Nursing Observations Come to a Close

Our nursing students from Messiah College just wrapped up their two-week nursing observations at three different local hospitals and clinics. They all did a great job and learned a lot – well done ladies! Enjoy their mini-blog reports.

Katherine
SLC & RCBB - Resident CCSP Belize Blogger ;)

Happy Birthday Kenny!

Happy Birthday Kenny!
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Happy Birthday KENNY! What a crazy night of improv drama on the night of Kenny’s 21st birthday.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy Birthday Sarah!
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Happy Birthday SARAH!
The icing on top of the proverbial thanksgiving cake was that it was also Sarah’s Birthday! After our community feast and concert, we headed down to the classroom turned movie theatre and enjoyed cake and Bride and Prejudice – a Bollywood spin on one of Sarah’s favorite classics, Pride and Prejudice. B & P is hilarious and we laughed so hard, straining our already full and aching bellies!

Thanksgiving - Nabitunich Style

Pablo
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Thanksgiving was a big to-do around the Nab. Martha and Shelley were decorating with Iris and Laura a week in advance to prep for this special feast! We had a wonderful thanksgiving meal a day later on Friday, which we were able to share with our friends from Nabitunich. We also had the amazing flute player – Pablo Collado serenade our group throughout the meal and by concert following. What a great way to reunite after being separated for the week and recognize how thankful we are for the community we share here at CCSP. On Thursday, the true Thanksgiving Day, we read a thanksgiving liturgy both at the Nab and out at Calabash, uniting in worship though spatially divided.

Happy Birthday Iris!

iris' birthday 5
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Happy Birthday IRIS!
Our nursing students and Laura C. threw Iris a little birthday party. The rest of us out at Calabash Caye were sad to miss it, but were there in spirit and gave her our birthday wishes as soon as we returned on Friday.

Marine Ecology at Calabash Caye

Phil and Kristel
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

While the nursing students were starting their first week of observations, the rest of the group headed out to Calabash Caye for Marine Ecology. We stayed at the University of Belize’s Institute for Marine Studies, which is an incredible research site with white sandy beaches and quick access to the coral reef. Thanks to Laurie Furlong from Northwestern University for a great course!

Kenny as intern writer at Naturalite and Cubola

Banner Hanger Extrodinaire
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Here's CCSP's shining student, Kenny Johns, hard at work during a Spanish teachers conference in Belmopan. This conference represents just one of the many jobs that Kenny undertook during a two week internship with Cubola productions. Kenny recognizes his revolutionary work internationally, and he has given himself awards in proofreading, book carrying, and promotions writing. And what a banner hanger! He did the one in this picture all by himself!

In the fast paced and exciting world of publishing, there is little room for error. Kenny’s swift mind and sharp sixth sense for grammatical errors keep him ahead of the pack. No one on earth knows the difference between colon and semi-colon better than he.

But these past two action packed weeks are just part of the story for our hero. He spent his first week of internshipism with Naturalite productions, collecting tourism information for their top website, ToucanTrail.com. Indeed, if one should search for any tourism information in the entire Corozal district, it is his fine work that they would find. His ruthless interviews and detailed note taking have come to the aid of all budget travelers in the northern most reaches of the small, but exhilarating country of Belize.

Kenny Johns
Messiah College

Eric's Internship with the Ministry of Agriculture

Eric's Internship
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

I spent three weeks at the Belize Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Section. I worked primarily with the dairy operation of herding, milking and feeding calves. Between the early morning milking and afternoon milking I helped out with other operations on the farm: health care of the beef and dairy herds- I gave lots of injections; and the extension program- I proofread materials and travelled to Punta Gorda for a workshop for local farmers. Whenever I had a chance, I would go play with the baby goats, colts, or calves. I made a few good friends and drank a few cups of dang good milk.

I am trying develop a solid definition of 'animal stewardship' and ways to develop a culture (regionally or within a workforce) of 'animal stewardship'- treating animals with respect and gratitude, as they are an inseparable part of God's Creation. I worked on a production model that could be classified as 'organic,' 'free-range,' 'BST-free' and 'GE (genetically engineered) free.' Still, I find myself unsatisfied by some of the ways operations are carried out. Perhaps it's a reminder that mankind is fallen, despite the labels we try to apply to ourselves.

Eric Bradley
Calvin College

Laura's Internship at the Belize Zoo

Falconry Expert
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

These past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to work at the Belize Zooa s an Animal Care intern. What an amazing experience it was! From learning all about falconry and getting to fly large birds of prey, to handfeeding the problem jaguars and preparing food for all of the zoo's inhabitants, the two weeks I interned at the zoo were jam packed with amazing learning experiences. Food preparation took up a majority of my mornings, and of course there was the necessary cleaning of enclosures to ensure a sanitary living environment for the animals of the zoo. While these were the least exciting goings on of my internship, the amazingly fun experiences of working hands on with the animals made up for any minorly icky jobs tenfold. I was given a lot of responsibility, and was even entrusted to feed a couple of the animals (including the HARPY EAGLE) by myself! I learned so much about the native animals of Belize during my internship, as well as zookeeping in general. Working at the Belize Zoo only reinforced my desire to work in a zoo upon graduation from Messiah College. Not only that, however, it showed that whatever zoo I decide to work in, I need to have lots of interaction with the zoo guests, and can't solely be a caretaker of animals. In short, interning at the Belize Zoo was the experience of all experiences and my only regret is that it couldn't be longer!

Laura Klinefelter
Messiah College

Miranda's Internship at the Belize Zoo

Miranda
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

During my three weeks as an intern at the Belize Zoo, I had many amazing experiences. Most of my time was spent preparing food for the animals, doing dishes, and assisting the keepers with the daily feeding and cleaning of the animal enclosures. Some of the highlights of my three weeks are: hand-feeding bones to jaguars, having my hair grabbed numerous times by an especially rambunctious Spider Monkey named Pancho, learning falconry techniques and flying the Roadside Hawk, Alvin, attempting to speak Spanish as much as possible, bathing a boa constrictor, and hand-feeding the Harpy Eagle, Panama. I learned so much during my internship about animal rehabilitation, conservation issues in Belize, and what it means to glorify God through caring for His absolutely fabulous creation.

Miranda Demos
Messiah College

Daryn's Teaching and Community Development Internship in San Antonio

Daryn Teaching in San Antonio
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

My three week internship was spent in a charming Mayan village called San Antonio. My base organization was a community development group known as the Itzamna Society. Most of my time was spent helping at the local schools in hopes to gain experience for becoming a high school science teacher. Both elementary and Jr. high schools in the town welcomed me as I aided teachers in grading homework, covering full class lessons, and substituting in the absence of a teacher. It all turned out to be very educational as I had no experience with teaching prior to my time in the village. I also had the privilege of surveying the newest national park in Belize found less than one mile from the village. James, an active community development worker, and I became good friends as we spent time in the Elijio Panti National Park and designing a brochure for the park. James taught me so much about some real issues of community work. He spends many long hours putting into his community and often only receives a sense of “village pride” in return. The highlight was certainly the homestay with a great family of seven. The children walked with me to school and we laughed and played games into each night.

Daryn Dockter
Northwestern College

Pete's Internship with BEST and the CDI

Pete hard at work
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Dear Journal,
Today was another hard day at the office. I spent all day taking pictures of myself using the timer on my camera. I would have done work but I didnt have any. Luckily Justin is changing my internship to the Cayo Deaf Institute. At CDI, I will be able to help out in their garden, their orchard, and anywhere else I am needed. I will learn sign language, although not that well. I will change the oil on a Toyota 4Runner and also a Kubota 425. I will also help with the castrations of 3 bulls. That will be a unique memory that will never leave my brain even when I try desperately. I will play football with the kids. I will wrestle with the older kids and then regain my pride by wrestling with the younger, smaller, and weaker kids. It will be great. I will learn about living by faith from Jason and Frank, two of the Mennonites who work there. I will learn about the different cultures between the speaking and the deaf, and even the culture between the deaf and the deaf who can lipread. I will learn a lot about walking as well, seeing as CDI is a mile and a half off of the highway. During those walks I will see gorgeous birds, smelly pigs, Eric, and friendly locals. Justin says my next 2 weeks at CDI will be great. I can’t wait.
I love you, journal. You are the only one that gets me. Never change, journal, never.

Yours Always,
Pete McLean
Messiah College

Kristel's Moth Research Internship

Kross-Eyed Kristel The Moth Lady
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

They call me moth lady. Through my internship I became very familiar with moths. My internship took me out to the bush at night to collect moths. To capture moths I sat in front of a really bright light and waited for hours for moths to appear. Now the moths that I was particularly interested in were the Sphingidae or hawk moths. My plans were to collect a whole of these moths, sex them, rear them, and send the eggs off to England. The collected eggs would then be used for identification purposes, identification of the phylogeny of Sphingidae rather then the morphology. Collecting the Sphingidae was always fun, but when none had appeared it got incredibly frustrating. My moth hunting partner, Marike and I began seeing trends, on dark rainy nights we would see the moths. And for the moths that Marike and I did catch we identified and sexed each one of them. I realized that during the identification of several moths, I was fascinated ar just how intricately these moths are designed. Sometimes it got a little confusing with all the different traits to identify, but each one of these moths are quite unique and beautiful. I know that this experience has given me a deeper appreciation for the little creepy crawly things at night, especially the Sphingidae moths. It has also showed me patience and taught me that research may be frustrating but sometimes getting no moths at all still shows important results.

Kristel Pendleton - AKA moth lady
Eastern Nazarene College

Marike's Moth Research Internship

Moth Lady I
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

For the past three internship weeks I went out into the jungle, or as the locals call it ‘the bush’. Here Kristel Pendleton and I stayed at different lodges and did moth sampling at night. Our goal was to catch female Sphingidae moths, but we only caught males. Fancy that!
During the days Kristel and I would explore the property and trails where we were staying, and had the opportunity to see many species of Belizean wildlife like toucans, a ferdelance, Blue Morpho and Owl butterflies, and a terrific array of palms and heliconias. Since we were technically still on internship we would read up on hawk moths and foodplants. I enjoyed my internship immensely, and developed an even deeper love for entomology.
It was wonderful to be out at night experiencing creation when I would have otherwise been sleeping. Many nights I sat in trenchal downpours just listening to insects fly past my head toward the light and I would marvel at God’s handiwork. I must admit I felt a little crazy at first, but as time went on I rather enjoyed being a nighttime entomologist! Our hosts were especially enthusiastic about our research, and it was great to be treated as though we were truly professional entomologists and not just amateurs!

Marike Boerema
Dordt College

Internships Come to a Close

We have reached the end of the 2-3 week internship course for a number of our students. Well done all of you! Our students worked hard volunteering and gaining work experience with a number of different organizations in Belize. Our nursing students are getting enthused about their upcoming nursing observations next week. Thanks Justin for organizing all of these!

Enjoy reading their mini-blog reports.

-Katherine
CCSP Belize SLC

Internship and Nursing Observation Photos

Microbiology – Week Two

Anna Swabs Gretchen's Throat
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Half of our students continued to study microbiology this week with Byron Noordewier from Northwestern. The lab work continued with testing water samples and throat cultures among others. Our only regret is that we didn’t get a videotape of Laura G with her sensitive gag reflex having her throat swabbed! (Check out pics of her laughing hysterically on Flickr). The students presented information on various diseases to each other and wrote short papers, deepening their knowledge of microbiology and how it relates to the nursing profession. Thanks Byron for another great week of micro!
More Throat Swab pics and Micro One pics

Sunday at Tikal

Leah goes exploring
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

On Sunday morning we left bright and early for Tikal, an ancient Mayan city turned national park. We enjoyed learning about the history of the place amidst the loud, yet visibly elusive howler monkeys. We did however get to see some spider monkeys and a number of impressive birds. The students enjoyed scaling the tall temples and what a view there is from the top!

More pictures of Tikal

Saturday in Flores

Pleasure Cruise
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

This past weekend we traveled as a group to Flores and Tikal in Guatemala. On Saturday, we arrived in Flores in time to eat lunch with our small groups. After that we dispersed and a mad shopping frenzy commenced. Once most people had enjoyed wandering the circular streets, playing basketball, or doing some damage to their bank accounts we all piled into little boats and were ferried across Lago Peten Itza. We reached the opposite shore in a small village called San Miguel, where we stayed at Casa Zapote, a guesthouse with a lot of character. We enjoyed the incredible view of the sunset over the lake, fabulous food, and a talk about Guatemalan history and culture from our host Sylvia. Many went back into Flores, when the town came alive in the cool of the evening and when every family member seemed to be out to play.

Flores Fotos

Belizean Birding

Only have eyes for birds
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

A bunch of us left to go birding at 5:30 this morning - despite the rain. We were happy to have Joe Sheldon (Messiah and CCSP Academic Committee)who is here for a brief visit, along with us. We saw some beautiful hawks, a kite, parakeets, toucans, seedeaters, orioles, warblers, flycatchers, and euphonias... Basically, another good morning of birding in Belize.

What are Friends For!?

What are Friends For!?
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

We are having a record breaking semester for botflies! These crazy little larvae like to grow under the skin of lucky tropical forest mammals such as tapirs, jaguars and CCSP students!
Miranda was the lucky host for Hubert who was removed last week. Currently, Justin, Leah, Laura K. and Anna are all hosting botfly buddies.

Microbiology - Week One

Marv and Sarah
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

Half of our students have started into their first week of Microbiology with Marv Meyers from Eastern University. While it is an intense course, we’re having a lot of fun in the lab! The students are all doing projects to try and identify unknown bacteria. Various items were swabbed to grow the bacteria cultures. Some of the items swabbed were: toes, fingernails, a shower floor, a nalgene bottle, the classroom light switch, a bunny’s ear, a botfly wound, the compost bucket lid, and the slackline.

Pictures of our students in action during their microbiology lab

The other half of our students are doing internships for the next two weeks. You can look forward to reading their mini-blog reports soon!

NEW ADDITION - Belizean Psalms

Hello Friends and Family of CCSP Fall 2005,
We have set up a new webpage for our Belizean Psalms. These “psalms” are written by different members of our community every week and were first presented at our Sunday evening Community Night. The psalms are re-imaginings of biblical passages from within the Belizean context to have special meaning in this time, in this place, and to our little community. Some take their inspiration from the book of Psalms while the rest draw from various other parts of the Bible. Follow the link below or on the right-hand sidebar, and enjoy!
Belizean Psalms

Live Word

Live Word
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

After our awesome but busy week of forest ecology, we all enjoyed a week of relaxation during Fall Break. The students set off on various adventures with each other and family, with many a good story to share upon their return.

At Sunday evening’s Community Night we had an event called Live Word. This was a coffeehouse where students, staff and faculty shared skits, poems, journal entries, music, and literature excerpts that had something to do with their past week during fall break.