CBT

4/3 Exploring Maya Mopan

First thing first-I am terrible at Q’eqchi. I’m also terrible at making tortillas and washing my clothes by hand the proper way. Luckily, I have the best host sister in the world who is patiently teaching me the fundamentals of Q'eqchi life. She is so wonderful. I am thankful to live in her beautiful home. All weekend she introduced us to her family and showed us around Maya Mopan. She is related to almost everyone here. It was so hard to keep everyone straight! I am planning on helping her make a family tree so we can see how large her family is here.

It is so important to learn how people are related in a place like Belize. Human relationships are the most important resource in sustainable development.

Normally I have a terrible sense of direction. Danny jokes that we go ‘as the Breezie flies”. However, I am happy to say that I am getting much better at orienting myself to my surroundings quickly. I think two things have helped greatly- walking around all the streets (wandering) and making a community map.

The Peace Corps teaches us several methods of gathering data as part of a process called “Participatory Analysis for Community Action” (PACA). One of the methods is to create a community map. You do that with the help of several people who live here. It is important to ask all different kinds of people and be sure to ask both men and women. When creating a map people will put emphasis on the places that mean the most to them. You can compare the different group’s maps and use that information to see where the town’s resources are. You can also see what places are most important to the various groups who participate. In the course of making the map some interesting conversations can take place in a non-threatening way.

The Peace Corps gives us a little book outlining PACA tools. It is so incredibly helpful to get some idea of where to start gathering data in a culturally appropriate way. We even practiced how to introduce ourselves to all kinds of people in the community. For example, if we need to work with the village council we have to know how to appropriately approach them. I learned that in Belize you should ALWAYS use Mr. or Ms. when meeting someone for the first time. Also, it is important to be clear about who you are, what you are doing, and why you are asking them questions. Keep the conversation light and brief for the first time. It sounded easy but when I actually had to stand up in front of the group and introduce myself to one of the Belizean training staff who was pretending to be a village leader I got so nervous! I really don’t want to make a bad first impression!!

Tomorrow is the first day of Community-Based Training (CBT) with the Technical Trainers and the Language and Cultural Facilitators. We go from 7:30a-5pa. That is a LOT of training. Some people say that the first three months of PC is the hardest because there is so much to learn in such a short time. The good thing is everything we are learning can be instantly applied where we live. We practice using all the PACA tools and work on our language skills with our host family. That real-time practice is so important. I keep thinking about how lucky I am to be here. I don’t think there is any experience comparable to the PC experience. I read an interview today from a PC regional director. She was asked to sum up her PC experience into one word. Her word was ‘significant’. I couldn’t agree more.