It’s hard to believe that our time here in Belize is already half over. We have been keeping ourselves pretty busy between working with Hillside and seeing the surrounding countryside on our weekends off. We wrote that last blog entry while resting at a resort in a more “touristy” location within Belize, Placencia. It is a small seaside town about 1 ½ hours north of where we are staying. It was a nice, relaxing weekend spent snorkeling around the coral reef off shore and resting in a cabana by the beach.
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Monday we were back to Hillside and ready to work again. David has continued to help weld the hurricane shutter brackets and help around the campus as a general handyman. He has also been trying to assist Everet, the campus caretaker, in getting some of the vehicles fixed. Hillside has a limited number of vehicles and when one of them needs repair, it puts the whole operation in a bind. Apparently, the right automotive parts can be difficult to find as Everet has ordered three different rotors for this truck and none of them have worked. Be grateful if you live around the corner from an AutoZone!
Looking back over the week, the pervasive theme would have to be cultural awareness. Through various activities, we gained firsthand knowledge of how Belizeans live, work and play. You see Belize is every bit as much of a melting pot as North America. Centuries ago, it was populated by various Mayan tribes, who for whatever reason fled their cities. Over time, Belize was incorporated into the country of Guatemala. In fact, even today, certain Guatemalan maps will show Belize within Guatemala. Belize changed hands multiple times throughout history but most recently was a British colony, which is why Belize is the only country in Central America to have English as the national language. At some point in time, the Mayans started making their way back into Belize. There are two main types of Mayans: Mopan and Quechi. In addition, there are also many East Indians who remain in Belize as the British brought over many of them to be their slaves when they colonized the area. Besides the Mayans, the largest cultural group is the Creole. To be considered Creole, you must have some African heritage. In addition to East Indian slaves, Africans were also shipped over and eventually mixed into the British settlers resulting in the Creole people. The last main group of people is the Garifuna, an African tribe that fled their country and took refuge in Belize. Interestingly, there are also small groups of European Mennonites that have also settled in the area. In the cities, you will find a complete mixture of peoples. Alternatively, in the villages, they tend to be mostly one people group. For instance, where we are staying in Eldridgeville is an East Indian community. A village called Barranco is a Garifuna village, San Vicente is Mopan Maya and so on. As such, each type of village has a different primary language, way of dressing, living and commerce.
My week started with another mobile clinic, this time our destination was Na Lum Ca, a Quechi Maya village several hours from Eldridge. This village was up in the hills and has no electricity or running water. Most of the villagers earn their living by raising their own crops such as corn and cocao (chocolate). Raising a crop such as corn for these villagers means clearing a large area from jungle brush with a machete ( usually on a steep hillside), planting the seed by hand, clearing away weeds and regrowth of the brush several times as the corn grows and finally harvesting the corn by hand. They then dry the corn with the husks on in large piles that they spray with a herbicide made from a certain plant found in the jungle. Once the corn is dried, they remove the kernels from the cob, again by hand. The dried kernels are then used to make the mainstay for food: corn tortillas. This process starts with grinding the kernels on a stone trough. A rectangular shaped stone is held and pushed back and forth on the trough in a rocking motion to grind the corn into a paste as small amounts of water are added. This paste is then flattened into tortillas and cooked on a hearth. Below are a few pictures of me attempting the whole process.
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This is how the pro gets it done
This is Cacoa (chocolate). The chocolate we love starts out as a seed that is harvested, dried and powdered into cocoa.
Mobile clinic that day was a bit on the slow side, so I ended up doing what I do best: playing with kids.
This little one got a sticker and several silly bands because she sat perfectly still while I attempted to dig three layers of ear wax out of her ears!
Another source of industry for the Mayans is making baskets out of a plant called Jippy joppa.
The plant is prepared by taking off the spines of each long leaf and then dried into long strands that are bunched together and bound by a small vine.
The bundles are sewn together with the vine in a circular fashion and eventually turn into a beautiful basket.
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David and I also had a chance to visit several villages with another doctor that has been working here since January. He is in charge of gathering and training appointed healthcare workers for each individual village. There are dozens of villages just in the Toledo district, connected by very rough dirt roads. The majority of villagers don’t have vehicles. Buses do travel to these villages but usually only twice per day and only three days out of each week. Since there is such limited access to doctors, there is a need for someone in each village to have at least a basic understanding of common medical problems. On Thursday of this week, he took both David and I out to see about 6 villages, meet the healthcare workers and invite them to a training session. Very few of the workers have phones and postal service is super slow so it has proven more efficient to simply drive out to each village and invite them personally. During that day, we saw many different types of villages and homes. It was a truly eye opening experience. I don’t have many pictures to share with you but I will do my best to describe to you an average Mayan home. It is usually a single rectangular building with a dirt floor, thatch roof and wooden slab sides. They cook indoors on a fire hearth, usually placed in one corner of the room. This poses many problems, mainly smoke inhalation. You will usually find a few cooking utensils hung on the wall and perhaps a wooden shelf with a few belongings. They sleep in hammocks which are strung across the room. Babies also sleep in a hammock suspended from the ceiling. The last picture below is a young girl holding her nephew in a baby hammock. The picture is really out of focus, but if you look closely, you will see a blue band-like part of the sling. This is used to hang the hammock from the ceiling and also as a means of carrying the baby around. The band will either be placed across the collar bone of the mother or placed on the forehead.
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A typical village home
A very well-stocked kitchen
Belizean baby carrier
This weekend, we find ourselves in San Ignacio, a town in the north western part of the country near the Guatemalan border. Yesterday, we went into Guatemala to tour the ancient ruins of the Mayan city Tikal. It’s truly an amazing place. Over 8 square miles! There was a lot to see. Below is a sampling of some of our favorites. Tomorrow, we plan on touring ATM, an underwater cave about an hour from San Ignacio. We will be sure to include pictures of that with next week’s blog. Then it’s back to Hillside for another week of clinics and welding!
This is a diorama of Tikal
Looks like just a dirt hill, but underneath all that brush is an ancient building
A building in partial restoration. See the top that been mostly restored while the bottom is only just started
The view from the top of the above building (this is the exact view that was used in the first Star Wars movie)
The Gran Plaza, where the royals lived
Lastly, I want to leave you with a few pictures of what makes me happy: the kiddos. David and I brought bubbles, balloons and silly bands with us that I have been giving to the kids that live in Eldridge. One afternoon I stepped out of the dorm to the road and started blowing up a balloon. It didn’t take long until the kids started running up the road.
It’s a beautiful country
