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Oh hey!

So it’s been about two months, so I figured it was probably time for another blog. A lot has happened in the last couple of months! I kind of liked doing things bullet style last time, so I think I’m going to do that again.

• BRO (Boys Reaching Out) committee work has really taken off! We’ve met a couple of times, and have started planning camp next year and making some resources for BRO clubs. Megan is a rockstar and basically created the whole BRO handbook we wanted to make in one sitting! The grant we applied for is done and in, so now we’re just waiting for approval. When we do, you can be sure I’ll post a link on here and Facebook in case y’all are willing to donate to our cause!
• I went to a ceremony in Dangriga for PSE (Primary School Examination, it’s a high school entrance exam) awards. One of the Standard 6 girls scored the 6^th best in the district for her score; that was really awesome to get to see. So proud of her, Genie is gonna do amazing things.
• I’m starting work on a home gardening project here that I hope to foray into establishing a community market. A group has already formed here on their own, gotten their seeds and have made their gardens. I’m hoping to expand to another group of people that want to do the same, and I’m probably about halfway there now. My mom is actually starting her garden already!
• Graduation here was a blast, but it was crazy and exhausting. I ended up being the photographer for the whole deal, which was actually a lot of fun. Because of that, I’m now the village photographer as well, so that’s cool. I’ve done a small handful of photo shoots (if you can call them that with a cell phone camera), which has actually been pretty fun. It’s also been a great way to meet a TON of people in the village. Graduation parties are also a bit different here. Unlike the States, everyone does their party at the same time after graduation is over, and they make a ton of food. If you plan to go to multiple parties, you’re going to get a full plate of food at each one. Too late I learned this to pace myself, but next year I’ll be ready. 2 lunches and 3 dinners was too much, I had to waddle home after all that.
• I got asked to be the guest speaker for the graduation at a nearby village, which was a huge honor and a lot of fun. Definitely wasn’t expecting that, nor the awesome gift they gave me (a backpack, wallet, and key ring) for doing it.
• I went to Caye Caulker for a weekend with a bunch of volunteers for Lobster Fest, and that was an absolutely blast. Got to go diving one day with Megan, and ate a ton of delicious lobster, including on a kabob with grilled pineapple, and in mac and cheese (totally worth the number of lactose pills I had to take to survive it).
• I went back to Eau Claire for a week and that was great. I got to see friends and family I haven’t seen in over a year, and it was really, really nice to be back. I also got to officiate Jackie’s wedding, which was absolutely amazing. I had so much fun there, it was unreal.
• In my quest to visit all the churches in my village (there are 15 of them), one Sunday I happened upon one that got me invited to a man’s 84^th birthday party, which was really cool. Ended up playing photographer there, and it was really amazing to get to be a part of that experience.
• We have two new CHW’s (Community Health Workers) that have started training now, and I’m super excited to start working with them. Already we’ve done an incaparina (nutrient rich flour substitute) cooking demonstration that they helped with, and it was probably the biggest success I’ve had to date. We had 54 people show up who were really into it and wanted to know when the next one would be. I plan on doing them monthly, and the new CHW’s will be a big help with that. I also can’t go anywhere without someone asking me for incap now, which is huge for improving the nutrition in my village.
• I’ve gotten to be halfway decent at playing football now, which has been a lot of fun, and has motivated me to start a workout group. I unfortunately have to hold off on that for a little bit now with my foot healing, but we’ll get there.
• I’ve formed a library committee for my library project, which I’m really excited about. We haven’t had a first meeting yet, but I think things will start moving quickly after we get a chance to meet as one.
• A group of people is forming that want to learn about chicken raising, so I’ll be working on that soon I think. I knew nothing about the subject before it came up, but I think maybe I can teach a little bit about it now. At least enough to get them started, I hope!
• I’ve designed a whole-school literacy program for my school that I’m hoping to present to the teachers soon so we can implement it right away this school year. It took a long time to finally put together, but I’m super happy with the result, and am waiting on feedback from the Peace Corps Response literacy experts in country right now. On that note, I’ve also been asked by two people to teach them English, so maybe I’ll get to start an evening English class for adults soon, too.
• I watched a lot of volunteers from BH3 (the cohort before mine) COS (close of service) and leave the country the last couple of months. It was really sad to see them go, but I wish them all the best in their post-PC lives!
• I went to visit Megan in her village to go see the first ever rodeo in the Toledo district of Belize. Her village is beautiful, and it was a blast of a weekend. Still terrified of horses, but it was cool to see the rodeo.
• I went to San Pedro a couple weeks ago and got my Advanced Scuba Diving Certification with Matt, which was absolutely awesome. I got to spend that whole weekend with some seriously wonderful people (Matt, Bum, Sarah, and Amanda), and went on 5 dives. Exhausting, but amazing.
• …as for my foot. On the way to Belmopan from San Pedro to lead a training for the new volunteers, I managed to cut my foot pretty deep walking to the bus terminal. On one of these streets, there are a bunch of drainage pits in the sidewalk that are either open cement pits, or they’re covered with grates, re-bar, or wooden planks. Part of the street was flooded that day, so I couldn’t see one, and caught the back of my food on the edge of one pretty hard. I had to get stitches in Belmopan and couldn’t walk on it for a week. I’m back home in my village now though (finally), and it’s healing nicely. I can walk on it moderately well now, but my balance is still a bit iffy.
• As for the training, I still did it on crutches, haha. It just so happened that, ironically enough, I was doing a training on volunteer resiliency. Despite my being on crutches, it went really well, and I hope/think the trainees got as much out of it as I did when we had that session last year.

Welp, that’s about where I am now. Things are going really well here overall, though it’s a bit slow right now with my foot healing up. School will start soon and then I’ll be crazy busy again, which I’m excited for, and my projects are starting to kick off. October is mid-service training (which is nuts, how are we almost halfway done already?!), and December I’ll be back for a couple of weeks for Christmas. It’s unbelievable how fast time is flying by, before I know it, my time in Belize will be done. I’m gonna bawl like a baby when that day comes.

Bryan 

P.S. I'm in the process of attempting to upload all my photos onto Facebook so y'all can see everything I've taken so far. No promises on when that'll be done, but I'm working on it!