11/07/08

Currently I am doing half day confirmations retreats during this first term and then will do a full day retreat between January and March with Confirmations for 21 schools sometime in March when the Bishop comes down. I am leading the retreats with a young Belizean man who has been a teacher and will have a Jesuit Novice in January to assist us.

The teacher retreats I am leading this term are on Personal Values and Beliefs for the 30 Catholic Primary schools (230 teachers). I’m using mainly activities I’ve done in the past like the Boatman morals activity of ranking who is most at fault to least at fault and a values ranking survey with 16 values they have to prioritize. The Boatman activity has gone over well because both the river crossing situation and infidelity issues hit home for many of the teachers. We have a variety of songs, activities, and discussions (small group and large group). I am planning a weekend retreat for teachers because I find that the teachers desire more than just one day and it would be a bonding weekend for at least 20 of the 230 teachers.

On this pleasant Friday afternoon in November I am regrouping from leading five retreats this week. At the beginning of the week I was in the most remote villages, a completely different group of children (quiet and shy) than the schools I work with in and close to town (wild and loud). The furthest villages survive off traditional slash and burn agriculture, have access to town only three days per week and send just a handful of students to high school, although the numbers grow each year. One of the activities we have them do is called “Dream your future”: what kind of occupation they'd like to have, where to live, what to own, what would make this dream come true and what would make it difficult, etc. It took be aback when one of the girls wrote, in the section of what occupation you'd want, "back water" (to collect water from the pump or river and carry it home to her house). I was about to say, ‘no, no think about a paid job you would like to have’, but then realized she must have such a limited concept of women working other than household duties. The only paid jobs they see are teachers, who are only men in these villages. It’s made me question our retreat activities for children you will mostly be spending the rest of their lives doing subsistence farming and working just to eat and survive. I surely don’t want our retreats to convince them that this is wrong.

On Monday night, I stayed the night in Crique Sarco, the Maya village where I did my home stay during my first few days here, and led a teacher retreat Monday and confirmation retreat Tuesday. This village is recently accessible by walking across a bridge, constructed just months ago. Before, you had to cross the river by wooden canoe and walk in. I really enjoy running around with the youngsters, exploring creeks and rivers and playing games (soccer, UNO cards), and watching the ladies cook tortillas and yell at the pigs, chickens and dogs that wander into their homes. The main hobby and adventure for the boys in the village is slinging birds with their sling shots. The one boy walked up to me with a huge smile, so proud of the little bird with had just slung. I followed him back to his house where he immediately plucked all the feathers, chopped the head and feet, pushed out the gizzards, stuck a stick through it and placed it by the traditional wood burning stove, like a miniature rotisserie chicken. I had to put aside my compassion for birds and marvel at the fun and excitement these children were have with just a piece of wood, rubber and rocks.

I have about five weeks of retreats left and then my family will be arriving for a visit from the 22nd to 31st of December. I look forward to showing them my life here; being the first time having a visitor in 16 months.

Despite not wanting to count the days down, I am getting anxious to consider options for next year and onward. I would like to do retreat work in a high school or university context for a couple years. I also plan to prepare for and decide on graduate school options. It is a goal of mine to continue with my studies in Anthropology. I found my undergraduate studies in Anthropology to me very enriching and stimulating and in these years in Belize I have met and been in contact with a few Anthropologists whose work with and Anthropological approach to land rights and resource issues have been very inspiring to me. I am going to have to work hard before though both preparing for the GRE’s and improving my reading and writing skills before grad school. The competition and cut throat pressure of grad school really turn me off, but if it’s something I really want, I will hopefully find it inside myself to do what I have to do. So I have hopes and ambitions for the future but know that there are many possibilities and roads that my future could take. For now, I am just trying to take advantage of my time here and grow as much, both by being in Belize and being a Jesuit Volunteer.

Now I have to finish some office work and get out of here to start the weekend. Tonight there is a Battle of the Drums, a Garifuna drum competition.