Grant at the Itzamna Society

I spent my two weeks working with Itzamna Society, a development agency that grew out of the villages of Seven Miles, San Antonio and Cristo Rey, which sustainably manages Elijio Panti National Park and works to further communities it represents. The first week, I helped the village chairman of both San Antonio write a grant for a new pre-school and for an Internet café. I also helped the chairman of Seven Miles write a grant for a new road and an environmental education center. The next week I helped Itzamna Society facilitate a weeklong workshop for firefighters. The workshop consisted of two parts; forest fighting and community fire safety. Three Guatemalan firefighters came to the workshop to teach the Belizean participants. The community fire safety course taught the participants how to tell their villages about fire prevention and safety. The forest fighting course taught the participants how to actually put out a forest fire. During both of the courses, I took pictures and film to record the event. I also ended up taking the courses with the rest of the participants, which proved a little difficult since it was entirely in Spanish. I managed however, and ended up getting certificates for both of the courses!