Images from our last two days in Belize

Safe Arrival

We have arrived safely at Tobacco Caye. Bandwidth on the island is very limited, so no posts with pictures while here. We continue to take lots of pictures, and I hope to have them posted during our layover in Houston on Tuesday.

Just snorkeled on the reef right off the island and will head a little further south tomorrow for an all-day outing.

- Keith Crowe

Goals Met (and a little extra, too).

We accomplished all of our goals that we set. Also we added soccer goals that we brought from the US.

One of our goals was to put in a monkey bar and paint it.

Another goal was to build a slide.

One goal was to repaint and add swings to the swing set. (There was only one swing to begin with.)

Our final goal was to build and put in soccer goals for the kids to play with. This was our final project which we completed today.

~Sarah Crowe~

Working - Part Four

Today we hung the new swings on the swing set (when we got here there was only one, now there are four.) We also put the soccer goals up. In order to do this, we had to dig holes and make concrete. It's not as easy as it sounds, expecially in the hot sun. First, we had to dig four holes. Sounds easy. It's not. We had to remove the old posts which had been anchored over two feet into the ground. Then we had to dig the holes. Digging thirty-one inch holes through hard dirt and the through clay is no small feat. But at last, we suceeded with the preliminary preparations. Next, we had to walk across the field and shovel sand in the wheelbarrow and then roll it back across the field four times. Then we had to get four 5 gallon buckets of water. (One bucket did not have a handle, and the wheelbarrow had rusted through, so it broke in the middle of our labors.) We helped mix the water in with the concrete and sand until it was nice and thick, shoveling sand and concrete togther. Luis showed us how to pour the concrete into the 31 inch holes we had dug. The night before Trinidad, who works at Monkey Bay, worked welding the metal soccer goal posts together. He had to weld hooks on pipes for the nets, and it took many, many hours to make the goal posts. Before the soccer posts in the village were wood and simply stuck in the ground, so the new ones will be stronger and last longer.

While we worked, many kids from the village came to visit and help. My favorite was Kyle, who has very long hair that he puts in a bun on the top of his head. He is 4 years old and has 2 older sisters. At first we thought he was a girl! He also likes to help a lot with carrying buckets and pushing the wheelbarrow. He likes to be held and swung around in the air. I will miss him.

-Catherine Bradbury

Faces of La Democracia - Part Two

Working - Part Three

Today, we had our last two hours with the British students here at Monkey Bay. After breakfast, we went to La Democracia and started to work. We drove up to the school, and see a slide getting worked on. We split up into groups, some working on sanding the sharp sides off the slides and adding a second coat of paint to the monkey bars and swing set. During the time of sanding and painting, George and I interviewed Mr. Garcia, the school principal. After, we all helped the kids with the computers again. After we helped them with the computers, we played with the kids, and helped pick up trash, and take pictures. We then left to go back to Monkey Bay to eat lunch.
-Jane Anne Darken

Once lunch was over we went back to the village to finish the swings and slide. Those jobs were mostly for Chester and Luis so all of us played with the kids after their exams. Radiance and Irma sister of Radiance) also showed up and brought music for us to dance. Most of the afternoon was mellow and we basically played with the children and learned more about them. One game we played was standing in a circle with the children holding hands while music played. One person would walk around the cirle and where they stopped, they would dance with that person. It was so cute to see the little girls shaking their booties. We also got to see the kids enjoying the slide we built for them. They kept sliding and sliding and sliding. The line was so long to get on the slide, and they were so excited and happy. One girl, about the age of 13, slid down, and we could tell she'd never been down a slide before! Around 4:30 we went back to Monkey Bay and Mr. Corzine, George, Anna, and Chris all went to the river and swam, while all of the girls took showers and organized. Finally we had dinner and blogged.
-Sarah Crowe

Student Interview

INTERVIEW WITH ELONIE BRANDON (Niece of Radiance)

1. When do you start our school term and when does it end?

We start our term in September and go to November. We break in December for the holidays, and we start again in January and go through July. Our summer break is from July to September. (The kids at La Democracia were in the process of preparing and taking exams. The pre-firsters and eighth graders were having graduation practice when we first arrived.)

2. What are the start and end times of a regular school day?

9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

3. What are you looking forward to the most when the playground is finished?

The slide!!!!!!!!

4. What is your favorite sport?

basketball

- George Mullowney

Interview with Irma and Radiance

How long have you lived in La Democracia?

Irma and Radiance are sisters and have both been in the village their whole life.


How many children do you have?

Radiance has four children, while Irma is having her sixth child at the end of July. Irma has all boys except for Elonie. Even the new baby will be a boy!


To Radiance: How long have you been cooking?

Radiance has been cooking for her family her whole life.


What do y'all do for work and for the village?

Irma has worked for WLS doing things like jungle tours, cooking, and environment. She also cooks for the village whenever she can.

Radiance always cooks and was one of the best cooks EVER!! She also cooks for the village.


How can we stay in touch with you when we leave?

Radiance and Irma both gave us their addresses. They also gave us a phone number and e-mail to talk to them.


In your opinion what are the top needs of the village?

They said they needed these things most:

-school upgrade

-teachers stay for at least five years instead of just staying for the year and leaving

-better streets (rainy season makes the roads in the village pretty muddy)

-more jobs for the people that can't afford high school to motivate them to want to go to high school

-sponsors for kids trying to go to high school that aren't able to

-more sports outside the school (in the village instead)

-a grave yard


~Sarah Crowe~

Examples of Green Living

Throughout our time here, every time we look around, we see more and more examples of green or environmentally friendly living. At Monkey Bay, they gather, filter, and use all the water they need through cleverly constructed rainwater basins located on the top of all the buildings. These basins provide all the dinking water, water for showers, and water for all other needs at the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Also at Monkey Bay, there are pit latrines that serve as the toilets. But these "latrines" are much much more than well constructed outhouses; these latrines take advantage of biogas digesters which help generate methane gas which is then used to power all the stoves and ovens in the kitchen at Monkey Bay. While we were swimming at the river at the Five Sisters Lodge earlier in the trip, we saw a small dam and "homemade" electric power plant that the owner had built. The river ran through a turbine at the dam, and the turbine generated and collected enough electricity to provide power for over 90% of all the needs at the Five Sisters Lodge. Through their thoughtful, innovative, and creative approach to green living, the people of Belize have provided us all many examples of how we can be more environmentally friendly.

- Brooks Corzine

War of the Figs

It started it out on the water in canoes. Our group was divided into two people per canoe. After Jane Anne and Sarah flipped their canoe, we decided it was better for each student to be in a canoe with an adult. I was partnered with Chester, Jane Anne with Chris, Sarah with Mr. Crowe, Mary with Juan, and Catherine with Mr. Corzine. Figs from nearby fig trees were falling into the water around our canoes. We started throwing figs at other canoes, and a full on war broke out. Chester and I were against Jane Anne and Chris and Mary and Juan. There were some people who decided to call a truce, to not go to war--of course they were the teachers' canoes. The war went on for awhile until we came close to the shore, where we cleaned up fig fragments from our boats. We decided to call a peace treaty and went to play fig baseball. You will probably see the fig baseball game on ESPN, so I will not go into it here.

-George Mullowney

Canoeing

Today, we went on a group canoe trip. It was so much fun and full of new memories. We all started off smoothly, paddling at a good pace, but then we started to see currents. Sarah and I were partners and we crashed! We were waiting for the group to catch up with us, because we were ahead of everyone else. We later realized that we were heading diagonally toward a tree in the water, but it was too late to do anything. Our canoe flooded and we both fell out. All of our waterbottles and sunscreen floated away with the current. We were both ok. After the crash, we took an hour swimming break. We decided to float down the current, and it was a lot of fun and refreshing. Also, we were all looking for snails, clams, pearls, and green jade, but we didn't find any. Chester talked to us about snails and clams and how to catch them and cook them. One of the most exciting things that happened after our swim was that Chester and Juan saw three iguanas in a tree. They both immediately jumped out of their canoe and climed up vines to catch the iguanas. They caught one out of the three, but just to see them climb up 40 feet on vines with no gloves or shoes was truly amazing.
- Jane Anne Darken

Computer Tutoring

Today while we were in the village, all of us kids helped a class learn about typing in the computer lab. Each of us had two children to work with. We helped them learn about basic computer and keyboarding skills, such as how to capitalize and how to space. They also played a few computer games like Hangaroo (hang man). The lab is small and lacks Internet and Microsoft Word, but hopefully one day we can help them gain these important computer tools.
Sarah Crowe

Working - Part Two

Today we put steps on the slide and finished the platform. We also chose colors for the swing set and monkey bars. We painted the swing set yellow and the monkey bars red. Juan pulled the truck under the swing set for us to paint the swing set easier. We stood in the bed of the truck and painted. Then we helped Luis hammer off the supporting boards of the slide. He told us to get our anger out at them! We put concrete around the steps leading up to the slide.

-Catherine Bradbury

The Story of Monkey Bay

It all started 20 years ago when Matt and Marga Miller, the founders of Monkey Bay, met and fell in love. Marga, a native of the Netherlands, was living in Belize with her two daughters from a previous marriage when she met Matt. Matt originally came to Belize as a member of the Peace Corps. Eventually they found a plot of land near the Sibun River and decided to purchase it to raise cattle. This area had originally, but not formally, been referred to as Monkey Bay.


In the early days, they had a business partner in their cattle operation. During the rainy season, the river flooded, resulting in Matt and Marga's receiving an alarming phone call: the cattle were in the trees! The flood had carried the cattle away, and when the waters receded, the cows were left stranded in the trees. Clearly ranching was not in the cards for Matt and Marga.


They had a dilemma: what to do with the parcel of land. Matt, from his days in the Peace Corps, floated the idea of using the land as a nature preserve. Today what we see as we traverse the peaceful and gorgeous grounds of Monkey Bay is not what we would have seen 20 years ago.


Matt and Marga first lived in a tent along the Sibun River before building a small hut, where they lived for many years. Little by little, lodge-like buildings with comfortable rooms were added. Matt and Marga live in their own home near the accommodations where visitors sleep. Their domicile today includes the original hut they built because, as Marga, nostaligally says, "We could not do away with our original home here." They are in the process of building another building to house showers and massage rooms!

According to their website, Monkey Bay is "an environmental center that offers experiential learning programs and training opportunities while serving as a model of conservation and land stewardship." This mission is evident everywhere one walks or looks here. From solar-powered cooking to iguana conservation, Monkey Bay is an oasis of green, sustainable living. Our drinking water is filtered rain water, and our food is prepared with local ingredients.

Lots of hard work, much sweat, innumerable setbacks, and a child of their own later, Matt and Marga's dream became a reality.

- Ruby Cortner

Juan, Luis, and Chester

Working - Part One

Today we got a lot done. All of us students were up and showered by 5:50. We like to get up early so that we can go and sit on the hammocks every morning. Now that we don’t have Radiance, we go to the hammocks instead of cooking. It’s one of the most relaxing places we have ever been. That’s normally how we start our day.

Then we had some great homemade tortillas and biscuits with peanut butter, black beans, pico de gallo, and fresh fruit for breakfast. This gave us all our energy to spend on the kids in La Democracia. We worked from 9:00-12:00. We then had an hour break. From 1:00-3:00 finishing up. Most of this time was spent with the kids, because they loved to help us work and are so excited for their new playground. One of our most amazing workers was Luis, the foreman of the project. He just kept working while all of us were playing and joking around. One little boy who we spent most of our day with was Glenramos. He loved to play with us because he wasn’t in school yet (He’s 5.). He was fascinated by our cameras and sunglasses and had so much fun playing with them.

After our hard day of working, George and the male teachers went to the river to swim, while the girls showered and went to the hammocks to hang out with all our new British friends. All of the students from two universities in England are at Monkey Bay with us and love to talk about the differences between America and England. Every morning that we have been here, we have spent at least an hour hanging out with the blokes from the Mother Continent.

Then it was tally-ho, so we could have a delicious dinner consisting of chicken and black bean burritos ! Muy bueno! Once dinner was over, we had Magda, the owner of Monkey Bay. She and her husband started out in a tent 20 years ago, and they have made an ever-growing animal sanctuary. When that was through, we had an egg drop challenge. We were divided into two teams according to our personality profiles. Once that was over, we had a wonderful scientist named Emma tell us all about tarantulas. Then we had a once in a lifetime opportunity where we got to see tarantulas in their natural habitats.

Finally to end our day we got to go to a restaurant named Amigos. This is where we got our caffeine fix with Diet Coke and chocolate cake. Today was a great day, and we hope to do more stuff tomorrow.

- Sarah and Catherine

Faces of La Democracia - Part One

When we arrived at La Democracia School today, a sea of smiling faces atop blue and white gingham checked uniform shirts greeted us. Words to describe the village students' faces are bright, smiling, curious, and happy. What started as curious observation soon became enthusiastic assistance. They couldn't wait to help, talk, or play; however, when the school bell rang, they quickly ran to class. We worked for about two hours while they were having class. Their voices drifted out to our work site, keeping time with our tools. The minute the bell rang to let them out of class for a break, out they were ready to help and play again. The highlight of my day was watching Mr. Corzine help child after child after child jump high into the air. Squeals of delight came from the smallest students of the school as he swung them high into the air as only a man with a height of 6' 5" and a heart 100 times bigger than that can do. Two kids became four until--well, you get the picture. This activity was undertaken after he had dug holes for the playground slide, so needless to say, he was utterly exhausted. You'd never know it from the smile on his face!

- Ruby Cortner

Off to Work

Today, we were off to work in La Democracia! La Democracia is a small village in Belize, not far from Monkey Bay, and has a population of 350 people. We were all really excited and eagar to start to work on the playground. Everyone helped one another shoveling, and making cement. Also, help scraping off paint off the swing set. The students of the school helped us work when they were on their break. All of the kids were so sweet and wanted us to take their pictures and see themselves on the digital screen. They were asking us when they will be able to play on the playground again! They are all very excited.

- Jane Anne Darken.

The Belize Zoo

Last night we went to the La Democracia Zoo, which rescues, confiscates, and helps injured animals. The first thing we saw was boa constricter that was seven feet long. We got to hold it if we wanted. I held it in front of me, and Sarah let it drape around her neck! After leaving the reptile room, we entered the dark zoo. We had to turn on our head lamps to see the animals. The first mammal we saw was the tapir, Belize's national animal. It has a long snout to find its food, and it can pee backwards, which it did. Luckily, no one was hit. Juan told us it's closely related to a rhino, but it is small compared to that--about the size of a very large dog. Next we saw a crocodile, and we got to throw food into its habitat to feed it. It was huge. Afterward we entered the Cat Phase of our zoo visit. There are five species of cats in Belize, and we saw four at the zoo--puma, jaguar, ocelot and margay. The margay is the smallest of the cats, about the size of a house cat, and it is spotted. Its coat looks like a leopard or cheetah coat--so beautiful. After seeing the margay, we were able to see the ocelot, which looks very similar to the margay, except a little bigger. Then we saw a jaguar, which is the largest of the cats and also spotted. His name is Junior. He had been orphaned, so he has lived at the zoo most of its life. Junior did a cool trick where he climbed some beams high into the air and was rewarded with some fresh meat. He is gorgeous. The last cat we saw was the puma, the second largest cat in Belize. He is big with a plain, beige coat. His paws were so huge! Lastly we saw the Howler Monkeys, and I know how they got their name. Juan made a noise to make them howl, and they went crazy. It was pitch black, and all these monkeys were making major noise. Their howls sounds more like a wheeze, but it was crazy! We came back to camp after our visit to the zoo with the sounds of the howler monkeys echoing in our ears.

George Mullowney

Arrival At Monkey Bay

We have arrived at Monkey Bay and are getting ready for a night visit to the local zoo. The kids have been working on blog entries for the first few days so expect them to be posted over the next day or two when we get breaks from the work on the playground in La Democracia.

All is well. Everyone is having a blast, getting along well, and learning much.

More soon.

Keith, Brooks, Ruby, and Chris

Xunantunich - Part Two

I learned about something i didn't know existed. It was great, and the prettiest, serene scene I have ever seen.

~mary sawyer

Xunantunich - Part One

Have you ever crossed a river on a handcrank ferry? Have you ever seen a tree filled with iguanas? Have you ever visited an ancient Mayan ruin and climbed to the very tip top? Well, our group of intrepid travelers did all these and more on Tuesday morning. It was so neat seeing their wide eyed wonder as we walked up to the ancient ruins at Xunantunich. They listened attentively to our guide, they asked great questions, they saw so much, they learned a lot, and most importantly, they safely made it down from the top of El Castillo. What a wonderful way for us all to learn about Mayan history, archeology, and the history of Belize.

- Brooks

Swimming at Big Rock Falls

Swimming at Big Rock Falls was AMAZING! It was such a reward after a mile hike in the jungle. We all cooled off in the cold water. We also jumped off a tall rock. While some were jumping, others were sitting in the lower part of the waterfall, on the rapids. We were just talking or lying out and habving fun!!

- Jane Anne

Hiking to Big Rock Falls

When we hiked to Big Rock Falls, Juan showed us jaguar prints and many different species of birds and ants. Also he showed us a tree full of wild orchids, with a sweet, earthy smell. We also saw a toucan from the bus window. Juan is very smart about his surroundings and the wildlife in Belize. He is very nice to show us all this. He also makes the best animal sounds, and they come out of hiding when he does that.

- George

Pine Ridge Tour

Cooking with Radiance

The first few days at pine ridge, Mary and I had the opportunity to work with our wonderful new friend Radiance. The first morning she let us help her cook homemade tortillas and scrambled eggs. All of her cooking was learned from when she was little in Belize.

The second day we helped her fry the same tortilla batter and made it so that they puffed up and you could stick any kind of topping inside of it.

Radiance lives in the village that we are helping and has four kids there, so we will get to help them and work with them. Radiance was an amazing cook and im so glad i got up early to help her cook our meals.

-Sarah Crowe-