Brian and Andra Report Week 11 and 12

Week 11

Week 11 was overshadowed by the Midway meeting. This was a very successful and insightful week of preparing and giving our presentation as well as hearing from the successes of our comrades up North. The Midway gave us a chance to reflect on our actions taken and pat ourselves on the backs for our successes, as well as prepare ourselves for the next two months in our communities.

We were graced by the presence of our Head Master Trine from the Institute of International Cooperation and Development Michigan who came down to see Humana People to People Belize’s projects as well as to attend our Midway. This was especially nice to catch up with the news of the states and hear about our friends in Michigan, it’s always a pleasure to be around Trine and she gave us sound advice during our Midway which was a big help to our morale.

During Midway we were reunited with Hyunny and Sunny our dearly beloved teammates. It was good to hear about their successes and troubles and how they live on a day to day basis. We hadn’t seen them since we split to our communities in May but it seemed like it was only yesterday when we were spending all day together working to prepare for our projects we are now in. They seem to be doing a good job in their communities and their work with the women and youth groups was inspiring.



Week 12

This past week since Midway has been very successful, despite both of us struggling with being sick on and off. 4 new gardens were started and 3 were completed. This includes building a fence, building up rows, planting, and discussing and implementing strategies to protect the seeds from the rain.

We also had another Village Action Group Meeting where we taught about how to make organic pesticides, and the importance of composting and mulching. We also talked about the seriousness of malaria. We taught them the symptoms and the best ways to prevent getting mosquito bites i.e. filling puddles, chopping grass, picking up trash etc. Along with this theme we also talked about lemon grass as a mosquito repellent. We gave out plants to each family along with recipes for tea and instructions on how to plant and use it. Later in the week each family that we visited had planted the lemon grass near their house and garden.

This week we also continued our kids club with lessons in geography, making thank you cards to people in their lives that help them, and continuing to learn about good manners and graciousness. In each kids club we always play a good physical game. This week we played sharks and minnows, and a good game of baseball. We also started making signs for the trash drums we placed back in June. We made one that says “Keep the River Clean and Healthy” as an example and will work with the youth and the kids club to design and paint the rest of them next week.

We organized a meeting with the teachers, the principal and the PTA to discuss the idea of having a marathon/open day at the end of August. They were all very excited and on board with the idea and are ready to help us. We talked about having no alcohol and instead promoting nutritious food with the sale of fresh fruits. We also discussed having more games such as three legged races, potato sack races, etc. to create a fun family friendly event. This week we will talk to the Alcalde and Chairman to set up a community meeting so we can get everyone involved. We agreed with the PTA and teachers that this is the best and only way to have a really successful event. Everyone had a lot of ideas and we are looking forward to moving ahead with the plans.

We also mobilized a group of kids to help us plant 40 Moringa trees. We talked with them about how many great things the tree can help with and that it makes us very strong. We have plans to plant more trees and to discuss the uses of Moringa further in the next VAG meeting and in the kids club.