Talleres: Rural Village Project Planning

I have begun a series of workshops throughout rural Cayo under the auspices of an extraordinary Rural Community Development Officer, Mr. Orlando Jimenez. This activity has exposed me to an incredible group of community leaders who are working toward improving rural life. Basic issues are potable water, electricity, and education. Many of the villages are struggling also with creating voluntary pre-schools, community resource centers to include Internet cafes, libraries, youth groups and programs, agricultural cooperatives, health clinics, and women's committees. One community is negotiating to be part of the network of Cuban doctors serving Belize. The 4 hour session here was held on Saturday, March 26, 2011, using visual literacy techniqes (thanks to the technology of clip art!) dealing with low literacy, how to prepare proposals, where the money is in Belize, U.S., the British Commonwealth, and Europe. So far there is tremendous enthusiasm and requests for more--including next Saturday for non-profit organizations and a schedule of community meetings through June.

March is Women's Month here in Cayo too

This banner appears along the main street of the town. The government's women's department is part of the Dept. of Human Resources and Social Transformation. In Dec. it sponsored 16 days of activism. The rhetoric is quite wonderful; the situation for women is in flux.

On Sunday, March 13, 2011, we began a series of rural community development workshops in Duck Run 1, a Spanish-speaking village. Shown here is the Village Council and Mr. Orlando Jimenez who is the Rural Community Development Officer with whom I work. As an aside, Belize has very interesting village names: Duck Run 2, Duck Run 3, Teakettle, Blackman Eddy, Valley of Peace (which is a Salvadoran refugee community). We will be running sessions in Billy White and the other 17 rural villages in this area--all of which are Spanish-speaking. Duck Run 1 has successfully built a clinic and an internet cafe shown here with volunteer teachers. The Village Council is seeking to submit proposals for potable water, a sports program, and pre-school funding. These photos show the workshop and a visit to the voluntary pre-school presently using the internet cafe building. I am learning that it is easy to get funds for stuff, buildings, and supplies but not so easy for ongoing programs and services. For example, the clinic is a beautiful building but with minimal health services at this point.

More Training of Peace Corps Volunteers this time in Toledo District-March 11

No pictures but had a lovely trip to Punta Gorda on the Bay of Honduras where I did a repeat performance for the young Peace Corps Volunteers in the rural villages down south. The focus was how to prepare proposals, where to find the money, and how to think about jobs in the non-profit world when you leave the PC. I got to spend some quality time along the Caribbean Sea (I do miss water) and to enjoy the energy, enthusiasm and intelligence of this next generation with interest in "another world is possible."

Training Peace Corps Volunteers

On Feb. 9, 2011, Fifteen PCVs assembled at the National Association of Village Councils (NAVCO) which is the umbrella organization whose mission is to improve conditions in Belize rural villages for an informal "taller." I was asked by volunteers to present my knowledge and experience related to proposal writing and grant getting for health and social projects in Central America. This first session was held for th e volunteers in the Cayo and Belize City region with 4 who came from as far away as Orange Walk and Indian Church. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm and I think the goal and take away was how volunteers might approach proposal writing and grant getting in their sites. The workshop also focused on how to find out where the funds are in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Belize. A good time was had by all. We are planning follow-up for volunteers in the other regions as well as consultation with each participant.

Tipitapa, Nicaragua: Dos Pueblos

I took a break from Belize rural community development to return to my roots of 25 years in Nicaragua by joining the Dos Pueblos: New York-Tipitapa Sister City Project delegation for 4 days of the week-long exploration of projects and hands on construction of a library and community garden. Its partner organization run by Rosa Lillian Gomez is the model of community organizing. These pictures show various aspects of the program and include two new opportunities: meeting with the National Water Commission to understand the community-based fight against water privatization and a possible partnership with Peace Corps-Nicaragua.

The Peace Corps agriculture expert, Felix, became an informal consultant--advising on a tree planting project and discussing the implications of working with a Peace Corps response unit volunteer. I am hoping that there will be help in the area of teaching, library organization, community gardens, and empowering women through such projects as microfinance. Note each of us taking a turn pumping water in the community of 15 de septiembre. It was so inspiring to see new U.S. faces and new Tipitapa community activists. The New York folks brought many, many, many books and supplies for the new library in Ciudadela. Note this young girl who picked up one of the books after the comprehensive inventory.

One really exciting development was a visit to the newly constructed Tipitapa hospital/clinic which after a decade of visiting a sad, poorly maintained, poorly supplied hospital/clinic was quite impressive. That is Felix on the left and Rosa on the right at the meeting.

Finally, here is Lupe, Dos Pueblos' Executive Director, in the "container" office of the Ciudadela Water Committee with its state of the art equipment.

A Day at Home with My San Antonio Host Family

The challenge was to prepare a dinner that is uniquely "American" so they got a dinner of lasagna, green salad, fried eggplant, Coca-cola and Sprite, banana bread, chips and salsa, and wine. They brought tamales, jicama, and the famous Belizean black cake drowning in brandy. We had a lovely afternoon; they changed clothes (here with their Sunday best) as they headed for church in the nearby village of Succotz before returning to San Antonio. It was a lovely few hours.