Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally

I had an amazing past 24 hours. A little over a week ago my PC Program Manager mentioned that the Ambassador would be in PG and wanted to meet with some of the volunteers down here. Last night all the PCVs in PG had dinner with Ambassador Thummalapally and his wife Barbara. It was a small gathering about 10 of us. We had a very nice meal at a local restaurant here. It was awesome to sit there and have a meal with the Ambassador, with it being his request. He is very down to earth and personable, along with his wife. We had a great meal, we were able to talk and share experiences since being in Belize. The Ambassador and his wife were genuinely interested in what we had to say and see what we have been experiencing. I enjoyed being able to be myself and joke with them, calling them celebrities and wanting to take their picture like the paparazzi. It was also lovely to share stories and experiences that we have had so far with the people of Belize. Here is the State Departments Bio on him: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/129357.htm

The Ambassador and his wife, Barbara and me after dinner.

All the PCV in PG with the Ambassador and Barbara.

His awesome car! Check out those flashing lights and flags!

I then got a phone call this morning saying that Barbara would like to come visit me at Fajina for a little while. Needless to say I was super excited. Barbara arrived and I showed her around the craft center, then we went up to the restaurant and had some cacao drink (basically a chocolate drink). We chatted for quiet a while about Belize, PC, being the Ambassador's wife, the Fajina Group and family. I then took her down the street to the market and the Human Development Department. I introduced her to Ms. Lorianne, she is the Women's Department Representative for the Toledo District. When we returned to Fajina the Ambassador arrived and he decided he had some time and wanted to see the center and restaurant as well. So then I had the undivided attention of both the Ambassador and his wife!!! It was a wonderful time and I am so happy I met such lovely people. Their encouragement and support had a very positive impact on my attitude towards my service here. Needless to say I am basically like family to them...we will probably have a lovely easter dinner...haha. The picture above is me with the Ambassador, Barbara and his security. 

K'ekchi Lanuage Training and San Miguel

Last week I traveled to Blue Creek Village to Tumul K'in Center for Learning. It is a secondary school (high school) where children learn to preserve their culture as well as other basic subjects. http://www.tumulkinbelize.org/program.html I went there to participate in K'ekchi language training. I was very worried going with the other volunteers, because all of them learned K'ekchi in training during our first few months here, whereas I learned Kriol. Also most of them are living in villages using K'ekchi every day. I am exposed to the language while working with the ladies at Fajina. I have this huge desire to actually be able to communicate with them in their language, I want to immerse myself in the culture as much as I can while here.  I feel that will not only benefit them but me also. I will say that K'ekchi is NOT EASY. There are a lot of difficult words, but I think the hardest part is the pronunciation, many stops in the middle of words. I gave it my best shot and hope to continue learning it. It was also a nice time to spend with the other volunteers, there were 14 of us. 

We went picking up different volunteers from their villages. While picking up Ed and Emma in Santa Anna we came across this adorable little house (those are flowers and butterfly's on the side).

I wish I was able to upload the video I have of this, but these pigs were HUGE and LOUD. 

Early one morning I was able to capture the beautiful fog over the village, so breathtaking. 

This is the creek, running through Blue Creek Village, can you guess why the village has that name?!?!? :)

On Monday I went to San Miguel Village where Tracy Hodson a PCV is posted. She wanted help to conduct dental screening in the primary school there. Healing the Children is coming at the end of February with a group of Dentists to give free dental work to the children. In preparation for that Tracy wanted to see exactly how many children have decay and hand out notes about the clinic. We both were astonished with the amount of decay in the school of almost 200. I am working on the numbers now but it is safe to say that this country needs some help in the dental department. 

The cute children playing football during their break. 

After checking their mouths I asked them to pose for a picture showing off their teeth and these are the pictures I received. They really are adorable. 

I am always looking for a chuckle and had one after reading this. On the side of the San Miguel Computer Lab building it says "Get in touch with the...World"

:)

New Years 2010

I realized today that I have not posted since Christmas! I am not sure why it has been so delayed. I am still alive and well down here in PG. I had a nice New Years. Kristen (another PCV here in PG) and I were in PG for New Years Eve. We made some dinner, watched a movie and at midnight watched fireworks off the pier. It was a quiet New Years Eve. 

The past few weeks has been very quiet. The  children just went back to school this week. I have been reading a lot these past few weeks. Thank you to everyone that sent me packages and cards this past month! It has been so great to receive them and know you are thinking of me! :) 


This week I am going to K'chi language training. I am hoping that will help me better communicate with the ladies at Fajina. Things are going okay at Fajina. They are some of the most hardworking people I have ever met. Each week two of them come in Monday morning (their market buses bring them in around 6, most leave their villages between 3-4). They then work all day preparing food in the restaurant and serving customers. The two women are there for the entire week, most leave Saturday afternoon. They do not make much money to compensate for the work either. This past month my heart ached when preparing the books for the monthly meeting. The women that worked in December were not going to be receiving much money at all for their labor intensive weeks. I was worried what the reaction would be from the group. Surprisingly the women did not complain, they just set the schedule for January. I was astonished. I am not sure if this will always be the norm, but hopefully business picks up more and the ladies will start making a bigger profit.


This past week I traveled to Belmopan for a WID/GAD (Women in Development/Gender and Development) committee meeting. I was very excited to be placed on the 10 person committee. The committee does a variety of things in Belize. One is putting on a GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) camp each summer. GLOW clubs are all over Belize, they are comprised of young girls and give them the opportunity to come together and develop great life skills. The purpose of this camp was to encourage young women to become active citizens by building their self-esteem and confidence, increasing their self-awareness, and developing their skills in goal setting, assertiveness, and career and life planning. I am very excited to help plan the camp for this upcoming summer for about 30 girls from all across Belize. 

Here are two ladies from Fajina talking on a cell phone. :)

Here is the Market in PG. It is every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It has lots of fresh fruits and vegetables!