Q: When and where did you serve in the Peace Corps in Belize?
A: I served as an environmental education trainer in the Cayo District, 1997-99. I worked at Las Cuevas Research Station in the Chiquibul Forest for 8 months and then transitioned to the Belize Forest Department to work with protected area and wildlife managers (mostly in Belmopan) and conservation officers in each district office. I lived in beautiful San Ignacio (“the West is the best!”).
I had the best Peace Corps experience – from science research in the incredible Chiquibul, to working with conservation officers to take education programs to buffer zone communities. I collaborated with other PCVs like Heather, Mindy, and Danny V to create an educational campaign “conserve the reserve” where we visited schools, sang the habitat song, and made each child a junior ranger, modeled on my experience as a ranger with the US National Park Service the 6 years prior to Peace Corps.
Q: You are one of the founding members of FBB. What started it all?
A: We organized the group in 2004 and funded our first high school scholar (Marivel from Dangriga). Robin Mardeuz, Sarah Reynolds and I created a steering committee with a few other RPCVs. We sought advice from another RPCV group (friends of the Dominican Republic) to initiate what then was called International Friends of Belize (now known as Full Basket Belize). We became an official 501c3 in 2005.
Q: Why do you continue to give your time and energy?
A: It’s been 13 years now, a good luck number in Maya tradition! As a volunteer board, we each have made a choice to continue our service to Belize. We’re in a position to help. We’re people who’ve fallen in love with Belize and want to give back — it’s truly an honor for us to continue our service to a country and people that have impacted us as much as Belize has. We are truly so lucky to have Belize in our hearts.
Q: What are you doing for work that brings you to Belize regularly?
A: I am currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Leadership at New Mexico State University. My research involves sustainable agroforestry in Belize. I still work full time as an online faculty teaching college-level Geography and Human Ecology courses.
Q: Since you visit Belize regularly for research, what is the biggest change you’ve noticed over the past decade?
A: There is a saying in Belize: “once you drink the water, you’ll always come back”. That is very true for me! I think the biggest changes I’ve noticed since my service: (1) A trip to Punta Gorda is only a few hours vs. an entire day (due to a now-paved southern highway); (2) Belize City has gotten huge in its periphery, but the marine terminal area is exactly the same; (3) There are too many cell phones and people using social media. Belize is still a social space though – you can still walk through towns and villages and expect the hospitality and greetings you did in earlier days; (4) Placencia has developed/transformed completely.
Mostly, though, I love that Belize has not changed a huge amount. It is still a small and beautiful country. You can still be sitting next to the cousin or sister of your neighbor on a bus traveling to the opposite end of the country. You can still show up on people’s doorstep and be welcomed in for conversation and food. There is still a beautiful sense of community you can’t find anywhere else on Earth.
Q: What is one of your favorite projects FBB has supported and why?
A: I have been lucky to visit a few projects that FBB funded. I think one of my favorite visits was to a school in Belmopan. We helped their steel drum band build storage cabinets so their instruments would be protected from the elements. So, when I visited to deliver the check and a certificate, they all played a concert for me. That was awesome!
Q: What is your favorite memory of your time in the Peace Corps?
A: A couple of my most proud moments as a PCV: (1) facilitating the “conserve the reserve” educational campaign and getting tough Forestry guys to dress up in frog costumes and dance and sing the habitat song to primary school kids. THAT made the entire 2.5 years of volunteering worth it! (2) Surviving 4 days canoeing/camping on the Belize River, participating in the Ruta Maya canoe race. Over 180 miles of paddling, camping on river banks, and the sorest I’ve ever been – it was absolutely fantastic! Thank you to Charlie and Robin D for being my race-mates! (3) The (I)guana Conservation Club that Danny V. created in San Ignacio. We need to revive it! The GCC gathered kids on a Saturday at the San Ignacio Hotel to learn about iguana biology and habitat at the iguana enclosure/exhibit. Then with donated canoes, gloves, and garbage bags, slowly float the river bank and collect a mountain of trash. We made it fun and competitive: we’d name our boats and do live sport-announcer style reports. Boats were awarded prizes for most garbage collected. The hotel or another restaurant would then provide lunch.
added 20 April 2018