Patchakan, etc.

This week we rolled up our sleeves and got some dirt under our fingernails during the second week of Sustainable Community Development. The students had a chance to facilitate participatory exercises in a Mayan farming community in northern Belize called Patchakan. Meeting in the Community Center in the center of the village on Tuesday night, we shared a great meal prepared by a local women’s group and great conversation with about 30 members of the community. After dinner the students broke up into groups and worked with the community facilitating exercises such as community mapping, problem/cause diagramming, and Venn diagramming – tools used by development practioners across the world. Conversation was easy as the members of Patchakan have much to be vocal about. The main concerns that were spoken of include government corruption, bad roads, high taxes, expensive medicine, and a lack of political unity among the community. The rest of time in Patchakan we spent visiting a local farmers sugar cane field, an experimental farm, Fruta Bomba’s papaya fields and packing facilities, and a local health clinic started by Presbyterian missionaries. While in the community the students stayed in with local families, many with hilarious stories…like the group of four vegetarian girls who were fed meat at every meal. If there is one thing we will all remember about Patchakan it was the frigid cold evenings. It’s getting chilly in Belize these days – down in the 60’s at night. Time to pull out the wool socks and sweater! Somehow the papayas keep growing.