Rained Out

Another week down here in Punta Gorda, and a lot more work has been accomplished, despite relentless rain storms. Most of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week was a wash, quite literally, as we just could not seem to get a break from the rain long enough for the ground to dry enough to work. I was commenting on how hard it was raining repeatedly, while all the extensionists seemed to be saying, ”If it would only stop this annoying drizzle then we could get back to work.” Apparently I know nothing about a good rain, an understanding I thought was inherently mine since I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. I was disappointed to not be able to go out and continue to work on the projects, but it was a nice opportunity for me to spend more time around the office and get some of my own work done while getting a better idea of how things work there.

Friday made up for all the missed work the previous three days by offering me a 17-hour work outing. I was told by Nana that they were driving up to Belize City to meet a board member who was flying down here for a while. I thought it strange that we would drive four hours just to meet them and come back when they could just fly here very easily on their own, but I asked no questions and agreed to join them. A couple hours after our 5am departure, I learned that while one of the extensionists would be going all the way to Belize City, I would in fact be stopping in Georgeville, outside the capitol city of Belmopan. As it turns out there was a children’s home there that was in need of a solar latrine and a wood conservation stove and oven. I was unprepared to put together stove and oven, but glad to have the opportunity to get out of the truck and do some more work. Nine hours, 48 bug bites, a nail-penetrated right foot, and a sunburn later, we had completed our work for the day. I was exhausted, but felt great to have contributed to helping Jaime get his vision of a self-sustainable home for abused and abandoned children moving in the right direction.

Since Friday was the last official day of work for all the extensionists until the 29th, this weekend has been very relaxing and a great opportunity for me to get out and do some recreational activities. Yesterday I hiked up Serra Hill, which is the highest hill in the Toledo District, and today I went for an afternoon swim in the sea. On Tuesday I will be traveling by ferry and bus into Guatemala with Kevin, the Smaller World Tour director, to visit one of his friends in a rural Mayan village. We will celebrate Christmas there and then travel for a few days to see some other parts of the country, including the village that was his site while he was a PeaceCore volunteer and hopefully Tikal, which is home to Central America’s second biggest Mayan ruin.

Once we get back and everyone returns to work, I am excited for many things I have planned in the next few weeks. For one, I will be living and working with a farmer in his home out in one of the villages we work in for three days. Hopefully this will take place from the 31st through the 2nd. What a way to ring in 2009, huh? This is something that I told Nana was very important to me while I was here because it is one thing to come into their villages and work with them during the day, but it is quite another to live as they live for a few days. Hopefully I will encounter some of the issues I have been hearing about, and have the opportunity to really get to know a farmer and get his point of view on life as he knows it. After that, I will be looking forward to being heavily involved in the Smaller World Tour that will be here January 3-10, where I will be able to help with all the projects and offer any insights I can to the participants. Also, I will spend a few days up in Stann Creek, which is the next district up from Toledo, and the district that SHI has recently expanded to. So much to do and so much to learn!

I tried to upload a video of the "light rain" so you could judge the intensity of this precipitation for yourselves, but, alas, the satellite internet we have here would not allow it. Unfortunately it always has the final say in matters such as this. The top photo is of me at the top of Serra Hill, looking down over the beautiful dense forest, Punta Gorda Town, and out to the Caribbean Sea. Yes, I am sweating profusely. It was a very difficult hike straight up a heavily wooded hill in hot and humid conditions, what do you expect? I wanted to give you all an idea of what this stove looked like and how it functioned, so I took a photo from above to show all its compartments and intricacies. It looks so basic from the outside, but there really is a lot going on and a lot of work to do to make it function. Then there is a photo of the crew I worked with on Friday in Georgeville. From left to right - Jaime, Juan, Greg Anthony, Ramon, and yours truly. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday there is a market in the town center for all the farmers from surrounding villages to bring their produce and sell to the townspeople. This next photo is the scene on Saturday, the biggest day at that market each week. Finally, just because this is such an important part of my journey, the last photo is of the view from my journal spot. I found a lovely little hidden spot below a cliff to sit on a rock at the edge of the sea and let my thoughts and prayers flow. It is absolutely perfect. Merry Christmas, everyone, be good to yourselves and those around you.

Beauty and Struggle

Hello from Belize! This is quite a change from New York City, which I imagine I will understand in a more profound way with each passing day. I landed at the Punta Gorda Municipal Airport at about 2pm local time on Tuesday, where I was picked up by Nana, the Belize country director for Sustainable Harvest international. Immediately we were on our way out to the villages where the current projects were going on. En route to Delores, we stopped in Sunday Wood to check the progress of a solar latrine project. I could not believe that people lived in this village. It was basically a collection of a few tiny, shaky wood houses standing on stilts, with thatch roofs made palm leaves. Horses, dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, and ducks were roaming freely throughout the entire village, and in the homes. Small children, some naked, some minimally clothed, were playing in the dirt alongside the road. My brain could not formulate a coherent sentence to express what I was feeling about all of this, and I think it was obvious to everyone around me. I am almost certain that this is why Nana took me immediately out to the villages to see their projects. Being thrust into that setting immediately after leaving a giant urban setting absolutely dropped my jaw and produced countless emotions, many of which I still have not identified.


That night I was introduced to everyone at the office and showed my sleeping quarters - a bunkbed in a room that also functioned as an office. I went to sleep as soon as I was able since I hadn't slept in something like 4o hours, and since I was positive I would need some rest for an undoubtedly difficult next day. "Difficult" did not turn out to be a strong enough word to describe the work I did the next day. I was woken up around 7am by everyone making their way into the office, and shortly thereafter I found myself in a truck heading back out to Sunday Wood to finish the solar latrine I had seen in progress the day before. I had one energy bar and a nalgene of water with me, since I hadn't had a chance to get any food at the supermarket. By about noon, the relentless sun and humidity had me feeling completely dehydrated, and even worse my nalgene bottle was already empty, with no potable water within reach. The energy bar I had eaten late that morning had already offered me all the energy it could, and I found myself completely humbled. Hermenio, the extentionist I was working with on the project was still happily working away as I headed for the shade to find some relief from the heat and physical symptoms of dehydration. The worst part of it was that we had only the most basic tools needed to complete such a project. A hand saw, measuring tape, hammer and nails, and square are all we had to work with to put up the housing, which consited of 2x4's, plywood sheets, and a zinc roofing. This made the work much more slow and exhausting.


I made it through the day somehow, and at around sunset we were picked up and taken back to the office, where I showered with the cold-water-only hose coming out of the wall in a bathtub, and collapsed onto the bed. The next two days were physically a little bit easier, but just as long and emotionally exhausting. Each village we went to had the same basic, run down appearance. The saddest part is that everyone living there doesn't simply get to pack up at the end of the day and head back to an equipped office, or, worse yet, they do not get to pack up and head home to an industrialized nation after a few months. Please understand that as I describe the setting, I am in no way complaining for myself, because of everyone here I have it the easiest. I have found it difficult to be touched by their setting without making a spectacle of them. I ask the families we work with many questions about them personally and their surroundings in an effort to understand more completely their situation, all the while hoping that I am not offending them or belittling their existence. They are the most welcoming and genuinely friendly groups of people I think I have ever come across, and they are remarkable in their abilities to survive on basically the land they live on.


As this week approaches, I look forward very much to see what I will work on, and what new villages I will see. Each morning I wake up, I have no idea where I am going, what I will see, or what projects I will be involved in, and there is something very freeing about that. My hope is that over the next nine weeks, I can come to know and understand these people and their situation as completely as possible, and show them love as fellow human beings. One thing that really strikes me about these people is that they seem to understand their value as individuals, despite their lack of resources. That is in sharp contrast to the people I worked with in New York, who, as a whole, seemed to feel they had no value because of their lack of resources. Interesting what societal norms and expectations can communicate to the individuals within the society.

The photos, I hope, represent the title of this post. The top photo is of the Caribbean Sea between Placencia and Punta Gorda. It was absolutely stunning, some of the most beautiful land and water I have ever seen. In the next two photos, I tried to show in a small way the struggle of daily life here in southern Belize. There is Mr. and Ms. Jose, who were the recipients of a new wood conservation stove, which I helped build in their home on Thurday. They were so excited to have it, and it was a drastic improvement from the open, wood-burning stove they currently had, which was very inefficient and dangerous to their health. Next you see three young girls playing in the water from the well that was recently constructed next to their home. Finally, this is me on the first day of work, trying to fit the ventilation pipe into the latrine. This was at the end of the day and I was just thrilled to know that I had survived and would get to go eat, drink, shower, and sleep. It really is the small things in life that bring the greatest joy.

Goodbye and Hello

This will be the last you will hear from me in New York, and I am actually in Washington, D.C. All the official business is wrapped up in New York, so I took a bus from Chinatown early yesterday to Philadelphia for the day. After a full day of walking around there and seeing all the sights, I took another bus down here to D.C. to meet up with my friend Alison. This brief trip is serving as decompression time for me, in order for me to be able to disconnect myself from New York and move onto Belize refreshed and ready to give it everything I have. I will do this in some way between each stop on my journey, based on the recommendation of David, a friend who was a main source of encouragement and insight during the planning phase of this journey. I am very excited to finally meet up with him and his wife tomorrow night for dinner and share my experiences thus far, as well as learn more about his.

There is really not much to share with everyone about the past week, as it has mainly consisted of me packing all my possessions into my pack and lugging it all around the city. I am now staying in the Bronx with my good friend, Adam, and will be there for only three more days once I get back. I will then take my final subway ride on my way to JFK for a 3am flight to Belize, on my way to yet another temporary life-altering experience. Every time I face transition in my life, I tend to, as I think most people do, become very reflective and philosophic about my own life, and life in general. This current transition is no exception. My thoughts have turned to trying to understand what the past 10 weeks have taught me about who I am as a person, what qualities I possess, and how well I am using those qualities to make myself, others, and the world as a whole a better place.

One thing that definitely became apparent about myself is that no matter how much I love adventure and embarking on difficult personal challenges, I do not thrive fully without having the incredible base of people around me that I have in Oregon, Washington, and California, and spread sparsely throughout the rest of the world. Being a very social, extroverted person, I should not expect otherwise, though I also should not avoid situations such as this that help me to grow and understand these truths about myself on a deeper level. Through this process, I discovered a deeper empathetic spirit than I knew I possessed. Sometimes this empathy was uncontrollable and rendered me to be what I considered useless in the battle I was trying to fight. Through closing conversations with coworkers and clients at the offices I was at in Brooklyn, I found that they absolutely did not feel the same way. Though I understand I did not perform perfectly while I was there, I learned that overall they each felt I contributed in a very positive and impacting way. Solving the problems of everyone who came through the doors was not my job, nor was it realistic. What was my job was making everyone feel cared about and inspired to solve their own problems. Based on that job description, I performed very well. Another thought about the empathetic spirit I discovered in myself is that I believe it was, and continues to be, the driving force for this entire journey, and for the founding of ERACE Poverty. Without being able to feel the needs, pain, or happiness of others, no charity work would ever be done, no favors would ever be granted, and, I would argue, human love would not possible at all. There I go getting philosophic again.

As I close this entry, I would like to send a very sincere thanks to everyone in New York who has given of themselves, their knowledge, time, and talents to me while I was here. A special thank you to Jon Dingman, who let me stay, essentially rent-free, at his apartment in Brooklyn for the duration of my stay, and to all of the staff and clients of CFL, who taught me so much, either directly through sharing their expertise or indirectly through simply sharing their lives. Also, I am continually thankful for everyone I have back home, who are continually supporting me in various ways. Everyone's thoughts, prayers, and phone calls have helped me understand that I am not doing this alone, and that this is part of a much bigger purpose.

Photo time! The first photo is of me in LOVE Park in front of the LOVE sculpture in Philadelphia. This sculpture very simply, yet very profoundly states what I believe is at the core of every human being, and what I believe must be nurtured through action. The next is of a beautiful Christmas display in Macy's, right next to City Hall in Philadelphia. Everyday at noon and 5:30pm they have Christmas music playing on a huge pipe organ, along with a small light show. It was wonderful. Next, I am sitting with my beautiful girlfriend, Ashley, and my amazing little niece and goddaughter, Lilli. I finally got a photo of myself with the Adult Employment Program employees at CFL. Lastly, I stand next to the Liberty Bell, with Liberty Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, among many other very important documents, were signed.

One final thought. Yesterday, while touring Freedom Hall, I learned that the Declaration of Independence was supposed to be signed on July 2 rather than July 4. The reason for the delay is that there was some trouble with the verbiage of what I think the tour guide called "the conscience of a nation." All the signers of the Declaration of independence agreed that they wanted a republic government, and they wanted it that way so there would be no abuse of power and that everyone would be seen as equal on U.S. soil. These are the words they finally came up with - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Without publicly passing any judgment, I pose the following question. Have we upheld the values and principles our great nation was founded on?