This is a photo of my last night in San Antonio with my host family at a party we gave to honor and thank them.I have received my permanent, two-year assignment, and it couldn't be better. I will be posted to the village of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. The town has a combined population of about 20,000 including: Creole, Mestizo (Spanish-Maya), Lebanese, Chinese, Mennonite, Maya and other cultures. I have traveled through on my way back and forth to San Antonio--it is a beautiful town, with lots of Spanish spoken and lots of activity!
My work will be with a womens' collective addressing issues of domestic violence; my primary assignment involves providing support for its shelter, training, administrative duties, proposal writing, micro-enterprise, and more. It was started by a woman who is personally committed to this project and the Board chair, I'm told, is the leading social worker in Belize. A secondary project involves a women's group that has created a sewing cooperative to teach women victims of domestic violence a vocation to earn independence. The two projects, although in the same town, apparently don't know of each other. The politics of suggesting cooperation here will be a challenge. This assignment is exactly what I had hoped for.
After 6 weeks of technical community development training and intensive Spanish on Tuesday I move to this village and then begin the search for housing. Soon thereafter visitors will be welcome. Here is a website if you want to learn more http://www.belizex.com/san_ignacio.htm.
More to follow soon.
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