This is How We Do It (or Our Role as PCVs)

Now that we have been in our project site for six months, we feel it is time to share what it is we’ve been doing with you, our faithful readers. Many of you have asked questions about our work so we figured it was about time that we explain what exactly our roles are as PCVs here in Belize.

The PCV experience is not like a typical 9-5 job back in the states; rather it’s a 24-7 commitment in which we are always expected to be engaged in the work of serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in some facet or another. However, it does not mean that we are at our schools 24-7. Our role is much more than our assigned primary project. As volunteers, we are guests in Belize and are here to work on Peace Corps’ three goals (which you can read more about on the Peace Corps website at www.peacecorps.gov) These goals involve building friendships and relationships with our Belizean hosts and counterparts by educating them on who Americans are by representing our country through our actions and interactions, as well as by providing the country with the help they request for skill development in the areas we are assigned. Finally, we are also responsible for educating Americans about Belizeans and Belizean culture (which we’re hoping this website will do :) ). Now that we have covered the very basics, here’s some information about some of our current projects.

Primary Project
We are both serving as Teacher Trainers, and have been assigned to work directly with primary schools in Belize City. Each of our counterparts is the principal of the school. Anthony is placed at St. Luke’s Methodist Primary School, a school of 750 students, 27 teachers, 2 vice principals and 1 principal. Ginnie is placed at Trinity Methodist School, a school of 230 students, 10 teachers (1 of whom is a teaching vice principal) and 1 principal. While our schools are run by the same Methodist management, they are very different! We share the same project plan, but work with our principals to determine how to implement that plan. For Ginnie, that has resulted in weekly staff meeting/workshops in which topics in literacy and work on the events of the school calendar are discussed and planned. It also involves working one-on-one with teachers to plan model lessons and observations, in-class literacy centers and reading groups, and assessing low performing students on their reading ability and working with groups of 5-6 students to help them improve their reading skills. A secondary project within this is to help Trinity hold its first annual Science Fair, hopefully it will be a success and the teachers will keep up their enthusiasm about it for many years to come. All of this certainly involves a lot of research for planning and lots of lesson-planning, (but when a child lights up because he just read a book on his own, it is all worth it!) Additionally, since books are important to the development of reading, we will both be conducting a book drive to create a library at Trinity, more information will come soon!

Anthony’s plan is implemented through one-on-one meetings with teachers, model lessons, team teaching, and observations. He also works with the administration to assist in strengthening the ways in which they accomplish their work and has a major goal of moving from paper-based record keeping to computer spreadsheets as well as working on developing computer training for staff members. Anthony is also fortunate to follow in the footsteps of a great PCV (who also happened to be our tech trainer) who created a library at the school. He has taken on work in the library to keep it actively utilized by both teachers and students. He is also working with underperforming students through one-on-one and group literacy lessons to help improve reading skills.

As you can see, this keeps us pretty busy, but we still have plenty of time to take on secondary projects that we seek out as a way of further integrating into and helping the community. Being in Belize City certainly affords us a lot of opportunities to get involved and find places that match our personal interests and the community needs as well.

Secondary Projects
One of our goals in coming to live and work in Central America has been to become conversant (and as close to fluent as possible) in Spanish. It’s a bit more challenging living in a country where English is the national language, but not impossible. Since October, we have been taking a Spanish class at the Mexican Institute for Language and Culture. Not only do we get to practice and improve on our Spanish, but we have also had the opportunity to meet many Belizeans who are our classmates. The class comes to a close at the end of February and while some nights it is hard to motivate ourselves to hop on our bikes and head to class, we usually end up having fun with silly conversations and/or language games. That’s kept our evenings pretty full, and we’ve certainly worked on Goal 2 since we have the opportunity to talk about things from our perspective and answer questions people have about some customs and practices in the United States.

Another goal of Ginnie’s has been to find ways to eat healthily in Belize and as you may recall from our cooking chronicles, that has been a lot of fun. We continue to try new recipes and have not been disappointed. This vegetarian diet has opened a world of dishes we never imagined! It’s been nice to be forced into learning new recipes since at home we clearly could have done it, but we knew our basics and had things we made over and over and just never even made the effort to search out new things, even when we became somewhat bored of our meals (I guess that’s just when we would go out to eat and with that really not being a feasible option – it’s either standard rice and beans fare or an expensive out-of-our-budget place, so there’s really not much choice). We’re also home earlier in the evenings since our commute consists of 5-10 minute bike rides! Now, with all these new recipes and delicious dishes, we are excited to be able to make them at home as well, and it really saves tons of money to make our own breads (we have expanded now into English muffins and pita – they are fabulous and so easy!) and we know what is in them and can avoid all those preservatives that were wreaking havoc on Anthony’s allergies. Of course one beneficial side effect to a healthier diet is showing itself in Anthony, the jeans he brought are useless now as they fall completely off his hips – he is considering a project to gather his favorite Little Debbie snacks, but that seems extreme, the loss of stored sugar fat from all those bad snacks is probably a good thing.

In addition to eating healthy, Ginnie has set a goal of learning to teach yoga – we have the opportunity to put together classes if people want to join, so we’ve started with just learning routines and teaching new methods to those interested in learning. Ginnie’s first official “class” will happen during a summer leadership camp for girls that she is working on and planning with a PCV committee. The idea is to eventually take yoga to the children and teachers and see if they would like to practice it during physical education time… we’ll see, it’s still just an idea.

In other community projects, Anthony has become involved in the HIV/AIDS committee and was recently trained as a Peer Educator Instructor (an Instructional Trainer) by the Belize division of The Red Cross. He’ll be playing the role of a trainer to peer educators on HIV/AIDS education and will be working with other volunteers visiting villages throughout the country and conducting surveys and trainings on HIV/AIDS awareness. He is also beginning work with an organization called Hand-in-Hand Ministries, which does many outreach projects in the city, including building houses (similar to Habitat for Humanity), and working with children affected by or infected with HIV. In December, Anthony created a brochure for the Red Cross that has been distributed nationwide in an effort to educate people on HIV/AIDS. He also recently designed a bookmark about voluntary counseling and testing for the HIV as well. When we first arrived in country he set a goal to work with this issue and has really jumped right in to projects to do what he can to educate the citizens of Belize (currently the third highest per capita rate of HIV infections in the world…just behind Haiti and Sub-Saharan Africa).

Ginnie is involved in the WID/GAD (Women in Development/Gender and Development) PCV committee and one of her first projects is assisting in the planning and implementation of Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) for girls from all districts in the country. Working toward empowerment of women and girls is a major passion for her and this project is one of her favorites. The plan is to have the camp lead to clubs GLOW in each of the districts as well, so that will be another project for the coming school year. She has also been working with an NGO called Y.E.S. (Youth Enhancement Services) which does outreach and work in several areas related to youth in the city and surrounding villages; one in particular is working with teen mothers to empower them and help them further their education so they can take the lead in their families. Y.E.S. also has implemented a major initiative along with other organizations to raise awareness of and fight against sexual exploitation, sadly a problem faced by youth in Belize and several other Central American and Caribbean nations. They also provide leadership workshops for youth. Ginnie’s counterpart at Y.E.S. is the outreach coordinator and she has helped her to put together a parenting class for the teen mothers that is currently running and will conclude with all mothers receiving a certificate and recognition of their participation in the course. She’ll also be facilitating teen mother support groups as needed and will assist in conducting focus groups on HIV/AIDS in villages later in the year. (HIV/AIDS is an area where all PCVs are expected to help due to its prevalence and the need for education).

Just recently we both started a new joint project working with the Belize Zoo in their education department. We’ll be helping to launch a new initiative that will make the learning experience richer for school children who take field trips to the zoo. It involves connecting a series of lesson plans on topics in the national curriculum with interactive and discovery based learning activities. Teachers will receive a packet of lessons, one to do before the trip, one that will be conducted at the zoo, and one they will do back at school after the trip. We have been asked to review the lesson plans and make connections to the curriculum and provide feedback. We will then help to pilot the program during the third school term, with teachers from our schools, and by helping to facilitate the on-site zoo lessons. As the program grows, we will be involved in moving it forward. We are also excited to help with a science camp that will be held at the zoo in July – the students learn hands-on skills in the scientific method and learn about the environment and conservation, it should be a lot of fun! Recently we took a quick tour of the zoo, and it was really amazing to see the diversity of wildlife that lives in Belize. When you visit, it would be a great stop on your tour!

Volunteering presents so many opportunities to be involved. With all that we do, Peace Corps’ mission is sustainable development, so anything done while we are here is done with the goal that it will continue in the hands of a Belizean. The hope is that our teachers will take on the activities and models we share and use them in the teaching of literacy, while our other projects and the counterparts we work with will continue the momentum far into the future. We are not set or limited by an office schedule, so we can accomplish much in the many hours we have each week. We are happy to have things really moving along now as we enter the second quarter of service. Thanks again to all of you who have been sending treats, books, magazines, school supplies, and other goodies they certainly help keep us going!

Deputy Director of Peace Corps Visited Belize

Last week, the Deputy Director of Peace Corps visited with many of us in Belize. We had a chance to have a nice lunch with her and discuss our projects and learn more about her volunteer experiences and role as Deputy Director.

Check out the press release with the news of her visit http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1299.

In other news, Belize has been pretty busy over the past month, national elections are Thursday and campaigning has been strong. You can check out news and radio coverage by clicking the links to the right. The country also faced a significant loss when cultural icon and ambassador Andy Palacio suddenly passed away on January 20th after a stroke and heart attack . A beautiful memorial service was held in Belize City on January 25th and ended with a motorcade through the city to lead his body to the municipal airport so he could travel to his home village of Barranco for burial. Here is a link to a great tribute from the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/arts/music/21palacio.html?ref=music.

We hope all is well back home and will post more soon.