopefully start teaching him this week. It made me miss my mission a lot (as this whole experience in Belize has). I'm just glad the Lord always has work for us to do! :)

On the way to Church we saw an unusual amount of commotion. Nobody usually is doing much of anything on Sunday mornings, but today is the local elections and so all the candidates were setting up booths around the voting stands on the main street in Santa Elena where we walk to get to Church. 

Getting ready for elections

The political system here in Belize is... interesting. I've had ups and downs dealing with some of the political struggles here, but it really isn't too different than the United States. On a positive note, Sis. Medina, one of the members from the Santa Elena Branch with whom we often have FHE is running to be on the Cayo Town Council. She is an amazing lady with strong goals for positive development of Belize. She also has had an amazing campaign. We've seen her posters and banners just about everywhere and we also have heard that she has gone door to door to talk with nearly everyone in her council region to talk about her ideas and goals and hear their point of view! I personally hope she's elected. If so, she'll also stand out as the first female Mormon to hold public office in Belize (to our knowledge)! 

One last cultural picture before I finish this post:

Click to zoom in and look at the sign on the store. The sentence at the bottom is in the Belizean Kriol language. This is a VERY common sign on the stores around here! "Dis da fu we chikin" means, roughly, "This is where we get our chicken", i.e., "Chicken sold here!" Kriol signs are the best, because the spelling has no consistency (some of these signs spell it "Dis du fi wi chiken") and you have to say it out loud to understand what it is saying, even in Kriol.

Some projects you haven't heard much about before!

Skipping days of blogging is dumb. Anyway, sorry for no post last night. I was tired and decided to sleep.

Let's begin with yesterday, then, shall we? The day began with a trip to a semi-distant village called Duck Run Three where we worked on the Soilet project (the one we formerly dug worms for, if you remember). I don't think I've ever given a very full description of the Soilet project (mainly because I haven't worked much on it). A soilet is an alternative to a septic tank which filters waste naturally breaking everything down into non-toxic byproducts including clean water. It first uses vermiculture (worms) to initially break the waste down and then passes it through a series of filters over time. Unfortunately, last year's team started but did not finish some of these units, so we've been not only building a new one, but finishing the job that should have been done last year, finding pieces in disrepair. The unit at Duck Run Three was one such unfinished job. The waste box where the filtration happens was built, but that's about it. The box looks like a Belizean coffin. Nobody in Belize is ever buried underground (I assume because of high water table concerns), so the cemeteries are all full of cement boxes above ground where the bodies are laid. The soilet box looks just like those. Our objective at this spot yesterday was to make needed repairs to the box, build a connecting outhouse, and (first) fill in an irrigation ditch and dig in on an alternative path since it ran through where we needed to build the outhouse. Many of the team members were there all day, but I was only there from 9 to noon and primarily worked on the ditch redirection committee, though I was then able to help start the outhouse construction for a short while before leaving.

 Digging the ditch. 

Lots of pesky roots got in the way and had to be sawed out (or else hacked away by the broad end of the pick by yours truly)

 Opening up the unfinished soilet box to see what condition it was in (it wasn't very good).

Can you find the frog we found inside? Can you find the hole in the wall of the box as well?

 Repairing the hole.

Beginning the outhouse frame. It will be built on stilts (like many buildings in Belize) to not only protect from floodwater but the drain properly to the soilet box.

At noon, Megan and I had to go to get some other project work done. We soon discovered that the return bus wasn't for another half hour, so we ate lunch at one of the restaurants run by the German Mennonites (they make really good food and ice cream!), who heavily populate the Duck Run Three area. In fact, we ate at their new location which had this sign out front:

 This is actually not incorrect in Belize. In America we'd say "Now Open," but in Belize they say "Now Opened." Likewise, I kid you not, the other day I saw a sign for a "Becoming Closed" sale at a store. It's always fun to go to other English-speaking places and still learn completely different ways of saying things. As another example, when you go to a restaurant in the US the cashier will probably ask if you'd like your food "To Stay" or "To Go." In Belize they say "To Have" or "To Take" respectively! This is quite confusing initially until you get the hang of it, because if the lady just asks "is this to have?" then you'll probably say "yes, of course I want to have it" even if you do in fact intend to take it away and eat it elsewhere.

After the relatively long bus ride back to San Ignacio and some quick showers (digging the ditch got us splattered in mud once the water started coming in) Megan and I then headed out on a long round of errands. We first needed to print off reports for yet another project you haven't really heard much about on this blog: the suicide study project. This project was done almost exclusively before I arrived. Basically, everyone around here talks about the crazy unusual spike of suicides among teenagers in the town of Benque Viejo (the town at the border with Guatemala, just 2 miles beyond Succotz) over the last year. Some of the team members in the last wave did an in-depth research project for school and public officials' use investigating the cause of the suicides. If you talk to people around here, almost everyone will tell you that the cause is related to witchcraft. The research project, which not only investigated some specific suicide cases but also interviewed nearly 400 teenagers in Benque Viejo, concluded that the primary root cause seems to be parental neglect among a number of other complex causes. Our task yesterday was to print off several copies of the final draft of the comprehensive report from the data and research and deliver the copies to various officials who work at the schools in Benque, the ministry of education in Santa Elena, and other positions of influence of those who work with teens in the area. Hopefully they will use the research wisely to develop better solutions rather than blaming witchcraft (note: the officials we worked with and delivered these reports are NOT among those blaming witchcraft!).

After dropping off the reports we made a stop in Succotz on the way back to talk with a few officials and business owners about some Succotz Revenue project details. We made it back to San Ignacio again just in time for dinner. As Mama Kay is still out of town, we've been eating out all week and had a wonderful meal of rice and fish with a special sauce at one of our favorite restaurants, Cenaida's. 

Dinner at Cenaida's!

After I ate dinner Katie had to do her running so I went to the park and then we ended the day doing another Karaoke party--very fun! 

Today was another computer day mostly, though we did a little at the orphanage this morning. I am happy to announce that we have finished the bag step of the construction process!

Ta-da!

Top of the dome, viewed looking up from inside.

Can you find the white tree frog? He was just sitting inside, asleep and matching in with the bags!

The next step was to begin preparing for plastering by filling the foundation with dirt and then wrapping the whole building in chicken wire, as shown. Unfortunately, we ran out of chicken wire and will have to get more and finish wrapping it and then plaster it all next week--our last full week in country!

The rest of my day today was full of on-the-computer project work. Some was for Succotz, some was for the Rainforest Haven project, working more on the website doing a lot of underpinning HTML code. Fascinating to me, probably boring to you. Anyway, that's my report for another 2 productive days in Belize!

Futbol!

Today was great but largely another computer day. Today's post will be especially brief.

I worked a lot on the Succotz tourist map and have a preliminary draft done that I'm very pleased with. It reflects a lot of the data gathered in our recent "business tracting" venture in Succotz, organized and filtered for the most relevant entries and information. Take a look:

Can you find Iguana Rd?

We also had computer class and it went great! We started teaching about the internet today and how it can be used as a tool. Most of our students are adults who sell various things, often to tourists, and already are seeing the benefits of selling online. As they've done so well on everything so far, we decided that next Wednesday we are going to devote the entire class time to how to start a small online sales presence via eBay, Amazon, and social networking. This is all very exciting as it shows how our efforts at teaching these computer classes will not just give our students a mediocre introduction to computers in general, but real skills for application that will allow them to raise their standard of living.

In the evening, Katie had 7 more miles to run for the day to keep up with her Olympic-prep training schedule. I was her escort to the park and while there I ran into Pres. Lemos from the San Ignacio Branch of the LDS Church and his wife. It is fall futbol (soccer) season and he plays for San Ignacio United, one of the regional teams. These are very intense leagues, somewhere between intramurals and minor leagues in the U.S. From all of my observations, these leagues are a great blessing to Belize. Generally, the men who play on them tend to learn rigorous work ethics that translate into career habits since the leagues themselves don't pay so they have to make their living in other ways. It is a positive outlet for the men that can keep many of them from getting involved in gangs or drug rings. President Lemos is a really amazing man (and not too many years older than myself) and from what I can tell, the futbol leagues tend to be full of men of similar caliber. Tonight he and the others on their team began practice for the fall season and were setting up a bunch of cones and stakes to run maneuvers. So, I helped them set things up while chatting with Pres. Lemos and his wife as Katie ran her 7 miles (which only takes her 45 mintues--a consistent 6 & 1/2 minute mile pace and she never runs her fastest while just doing training runs). Anyway, it was great to chat with Pres. and Sis. Lemos, as they are both wonderful people. The evening made me wonder if Succotz has a team in the league and what a blessing that could be to their community.

These are the cones and pegs we set up.

Here are the players for San Ignacio United Futbol team, practicing their drills. Pres. Lemos is #4 in Blue.

I told you it would be short!

Meet the Team Part Four: Megan Swan

So, with only two weeks left in Belize, I'd better pick up the pace on these "Meet the Team" posts or I'm going to run out of time to get to everyone! Today's victim, in part four of this continuing blog feature...

MEGAN SWAN

Megan is one of our 2 country directors here in Belize and thus a valuable asset to the team as a very organized and caring leader. She gets along with everyone and does a fantastic job or organizing a lot of the little details that often go unnoticed and under-appreciated but which are vital to the smooth operation of our projects here in Belize.

Megan, like Katie who I profiled earlier, is also a dual citizen of both the US and Canada, having been born in Canada and then moving to Texas when 10. She was officially sworn in as a US citizen last summer. Her family currently lives in Malaysia! She is one of those beautiful mixed-race girls, having a Japanese mother and white father, a combination I've seen multiple times and which oddly always ends up looking Hispanic. In fact, she can easily pass herself off as a native Belizean.

She is very witty and also very smart. She just graduated this last winter semester from the Marriott School at BYU with a degree in Management with an emphasis in HR. When she's done here in Belize, she already has a job lined up to work at the Washington D.C. branch of Price-Waterhouse Cooper! 

One last note about Megan: she is very thoughtful. Back when I was sick, she left got me some soda crackers and ginger ale and made sure I was taken care of quite well. I can tell she is always looking for similar opportunities to help out the various members of the team and is constantly aware of their needs.