Village visits

Hi all,
Friday we left for Punta Gorda "PG" as they call it here. It was a long drive, as we stopped off in Dangriga along the way to bring some supplies to the Red Cross office there. We also drove out to one of the towns effected by flooding to dispense some more chlorine tablets for treating water. The bugs were very bad out there, in particular the no see-ums. The roads were washed out in places, and the dirt roads were very rough. I have some entertaining video which I'll try and post later.

So, we made it down to PG around 6pm. The Redcross staff here were waiting for us at the office for a meeting. They explained a little bit of what they had in mind, and what would be appropriate for some of the mayan villages we would be teaching at. Before we left Belize City we had been preparing educational materials around Basic Health, etc. Once we arrived, we were informed they would like us to talk on Reproductive health and hygiene. Apparently there have been several diarhea outbreaks in some of these villages. So, we were up last night until about 12pm trying to draw flipcharts and create a presentation. We were up at 6am to hit the road. It took about 2 hours to get out there, crossing several flooded bridges - areas of moving water. Bumpy ride - all dirt roads.

It is absolutely beautiful down here. Probably my favorite area of Belize besides the Cayes. There are rolling hills, with jungly trees - everything is very green. There are areas where they've cleared it for farming and livestock. There are thatched houses everywhere. There are rivers and waterfalls. It is amazing. So, we went to 2 villages today to do education - for around 2 hours in each. They each required translation into Ketchi (the local Native langugage). We were kinda trying to watch time and the weather because they have been calling for rain and the bridges may have become impassible. However, the didn't. We got in from the day and from dinner around 7:45pm.

Tomorrow we may take the day off - Sunday isn't the best day to go do education in these villages because most of the people are busy with church and cooking all day. So, there's a chance we may go fishing w/ Mr. Cruz. He is the general director of the Red Cross down here in the Toledo District...retired U.S. Army. He runs a tight ship down here in this district (we ironed our red cross shirts last night). If not, we'll find some water somewhere to go swimming - either the Gulf of Honduras, or a river. That is, if the weather holds. Either way, it should be fun and I'm trying to soak up the last few days here in Belize.