month and YEAR end!!

Happy New Year everyone! We have had a fabulous year and Dec has definitely been a high point. A very busy month as evidenced by the lack of blogging done this month but what can I say? Priorities, you know. Rafe and Adrianne are here for Christmas/New Years and a holiday. Alfred's brother Darrell and his family are also here on vacation. Here is the run down of the month:

Brynn finally managed to gather a fairly dedicated group of hockey players this month. They have caught on to the game so fast and really enjoy playing. They play barefoot and (coaches be proud) once they discovered there is no penalty for banging a player's skates, decided that rule also applies to feet. Some days I'm surprised they can even walk after 2-3 hours of playing!

The four of us took a weekend trip to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye to do some Christmas shopping. We had fun, decided we weren't fond of San Pedro (that's Belize - not to be confused with the one in Honduras) and got lots of shopping done. The plane was full on the way home so Brynn got to be co-pilot!

I know I've already told the story but thought you might like to see a couple of the pics from the shoebox christmas. Definitely a high point for the month.

All four of the kids are enjoying being together again. Lots of high jinx in our house lately!
And finally, the trip the entire family has been waiting for: we spent the day in Guatemala at the Mayan ruins of Tikal. It is the most amazing place. We had so much fun and even enjoyed the fact that we had to work at communicating.

From our house to yours, a very, very happy new year to all!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!! We hope you are enjoying family and friends today and that all is well with all of you. We are having a wonderful Christmas although it hardly feels right without the snow. We are trying to bring a little 'Canada' to Belize by running the A/C at full blast and building a lovely 'snow'man. Tomorrow we leave on a little family trip to top off the season. Keep safe and keep well. I'll see you in 2008!

From Pergatory to Paradise

This is maybe not my story to tell, but, of course, I'm going to tell it anyway. Belize is a beautiful country and, like anything worthwhile, sometimes there is a price to be paid before attaining the goal. Rafe and Adrianne learned this first hand. They got up all excited and happy to be heading out ... at 5:00am on Tuesday morning. Arrived at the airport and all was well. Now, most of you know what Rafe looks like. He is a wonderful, good looking man but he wears his hair long and had on a kangaroo skin tilly hat, beard, you get the idea. Consequently, when going through security, they had to wait while security did it's search through his luggage. This pattern was repeated at every security (what do you call them, station?) place along the way. Adrianne, on the other hand walked right through. They arrive in Houston on Tuesday night and check in to the hotel for the night. Now, in my defence, the hotel looked lovely from the pictures on the internet. I don't know how bad it really was but Adrianne refused to sleep on the sheets. She just rolled up on the top of the bed. Obviously not the best sleep was had. Next morning they are, once again, up bright and early although, I'm sure not as awake as they had been the day before. They arrive at the Houston airport and go through their new security 'routine' not realizing that they were about to enter purgatory. They board the plane. 'yay, just two more hours'.
Meanwhile, back in paradise ... I leave home at 12:00 noon to drive to the Dangriga airport and pick up my kids. I get there a few minutes early and decide I'll go in and ask if the kids made the flight. I had booked it a little tight but I knew if they didn't make that one, the guys at Tropic would get them on the next one. So I ask and discover that the international flights have not landed at Belize City. Here I panic - just a little. Going through my mind is 'why not? I know they took off. how much gas does that plane have?' Instead of acting like the hysterical Mom I am on the inside, I say 'Oh? What is going on?' The ladies at the office have no idea but they are bored and willing to 'phone around for me. We discover that the plane won't land because the weather is bad. This confuses us all because the little puddle-jumper planes that Tropic and Maya fly are bouncing in and out of Belize City like it is nothing. The ladies 'phone their counterparts in the city to find out if the weather is really that bad. The response is 'there's just a little rain'.
Cut back to the plane. The pilot has tried to land three times and has missed the runway each time because he can't see through the rain. [aside - here we have to wonder about the Belizean people as a whole. We have come to the conclusion long ago that the gene that tells us 'you know, this may not be the best idea' is somehow missing in Belizeans. evidenced by the lack of safety rules in every aspect of this society.] The pilot, not being Belizean, decides not to risk the lives of my children (yes, they were the deciding factor) decides to go to Honduras and land there. They make everyone get off the plane and wait for the weather to clear.
Back to the Tropic office: I have called the office here at the resort to tell them what is going on and ask them to call Alfred. I have no idea, ,at this point, what exactly is happening just that they can't land. Elizabeth, the receptionist, decides this is her new mission in life and begins to make 'phone calls. This sets off a whole chain of events where I become the clearing centre for information. It got funny pretty fast. The ladies at Tropic would answer the phone and point it at me: 'Dana, it's for you'.
In Honduras: There is a break in the weather. Everyone back on the plane. Except for 'those' people. You know them, the ones that decide 'hm, we're here for awhile, I'll go shopping.' [This is where the earlier described genetic deficiency shows up in the rest of the nationalities] Consequently, the fast take-off is foiled and by the time the plane makes it back to Belize, the window is closed. But now the pilot has seen that there is hope and returns to Honduras to refuel (again) and wait for another chance. This time, the pilot not being stupid, no one is allowed off the plane. Another window, another try, another trip to Honduras. This time the pilot decides there is no hope. You can't land anywhere in Belize after dark. No runway lights. So everyone gets off the plane while arrangements are made for them to stay in Honduras.
[I get the 'phone call informing me of this and go home to wait for further instruction]
After haggling with the Honduran powers that be, everyone is re-herded onto the plane. Apparently the Hondurans will only let the passengers stay if the plane also stays (Hondurans sound like they are not stupid!) Since the plane is going back to Houston, the passengers are too.
So, after 13 hours on the plane, my kids are right back where they started. But they have made about 200 new friends. When they finally land in paradise the following afternoon it is to the sounds of celebration. Both from inside the plane and from those of us waiting outside.

Christmas Angels

When I was small and the school or church did a Christmas pageant, I always wanted to be an angel. I thought they got the prettiest costumes. In this post I am going to introduce you to a year 'round angel and maybe you'll get some ideas of how to be a Christmas angel.
On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, Kori and I go to Equity House in Hopkins to help Nurse Judy in whatever way we can. Nurse Judy is a Belizean lady that was educated in the States. She worked there for years as a critical care nurse. Her husband is a Dr and was the epidemiologist for the Belize Government before he retired. When they moved to Hopkins, they built a large house with two garages. In one of those Garages, Judy has built a pharmacy and clinic that serves the people of Hopkins and surrounding area. She is available 24/7 for emergencies and will always come out if the patient can't get to her. She is out for emergencies at least two nights a week if not more and has open-door clinic during the day. If she runs across a situation she is unsure of, she googles it and treats it. She gives away medication to those that need it for donations, if she knows they can afford it, or free if she knows they can't. Besides this, she runs diabetes and hypertension information sessions out of her home once a week. She has an AIDS awareness group and does AIDS testing and counselling. Recently she was awarded a $9000 grant to do a project in Hopkins to try and derail stigma and discrimination against HIV+ people. Kori and I are heavily involved in this right now. Kori is in the process of making two different information pamphlets and I am designing t-shirts. We will have information sessions early in the new year. Judy also works one evening a week at the Dangriga hospital and volunteers once a week in the mental health unit doing counselling. On top of all this, people have started giving her children that they won't or can't care for themselves. She has found a home for four of them and is in the process of raising money to buy land and build an orphanage in town. She also manages to get to all of the schools in our district once a year and give each child a complete physical, including medication they may need and referrals to other agencies and doctors if necessary. She and her husband, Rich, are also raising a lovely 10 year old daughter, Victoria. Oh, and she has vet clinic the third Saturday each month. Now for the clincher: she is not paid for any of this and all supplies must come from donations. She gets supplies from her nursing and doctor friends in the states and from others that know about her work here. She is the medical saviour of this area. She is trying, along with some volunteer help, to get a web page up and running (www.equityhousebelize.com) if you want to check it out. There is also hope for help in the form of a non-profit organization that builds small hospitals in third world countries. They are called the world hospital project (http://web.mac.com/themikans/Site/Home.html) and they are planning to build a small hospital in Hopkins to get Judy out of her garage and get doctors and nurses involved in volunteering on a rotating basis. Now I'm going to ask for some simple help for this amazing woman who is just full of love and charity. If you want to help us out, the world hospital project will be selling t-shirts for about $20 each off of their web site. You might consider buying yourself one. Or, if you are coming to visit us, think about bringing some cough medicine (especially children's) or anti-fungal cream or benedryl of any sort. Those are the meds she is most in need of right now. Don't send money through the mail. It likely won't get here, but if you want to help with money for the orphanage, let me know and we can find a way. One definite change in our attitudes and values that has come from living here is that we now understand the true definition of poverty. (that is a really awkward sentence, sorry) The girls often say they will never take anything for granted again. And yet, these people with nothing (think of your definition of having nothing and subtract from there) will give you anything they have if you need it. They are so generous, happy and kind. It is a very humbling experience living here. I will never again be able to say 'we can't afford' now it has to be 'we don't want to afford'.

Guess who came to town?

Yesterday Santa came to town! And he was really hot and sweaty in his heavy red santa suit in the 30 degree weather! I sure wouldn't want to be him! We (a bunch of expats) set up a tent on the beach decorated a tree and set out cookies and juice, and all the kids in town (about 400 of them) came and waited for Santa. They were way excited!!! We had them sing some Christmas songs ... they have a few that I wonder about. One called 'Daddy don't get drunk this christmas' and their twelve days of christmas starts and ends with fried fish in a basket. The youth choir sang (they were amazing!!) a song about all men being free. It was beautiful. There were even 'drummer boys'! The garifuna boys/men drum at every occasion in Hopkins. (Even if the occasion is just Friday night at the bar.) It was one of those cultural experiences. And then HE came! and he had with him about 400 shoeboxes full of goodies. One for each child from the tiniest baby to the teenagers. It was great to see the shoeboxes from this side of things. The kids were so thrilled with their presents. They lined up to get them and have their picture taken with Santa. Then they ran off with their group of friends to a spot on the beach and opened their boxes. It was so fun to see them all wandering around later with their boxes full of goodies under one arm and a mouth full of candy. I'll tell ya, next year when I'm packing those shoeboxes for the school, it will have a whole new meaning for me!!

Guatemala - Take 1

Hi All! I have been trying to write a blog giving you my first impressions of Guatemala. It turned out to be a ‘first this, then this’ kind of thing. In other words: long and boring. You’ll be happy to hear I deleted it in favor of a tour of the highlights. So here it is!
At the border between Belize and Guatemala as we were waiting for the rest of our group to arrive from Belize City we heard two shots. The kids are a little wild eyed so I was explaining to them how it was a bus backfiring when two army guys with guns drawn ran past us into the bush. So much for the backfiring bus theory. Turns out someone tried to sneak over the border. Word to the wise – if you are going to try and sneak over a border of any sort, probably the actual border crossing is a bad choice of location!

The actual getting through from Belize to Guatemala was surprisingly painless. Basically we were just waved through. Getting through the men trying to get you to exchange money with them or hire them to drive you or whatever was much more difficult. I did OK exchanging money but Brynn managed to get us 50 Quetzals for $20 Belize (the exchange is x3). Whatever. If crossing the border was painless, the trip from there to Guatemala City made up for it! There were 27 of us in a bus that sat 29 if all the aisle jump seats were used. Crowded and uncomfortable – for 13 hours!!!

Beautiful countryside, though. Guatemala City is a thoroughly modern city of about 12,000,000 people. Lots of highrises and glass buildings, McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, you get the idea. The traffic is unreal! Think of Edmonton at rush hour and then take out all traffic controls. That’s right – no traffic controls. Word to the wise #2 – when in Guatemala City, don’t drive, take a cab! Guatemala is not the safest country for tourists and Guatemala City is less safe than the rest of the country so we were surrounded by safety measures. On the bus, someone ‘phoned every 15 minutes to make sure we were OK and find out where we were. Now, is it just me or does this seem to be a rather lame safety measure? I think it was more of a ‘find the bodies fast so it doesn’t scare the other tourists’ measure! We stayed in the church MTC compound in the church guesthouse. Security here was somewhat more reassuring. It was gated, locked and guarded by church members with guns. I chose to believe said church members knew what they were doing as far as the guns were concerned. The temple is gorgeous! Unfortunately it is too big and the grounds too small to get a decent picture.

The grounds are fenced and armed guards patrol the fence line outside the grounds. I took Brynn, Kori and another young woman from our branch (Juana) to do baptisms and they joined up with a group of youth from Honduras. These youth were great! They just swallowed up our girls and made them part of the group. The language barrier was totally ignored and they were immediate friends. It was so nice for our kids. The trip home was unreal: we got on the bus at 4:30 am and got home at 9:30 pm. Traffic was bad and there was a bad accident on the highway held us up for 2 hours. Definitely not a trip I want to take every week but a great experience none the less.