Fajina

Every first Saturday of the month, Fajina Craft Center has their monthly meeting. There are a few things in the previous sentence that might need to be explained:


1. What is Fajina Craft Center?
-It is the mayan women's group I work with on a daily basis here in PG. A "Fajina" occurs in a village when everyone comes together to clear/clean certain areas (cut the grass, clear debris etc). It fits well for the group because the 13 women gather together from different villages to sell crafts. The Fajina Craft Center is referred to as my 'counterpart.' This means that they requested a Peace Corps Volunteer and along I came. I am technically in the Business and Organizational Development sector. This is really more a title than anything else, I am not sure I have really implemented many Business or Organizational Development aspects, but maybe eventually.


2. What is a monthly meeting?
-Funny you should ask, a monthly meeting is held for all the women to gather and discuss business, and distribute sales for the month. Each woman that makes a sale collects 80%, while 20% goes to Fajina Craft Center. These women are from different villages outside of PG, some have a 3 hours bus ride to get into town. When I say a bus, I mean an old school bus that was auctioned off in the states and then driven down here to Belize for use. When I say bus ride, I mean dirt roads, it is not an easy route. The meetings are conducted usually in Mayan Mopan or K'kechi, needless to say I do not understand much. 


I had a breakthrough yesterday though. An old member returned and once each discussion was completed she would repeat the majority of it in English for me. I was very grateful for a few reasons. The first is that it is not very fun to be in a meeting for 3 hours and not know what is going on. The second is that mistakes happen where I think one thing is the outcome when it is not. Hopefully we have resolved both. 


Many of you may be asking yourself, how do you communicate? I have become creative. The women speak English, it is just not their first language. I have learned what words are better to use. I also use humor. This may sound silly, but when I am able to get them to laugh or smile a few times a day I feel like I have accomplished something. 


This was just to give you a little more insight on my 'counterpart' and the things I am encountering down here in Belize. 

As my Dad said about this picture "this is like the scene in ET with the teddy bears..." Can you find me? ;)