Development Instructor with Humana People to People in Belize

Service period report Belize 2018/19 Back in April 2018 I have joined 18 Months, Fighting with the poor program at Richmond Vale academy with the aim to become a development instructor in either Belize or Ecuador. My first six months of the program started in RVA, on the island of St Vincent in the Caribbean, where I have studied about the development of our world, the worlds inequalities, causes of poverty, health and nutrition, climate change and ways and solutions to improve the surroundings and conditions of disadvantaged people in developing countries.

Among all these eye opening subjects and topics I have experienced living life in a small community of teachers and students from all around the world. During this period I have also participated in common actions where I have learned valuable practical skills such as permaculture gardening, food preservation, group mobilisation and many interpersonal lessons.

I have been very lucky to be in a small team of two with Lina Nieto from Colombia. Both of our backgrounds are in fine art, therefore we have been able to participate together on various art projects in St. Vincent and all together share similar views and attitude.

We have both done our best to be ready for our service period, we have studied, researched, done workshops and small investigations, however is it really possible to be fully prepared?

As I have learned in Belize, there is no chance to be completely ready for what will happen. The most important thing is to expect that there will be challenges including the culture shock and a complete change of living conditions. All in all the first six months of the program encouraged me to open my mind and see the world as a different place to what I have known. It helped me to understand the reasons of why there is poverty and see some solutions to alleviate it.

General projects and my role in Belize

Richmond Vale academy partners with Humana People to People Belize and sends its development instructors to participate in a Child Aid project to help with the organisations activities. Through introducing and strengthening the knowledge about topics such as health and sanitation, food security, environmental issues, income generation, education and gender equality, Humana People to people helps to improve the living conditions and alleviate poverty in rural communities.

Support before and during Belize period Throughout our first six months period we have organised several Skype meetings with the Humana People to People Belize project manager and 2 development instructors who lived in Red bank village at that time. In that way we could familiarise ourselves with the ongoing projects, with our expected role and tasks in Belize, ask questions and listen to recommendations and assurances from Belize.

Humana People to People accommodates development instructors from RVA and supports it’s students throughout. Lina and I were monitored by the project manager Pantaleon and an area leader Eder. Together they have made sure we are following the project plan, supported our stay, making sure we meet all our needs financially though our food allowances and project budgets, by providing support and advice regarding all our projects, by making sure we are safe and comfortable in our house and the community and by being always concerned and caring of our health and wellbeing. Apart from being connected through interned and phone network, we have also participated in weekly council meetings where we shared plans and updates about our projects and heard about development and progress from other area leaders and their communities

Red Bank village Lina and I have been stationed in the village of Red Bank, which is a Maya community of approximately 2500 inhabitants. The Maya people traditionally settle in lowland areas along rivers and streams and such is the case of Red Bank. The surroundings of the village are breathtaking. Jungle covered peaks of Maya mountains are towering above traditional thatchroofed houses, crystal clear river is making its way along the outskirts of the village, people live in a very humble way, however behind this picturesque image lie many issues and disadvantages.

It takes about 20-30 minutes on a dirt road to reach the village from the highway. This isolation is one of the main reasons why Mayas remain the countries poorest and most neglected minority.

Red Bank is relatively new with its beginnings dated to about 1980 and is constantly growing and developing in size and population. Many people move in from either surrounding villages or neighbouring countries such as Guatemala, Honduras or San Salvador. There are many languages spoken which include the Kekchi Maya, Molpan Maya, Spanish, English, Creole, Garifuna and even German in the neighbouring Mennonite settlement.

Our arrival, living conditions, settling down

Humana People to people provides a house for its volunteers located directly in the community. In our case, Humana rented a small house, which used to be a corn mill and a small shop back in the day. Our new home was not a traditional house with a thatched-roof, however it was type of a construction seen widely around. A roof made out of zinc plates, concrete floor and walls built from wood planks with water pipe and latrine outside.

Our new living conditions were certainly not what we were used to, however we have taken them as a welcomed challenge and an opportunity to understand and experience life of people we will work with. Throughout a time we got to appreciate and cherish living in a humble way and get creative and resourceful while trying to lead a sustainable example for others.

Building of classroom and workshop room

Because the building was derelict for a few years, it took some time to set up to live in comfortably. We have decided to utilise one part of the house as a classroom and a place for meetings and workshops. For that we have equipped the room with a chalkboard and benches.

Upon our arrival to Belize we were presented with a plan which included projects related to food security, malaria prevention, oral care, organic gardening, village clean ups, gender equality, income generation and nutrition.

At the same time we have done our investigation throughout the village to take a note of projects, which would benefit the community.

Initial struggles

The beginnings of our stay seemed to be moving slow and compared to our later months did not feel very productive, however they were very important for us. We have not only improved our house renovating skills, it was also time to research many topics and ideas on sustainability and development of small communities. This period also taught us how to connect with people from different cultures. The Mayas are very shy, reserved people, especially compared to the outgoing culture of St. Vincent, for that we had to be patient and gradually gain their trust.

Women’s group Lives of Maya women

Maya women have held important political place in the ancient society due to their knowledge and connection with nature, however through the colonisation and arrival of religion, the women have been stripped of their rights and have suffered in the patriarchal society ever since. Domestic violence and gender inequality are everyday issue in Red Bank. It is evident that this centuries long violation has had consequences effecting their full participation in the society and prevents them from fully realizing their opportunities and rights.

The women of Red Bank are living a traditional life evolving around their families. Their everyday day starts around 4 am, when they wash clothes by the river and prepare food for their husband and children. They themselves are not involved in many decisions, including choosing their partner or family planning. As a result they are often forced to marry at young age and have more then seven children to look after.

Home gardens

After giving presentations and workshops on organic farming and benefits of having a home garden, the women still did not want to take on the responsibility of having a garden by their own house. In fact, from 5 of the home gardens built by previous development instructors, there was only 1 still existent. We have helped to extend and improved the existing home garden, gave advice on mulching and later on provided seeds. Realizing that this project will not be success without their participation, we chose to concentrate on different activities for the time being.

Income generating ideas

Red Bank village has the advantage of being close to a mountain range where the scarlet macaws arrive to feed for few month of the year. This spectacle attracts many tourists into the area. Based on this information we brainstormed income-generating activities with the idea of creating a craft market where the local women would sell traditional crafts and food products.

This idea however, was also not met with as much enthusiasm as we have expected mostly due to the women’s busy days of looking after their children or to the lack of interest.

Changing approach The first communication and fail of our suggested projects has left us frustrated and pessimistic but also told us that we need to change our approach. As outsiders, we have not only had a different view about what are the needs of the women and their families but also about their interests and capabilities. Even though projects such as home gardens and income generating activities were part of our program plan, we had to accept that we will not be able to complete these at our time. Instead we concentrated on inspiring the women with learning new skills, which we hope will one day better their economy and wellbeing.

Benefits of coconuts and coconut oil

Coconut trees are often lining people’s homesteads and churchyards but their fruits seem to be seldom used. Noticing this, we have started giving presentations about the nutritious benefits of coconuts and workshops on making coconut oil. It was encouraging to see that the women were listening to our advice and started using their own oil for cooking. We have also taken part in a ‘’coconut oil action’’ where one family prepared oil from over hundred coconuts. Having this skill and knowledge they have the opportunity to make an extra income.

Folklore group

We have supported the women to create a folklore group and helped them with making a promotional video for their possible tourist business. The group was very enthusiastic to share their old traditions with us and were proud to present their food and crafts. By showing our curiosity we have also hoped to empower and encourage them to embrace their Maya culture and heritage.

Embroidery workshops

In order to leave the women with an extra skill we have organised embroidery workshops for which they’ve shown a particular interest. Even though they have not used this new skill to generate an extra income, these sessions enabled us to create a stronger connection to the group and create a better understanding of their everyday life in the community. Perhaps it was due to not having a pressure of selling their embroidery, majority the women took on this new skill and continued to develop their embroidery designs on their own. Our hope is that with practice, they will get the confidence to consider turning their new hobby into a business.

Creation of single mothers group

Throughout our first months investigation and familiarisation with the community we have decided to create another women’s group which would benefit from having a support of Humana People to People. We have approached the single mothers in the community and introduced them to the home gardens concept. Having learned from the existing women’s group we have changed our approach and instead of pushing them to have a garden we tried to inspire them by showing examples of the farmers group in St Vincent and an example of our own little garden outside our house. Through organising community actions and workshops we have monitored their commitment and willingness to participate. Even though this approach turned out to be more of a long term project, it enabled us to pick single mothers which have decided to start their own home gardens without our input. As a result of their participation they are now first on the Humana list of beneficiaries for home gardens and compost latrines.

Involving youths in the development of their community

Our next task on the project plan was to create a youth group and involve them in the development of their community. This task proved to be a challenge for many reasons. Gaining a parents permission to excuse girls from their house chores was one of them. Another challenge was the social label, which youth, especial boys, carry. We have received many warnings from the community, including the chairman, not to get involved.

Problems of youths and youths being a problem

To be a teenager in Maya culture means being a bad person, a criminal, drug addict, an alcoholic, a dangerous human being who is better avoided. With such a generalisation, it is no surprise that many of them end up being just so, not due to being young and careless however, the main reason is the lack of possibilities and support from their community. After gaining this understanding we have ceased the opportunity to include local teenagers in our ongoing projects such as building of school garden, tackling the plastic pollution, cleaning of the health post and fundraising and building of a children’s playground.

Getting an understanding

Being young of course means experiencing and being curious about many aspects of life including drugs and alcohol, unfortunately, as we have noticed in Red Bank, it is very easy to develop this experimenting into an addiction. Most of the times this behaviour is triggered by the person’s context. Communities like Red Bank are not presenting a long list of opportunities for youth such as them. Most of them come from humble families with many siblings, some have no fathers or have experienced a loss due to violence, some have no opportunity to finish their education, many have to spend weeks away at work to help support their parents and siblings. Their most possible future is to become a worker on nearby banana plantations. With an old stigma of young boys equal trouble, many follow this pre-drawn future where drugs and alcohol come in place.

Their involvement

The youths have proved to be our most active group, coming up with proposals to improve their community. We have helped to organise their idea of a village clean-up and gave them the responsibility of organising a football marathon to make a contribution towards the playground fundraise.

Seeing a group of young boys to come together, work their backs off building a garden for school, and then still meet up during evenings to plan an event to make other children happy, made me realise that these boys are hungry to build their place and role in their community. They just need a responsibility and someone to believe in them.

Our approach We have taken upon ourselves to show them, through our own example, that there are different ways to life. We have included them in many conversation and discussions about addictions, gender equality, domestic violence, environmental issues, mistreatment of children and animals and many more.

It was a pleasure to be working with these young men and I greatly appreciate their help in all our projects. We have shared brilliant productive moments as well as moments of frustration when, as any teenagers, they would show that their sense of responsibility is not developed yet. Through these moments I have learned to be more understanding and look at others context before judging. I realize that they have a very difficult future in front of them and I hope that we have shown them that their life is in their hands and that through helping heir community they can experience positive changes for themselves and their families.

Spreading organic farming awareness

The Mayas have throughout the history been farmers, however the colonisation and years of exploitation have brought challenges for them. Majority of their lands were lost to private companies. The remaining local farmers have adopted modern practices of using chemicals to support their crops, which is degrading their land and enforcing extra costs. The import of processed low quality foods has taken over their traditional diets without having the knowledge about the nutritious values and negative effects on their health.

We believe that through organic farming examples we have created awareness about these issues.

School garden

Within our first few weeks in the village, we got asked to participate in a school gardening club and to help building a school garden. Having just finished the permaculture design course in St.Vincent we were eager to take on the project. We have investigated the area and agreed on a location behind the school compound.

Belize law

It is a law in Belize that every school has to have a vegetable garden and should teach this subject. In this way the children gain knowledge about nutrition and healthy diets, create a better environmental awareness and perhaps encourage their parents to produce and cook their own vegetables.

To gain the children’s interest we have first played an educational music video about nutrition and growing their own vegetables.

Gardening club

We were very lucky to work closely with the school’s vice principal who was already an experienced farmer with an open mind to implement permaculture principles. Our gardening club consisted of 30 to 40 children of ages from 5 to 14 and was happening twice a month for 45 minutes.

Our approach

Our approach was to introduce an activity such as planning the design, building and preparing the beds and implement them with the group of children during gardening club. In that way we could show them skill they can use on their own. To progress with the garden we included the youth group. Building of this 10x10m garden turned out to take longer then we have anticipated, luckily the boys have proved to be very skilful.

Challenges

Working with a big group of children of such a wide age range turned out to be very demanding and sometimes stressful. Unfortunately there were many children who have not paid much attention during our clubs, however there were many more who have worked very hard and took interest and care in the subject.

We were very lucky to have the involvement of the youths who have also helped us to find resources coming from outside the community such as wood off cuts from the Mennonite community, cow manure rom nearby pastures or mulch from many households in the village.

Growing seedlings was alltogether a big challenge. The first set of plants did not survive, because the watering schedule was not yet set up, our next seedlings got stolen. This has put us months behind and was very discouraging.

Final outcomes The new school garden steered up an interest in the community and around. A charity partnering with Humana brought farmers and students from other districts to show different approach to gardening and to encourage other groups to grow organic vegetables. Having different communities visiting the school garden has also pushed the vice principal, who is now in charge of the garden, to take pride in the children’s achievement and also put a pressure on him to make the garden flourish.

Our own home garden

To show that we are implementing our teachings, we have built our own garden, which became a model organic garden for the community. Because our approach to gardening was completely alien to the people, we have received a lot of questions and doubts from passers by. Because we have believed in our work we were able to answer these questions and with some time to prove that permaculture gardens can be very productive.

Men’s group garden

Taking inspiration of the two new permaculture gardens in the community a men’s group was formed with an idea to create a communal garden from which 7 families would benefit together. Throughout our stay we would discover that people from around started to consider changing their practices to farming organic and that some women from the single mothers group as well as children from the gardening club have decided to build their own vegetable patch.

Plastic pollution Illegal dumpsite

Plastic pollution is taking its toll everywhere and unfortunately not even beautiful green Red Bank stayed clear of its effects. All garbage in general is not disposed of properly. Many people either burn their trash, throw it on the street or dispose of it on the nearby illegal dumpsite.

There is no general knowledge about the dangers of burning plastic and plastic pollution. As a result, many children have respiratory problems.

Communication with the ministry

The previous volunteers have established a communication with ministry of environment and sent a proposal with quote to open a legal dumpsite. Our project was to carry on with this communication. Throughout our six months we have helped to locate the illegal dumpsite and exchanged many emails regarding quotes for clean up of the illegal dumpsite and setting up a collection system. The communication is very slow, however, and is carrying on until today with the new volunteers.

Clean up campaign

One of the youth group proposals was to create a clean up campaign called “Don’t throw plastic, be fantastic� which we have helped to organise. The youths have distributed posters around the village and helped with the preparation and planning. There were over thirty volunteers at the day of the campaign, which were mostly young people and children who have collected 24 full bags of trash.

Challenges It was frustrating to see that majority of the community does not get involved in keeping their village clean and safe, at the same time, the involvement of the younger generation was very encouraging and hopefully they have set an example to others. Their plan is to carry on with clean up campaigns every two months.

At the same time the village council together with the chairman is planning to create a collection system once the new legal dumpsite is established. The challenge here will be to show inhabitants of Red Bank the correct and safe way to dispose of their trash instead of burning it, also to persuade them to pay a set amount of money to keep this system functioning.

Health and sanitation campaigns Mosquito nets

Even though severe malaria and other mosquito born diseases are eliminated in Belize, there are still rare cases present. The ministry of health is constantly working on prevention in order to keep malaria cases low and monitored. We have contacted the vector department of the ministry of health and assisted in distributions of mosquito nets to every household in the village.

Health post

Red Bank village has a small health post, which operates once a month to do check ups on small children. The building itself was in a terrible condition, with bat and mice infestation in the roof panelling. Together with the health worker and a peace Corp volunteer, Lina and I have organised a cleaning of the health post with the help of Single mothers and youth group.

The local health worker is at the moment organising fundraise to be able to upgrade the building.

Hand-washing

Humana People to People provided us with beautiful posters about hand washing to distribute in the school. We have taken the opportunity to use the poster as a prop to teach children how and when to wash their hands.

Oral care

The previous volunteers got in touch with a dentist foundation, which is doing investigations in developing countries and donating bamboo toothbrushes.

Lina and I have taken part in this campaign. During the first investigation we have found that every child in Red Bank has tooth decay at very young age. One of the main problems is the habit of parents sending their children to school with sweetened juices. Not many children bring prepared healthy snacks to class instead they get given money and can shop at the nearby stores where they mostly give in to the temptation of buying sweets.

At the end of the campaign we have prepared a toothbrush kit, together with a water bottle to encourage children to drink water. Also we have created a morning routine during which the children would brush their teeth together every day.

Playground fundraise and construction Seeing the need

Children in Red Bank have difficult upbringing from early age. It was hard for us to witness children being punished for their misbehaviour on regural basis by their parents and siblings starting from slashing, whipping or pulling by the hair. Unfortunately this form of punishment does not disciplin the children but on the contrary, corporal punishment increases childrens future behaviour problems. Since the matter of completely changing mindsets of parents was not in our hands to adress at that time, we have concentrated on providing the children with a different learning environment where through color, enjoyment and exploration, they could create new forms of knowledge.

Importance of play

Many parents in Red Bank believe that their children should not play, in fact they think that playing could only injure their children, dirty their clothes and distract them from studies and house work. However, studies show that play in early childhood is important to healthy brain development and allows children to interact and engage with the world around them.

Living in Red Bank allowed us to see the need to create a place of play for its smaller inhabitants, Likewise, we hoped that the benefit of opening a playground will stimulate children to continue their educational process and perhaps improve the life of their own community in the future.

Promoting gender equality through role play .

The Maya heritage and traditions are fascinating, however one of these customs is the pre-set role of the male and the female. We think of this project as a fair and inclusive process to promote gender equality from an early age. By encouraging democratisation of the playground, we believe that the children can create and experience their own reality and freedom through interaction and exploration of innovative spaces.

Fundraising We collected recycled materials such as tires and plastic bottles to keep costs down. And to materialize that dream we made a fundraising campaign for paint, screws, cement, tools, transportation, etc. There were three parts of our fundraizing campaign, we have started an online page which we have advertised through facebook and email, another part were donations in kind from the local busineses, our last approach was to involve the community through a football marathon event.

Online fundraise

It was a big learning experience to generate funds on our own through an online campaign and

see all the elements it involves. Even though majority of the online funds came from our aquantances, we have aquired many new skills and tips which we can use in the future to make use of the online media.

Donations from local businesses Even though there are not many big businesses around the Stann Creek area, we have distributed letters to ask for donations in kind. The result was surprising, small and big businesses have donated paint, brushes, recycled metal, gravel and majority of the wood needed. Throughout this approach I have learned how to construct a powerfull donation request letters and to spread important cause.

Football marathon and family day fundraise

Another part of the development instructors program is to organise an Open Day event which is usually to spread an awareness about particular subject and to create a connection between Humana organisation and the community. We have taken this event in form of a fundraise to generate extra money for the playground materials. The marathon was sponsored by Humana Child Aid project and supported by the village council and small businesses of Red Bank.To include the whole communtity we had prepared small games and competions for children as well as the women.

Youth group involvement and event preparations

The initial idea of a fundraise came from our youth group which had offered organising a football marathon event in which teams pay a registration fee to compete. We thought of this idea as an important opportunity for them to be an example for red Bank and earn their role in the community. We have supported and encouraged them as much as we could to give them pride in having such a responsibility.

Highlights and achievements

Even though the preparations were very demanding and seemed chaotic, the event turned out to be a success. There were 34 teams from Red Bank and neighbouring villages competing in the football marathon and many happy children playing fun games and winning creative prizes.

Our information boards covered topics about organic farming and plastic pollution and educated the community about our playground project and the importance of play for their childrens development. The fundraising goal of the event was also met by recovering the cost of the event and making a profit.

Challenges and lessons learned

Organizing event of such a scale was the first time for both of us and turned out to be a big learning experience. It taught us how to manage people helping with preparations and put our trust in them. On the other hand it taught us that not everyone helps fot the good of their community, which we have learned through an incident of a neighbour stealing money from the food stall. However, even this experience had made us reflect on ourself and evaluate our management skills.

Playground construction

Our fundraising campaign got delayed and extended for extra weeks and so did the playground building action. We have been collecting used tires for months in advanace and bough some materials we have needed, however the dificulties came with organizing a transport for the rest of the materials. The community did not get involved in helping very much. In the end we had about 20 volunteers, however there was never enough people together. We have had a big help from the youth group, teenagers doing community service and from the kids.

We knew that the playground project was going to be a challenge and I can honestly say that we have both underestimated all the effort needed to put in. I am glad, however, that we did not get discouraged and countinued even through the difficulties. In the end, we have seen the enjoyment of the children playing and we can see that we have made a difference. We will not be able to see the long term impact on childrens attendance and behavioural change, but this may be a study to follow in the future.

Challenges

It was surprising, even shocking, to see that the parents did not get involved at all. We have sent letters to parents through every child in the school to come and help with building a playground for their kids. Our attendance was exactly one parent. It was at this time when I started to worry whether we have chosen the right project, after all this was not what the communtity, as whole, have chosen. I did get my assurances at many other times, however, when it were the children coming and working hard to build their own playspace, or even after hearing the women at the shop to comment on our work. Throughout the playground building process, I have noticed that the people of the community created a stronger relationship with us. We did get more visits, people opened conversations with us and over all, created a feeling of accepting us as part of their community.

The children of Red Bank are very naughty, even disrespectful and it was very hard to keep them away while we were working on the playground. Many times I have felt worried about their safety because they climbed on constructions which were not secured yet and many times I have felt angry and frustrated because they would damage some of the elemens before we could finish them. This brought us extra work and sometimes I would even wonder why we are putting such an effort for children such as them. On the other hand I would realize that if we were dealing with perfectly behaved, polite little angels, our work would not be as needed.

Conclusion

My time in Belize was an experience I will never forget and I cannot even count all the things I have learned from working with such a diverse culture. Red Bank and its people will always stay in my heart. Looking back at all the work and every project we have done in Red bank, of course I would do many things differently. I do realize that my purpose of going to volunteer was not only to make a change to people in need but also to gather as much knowledge and experience as I could to be able to implement this in my future projects.

Despite facing many challenges regarding the culture and customs, different mind set of people and consequences of centuries long oppression of the Mayas in Belize, we have done our best to make a difference in a lovely community of Red Bank. I hope, that the connections we have made with people there will have a lasting impact and that through our actions we have influenced people to support their own community and protect their surroundings.