Monday, June 20, 2011

A huge cooperative effort

As I am approaching the end of my Peace Corps service, I find myself shifting gears and thinking of coming home. My home is Florida—where abundance abounds, the sun shines most every day, and most people have most everything they want. The sun shines plenty here in Belize, so much so that I look for every opportunity of shade. But abundance and plenty is not part of the life of the typical Belizean. There will be some reverse culture shock, I'm sure.

As most of you know, it has been a challenging but very rewarding experience. But if asked what were the most significant experiences, I think of three.

In January, 2010 when we had the meeting to first discuss the possibility of a playground, we had everyone in favor of the project but only one volunteered to do the manual labor from the entire village. Thirteen months later, there were over 28 villagers helping with the playground project with no mention of compensation. This sense of 'volunteerism' and 'community was not evident the year before.

Recently, I was talking to the former Village Chairman about my future plans to work at the clinic in Succotz and then on to home. He thanked me for my service here. But he also said that I had made the village a 'friendlier place'. WOW! That might not sound like much but I'm sure you have picked up on the nature of the Maya in previous blogs. And all of the PCVs in the health sector had agreed that my village was 'especially' Mayan. Every village has its own personality. Some are livelier than others. The village of Silver Creek just down the road sells beer and there are occassional parties. You won't find a beer in my village. San Miguel has to be one of the most stoic, serious, borderline-grumpy group of people. The village knows that and seems to be ok with that label. But I have noticed more greetings on the road, more smiles, and laughter at the playground. Subtle changes, but I think, quite nice.

The third is YOU!

First there was the flood of seeds pouring into the Peace Corps office when I wrote of the widowed mother of eight who was hopeful that she could now sell her produce to take care of her family. Then, you raised enough money to pay for the first year of high school for Marcelino (my first host family's mom's youngest brother). It was the first time that anyone in their family had gone past the sixth grade.

Then there were all the 'care' packages sent from home, mysterious deposits made in my personal bank account, many cards, books, letters of encouragement, and comments posted on this blog. Random acts that supported me and had me forge ahead when things looked pretty bleak.

Then you raised enough money for me to purchase the bottle of medicine to innoculate 25 dogs in the village. You may remember that three dogs came to my house the very first week I was there, only to die. Nearly all the dogs in the village were afflicted with mange and intestinal parasites. I did not hear of the demise of ANY dogs once we started the medication. The dogs looked better, I'm sure they felt much better, and villagers started taking some interest in the care for their dogs.

Two dentists back home sent over 200 toothbrushes EACH for my dental project in the village. And lets' not forget the clothes that many of you donated for Shadae's family so her mom could better support her family. And while I was home visiting, many of you donated games, a scuba mask for my host dad since he dives for fish in the river, and other gifts for me to bring back to my family and village friends here.

Then, the playground. Once the PCPP proposal was posted on the Peace Corps website describing our project, it took less than 6 weeks to raise the money. The average length of time for fundraising for these grants is upwards of three months. And this particular project was one of the more costly projects posted at the time. There were over 33 donors—family and friends—kind, generous, and caring. Aubrey's friends at the VA hospital in Gainesville decided to take on a separate swingset project up at the school. Now the children have a park AND a special play area at recess and before and after school.

And there were the three visits from my children and Katrin. All major shots in the arm.

With your help while I was here in Belize, WE were able to make a difference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

God bless us all...tracy

3 comments:

  1. And it's a wrap -- job well done, now come on home!

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  2. BEFORE YOU LEAVE, learn now the True K’eqchi Grammar with the first ever published document available on the Web. You can also find a list of K’eqchi to English Verbs Glossary at http://www.keqchi.co.nr/.

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    ReplyDelete
  3. No,Tracy----Thank you for teaching us some beautiful life lessons.
    Your very proud brother, Skip

    ReplyDelete