Hurricane Earl

   

 Who would have thought this would have happened while we were in Belize? With the approaching of the hurricane, unfortunately it was the ending of camp for the kids. I know professional development was one of the reasons for my internship, but when our second day was cancelled in Belize City, I was elated o be able to go back to the camp another day........not knowing that it would be the last day. I think I was feeling like there wasn't closure, because when I left the previous Thursday, I did not tell the kids good-bye or that it was my last day with them. Being able to go one more day was probably the closure that I needed.
     So how do you prepare for a hurricane in another country?? With a lot of prayer! The kids told us all day that a storm was coming and talked about ways they prepared at their houses. I could not think of anything that I really needed from the store to be comfortable, so I focused my time on connecting with family and keeping them updated while we still had power. As it turned to night and the winds started to pick up, we thought it would be "FUN" to go to the beach to watch the waves. That was an experience for sure. As we approached the docks where we had previously walked on to go to Lamani days before, we saw others observing the swells in the waves and noticed that the waves were splashing up over the concrete barriers and that the dock was crumbling and was washing ashore. At that moment, I began to get more concerned that the storm may be a little more intense than I initially thought. After a little while of observing, a few of us walked back to the room and the lights had already gone out. A few kids were on their porch telling us to hurry and get inside where it was safe. This was another instance of where the people of Belize are genuinely caring people starting as young as the kids. Small acts of kindness like this always makes me grateful that the world still has caring individuals
     The day after the hurricane, we went out walking around the town early in the morning and our

first stop was the beach. What I saw was just unbelievable. Not only was the dock we walked on demolished, but as I looked to the left and right, all of the docks were torn apart. Pieces were piled on top of each other in the little alley and on property in front of the docks. As we went further into town, the beaches were a mess! My heart dropped because these were people's businesses taken in an instant. As we talked to people we passed or that were cleaning up, we asked about their homes and about the debris left by the hurricane. AMAZINGLY, they all had that resilient attitude of...we'll clean this up and get back to business as usual. There was no negativity from what I heard or anything like that. People came together to help each other clean up their beautiful island that they take much pride in. After witnessing this, I wrote a note in my phone that I posted on Facebook once we regained internet that basically talked about how after a hurricane, the people of Belize didn't let adversity get the best of them and how we should practice being more positive in life because we are BLESSED with sooooo much that we really don't need. If I take nothing else from this experience, it will be the lesson of resiliency and overcoming fear!

Garifuna

     

     Learning about the Garifuna culture was exciting! Being descendants of African slaves and the Caribs.....thereby creating their own distinct group, made them very interesting to researchers. While many African slaves were forcibly displaced from Africa and formed unions with whites; they formed unions with the Caribs and were accepted as free, which our speaker described as "we were

never broken; never enslaved." What struck me most about them, like most of the people in Belize is their resiliency. Although the British tried to keep them from advancing in their settlement, they adopted Roman Catholicism while maintaining many of their Afro-Carib customs. The Garifuna in Belize are embraced for their contributions to music, food, and the arts.

     Many of the six parts of Yosso's cultural wealth model can be found in the Garifuna culture. One of the most prevalent was familial capital. Everyone during our visit was working together to make sure the drinks were served and the food was prepared and put out for us to eat. Although I didn't get the direct relations of everyone else there that night, familial capital expands the concept of family to extended family, including the immediate family and aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. The dinner experience reminded me of my own family when we come together on holidays. My mother had 12 brothers and sisters and because she was a single parent, I was cared for by grandparents, aunts, and uncles. When we come together, there are multiple generations working together to prepare "traditional/favorite" dishes in our family, just like the "traditional" dishes prepared for us that night. Although our family don't have the "rituals" like the Garifuna do when they are celebrating Settlement Day, our gatherings normally end with everyone sitting in one room and the older generation telling stories that reflect our family history. 

 

 

  Reading information about the Garifuna culture before traveling to Belize and reading about some of their traditional dishes, I was very skeptical about being able to eat anything during our visit. I don't try a lot of new things, but this trip has really been good for me as it has forced me to step out of my shell in many ways. Even though my goal was to try a little of each dish, I did get it to my plate......which was a huge step, but I can't say that I tried EVERY thing that was on my plate. What I did try, I enjoyed and I'm still here to talk about it. LOL!
    I also enjoyed learning about the significance of the dances that they do. Although I'm "rhythmically challenged", it was fun to attempt to recreate the dance moves as the drums played.