EVAN AT ITZAMNA

I spent the two weeks the Itzamna Society, a community development organization that focuses on biodiversity conservation, community development such as working to bring clean water to a nearby community and cultural awareness centering on the Mayan culture. My first week I learned about the water project Itzamna is involved with and about how Itzamna functions. I spent the last part of the week with the warden in the national park. The park was accessed by horseback and I went discovered the visitor center, a waterfall and a cave. The second week was much more work related. I wrote a funding proposal for a local school in the village. I’d never written a funding proposal before, so it was really interesting learning the proper format for the proposal, and learning about the structure in the school, and well as interacting a little with the students. Working with Itzamna made me realize that community development work is a lot about relationship building. I also understand that the idea of creation care in development work must include caring for the humans who also live in creation, as well as caring for the earth and all the creatures in it.