Back In Action!

Hey all,

After a long while I have decided to start up my blog again. I had taken a hiatus because of my lack of electricity and because my computer battery dies if not plugged in. However, recently my host brother has invested his hard earned money into a solar panel, battery system.  The solar panels charge the batteries during the day (although they are somewhat old so do not stay charged enough to run my laptop at night) but store enough energy to run a little bulb at night! We now have a small source of electricity! Wohoo! And when it’s sunny, the solar panel produces a large enough current to keep my laptop on. Soooooo, I’ve decided to give this blog another try!

Me and Elodio

It’s been a couple of weeks now since I have returned from my medical evacuation from Panama. I was there for 43 days to have a cyst removed from my ovary and two cysts drained from my thyroid. Who would have known they were even there. But all is well now!! And I am better than ever and back in action J 

Lots has happened since I have been back. Firstly, by oldest 

host brother, Elodio, graduated from the University of Belize.

My host sister, Secundina (Dalia for short), graduated from Julian Cho Technical High School.

Dalia and her Aunt

Me and Dalia

And my two other younger host brothers, Genario and Valentino, graduated from primary school (both passed the primary school exam and are scheduled to attend high school!) Genario, got a full scholarship to attend high school! I am so proud of him.

Genario (right) and Valentino (left)

Congratulations Everyone!!

Two Sundays ago, we celebrated these joyful accomplishments with a grandiose party. We slaughtered our 300 pound pig (right) and bought another 290 pound one. We stewed caldo (a local traditional soup) pork and chicken, made rice and beans, cold slaw, poch (boiled corn ground, wrapped in a waha leaf, and steamed), and cake. My host dad even made soon local pineapple wine called chi-cha. Its taste very much resembles that of a mead. Delicious to say the least!

There was music and dancing, merriment and delight, and full, warm bellies and slightly fuzzy heads to top of the night! My 70 year old grandmother even busted out some traditional moves to the soothing rhythms of the Q’eqchi Harp! All in all, it was a huge success and lots of fun J







In addition to all these celebration, big news for me is that my health worker, Rosita, and I started our eight week diet and exercise program called, “Be Healthy Belize”!

Thanks to the help of my dear friend and fellow volunteer, Celeste, we created “Be Healthy Belize” to be feasible and enjoyable program that woman in rural villages can participate it. We originally decided to pursue this program in attempt to reduce the amount of non-communicable disease seen in these villages. Unfortunately, many women in our communities are overweight or obese, hypertensive, or diabetic due to life style; men tend to work laborious days on the farm, while women stay home completing the life and household essentials.

Rosita hard at work!

For Indian Creek in particular, Rosita and I thought that actual exercise classes would best suit our village because of our direct location on the southern highway; walking or running groups seemed dangerous and impractical. In conjunction, we received a lot of positive feedback from women in the village stating their interest in exercise classes.

Currently, we have 13 members enrolled in the program, whoop whoop! Each week, the women receive a lesson covering topics such as non-communicable disease, portion control, healthy foods, physical activity, etc. and two exercise classes. The lesson and first exercise session are on Tuesdays and the second exercise lesson is on Thursday. So far we have completed a Zumba, yoga, and kickboxing class. All seemed to go well, however Yoga and kickboxing were a huge hit and success. I cannot wait to continue and see how the rest of the program turns out!

Me measuring arm circumference

 












Until next time!