Belize Journal, Fall 2007 Semester - CCSP

FAREWELL!!!

2007-12-19T06:32:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, family, faculty, alumni, and everybody else,

We so sad that we have to go – it’s hard to believe it’s that time. Thanks so much for keeping up with us throughout this semester. We’ve had so much fun here and we’re glad that we could share just a tid-bit of the life that goes on here everyday. What an incredible semester it has been! Be sure to check up with us in the future if you like. And for those of you students who haven’t graduated yet, come on down for a semester with CCSP in Belize – it’s certain to be the best semester of your life!

TUBING ON THE CAVES BRANCH RIVER

2007-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today we had a chance to visit one of the most unique rivers in Belize, the Caves Branch River. After a nice (but buggy) 45 minute hike through secondary broad-leaf rainforest, we found the place we would enter the river (see picture). Once at the river, we began the floating part of our adventure and during the next hour or so we drifted slowly down the river entering and exiting several huge caves. The caves had some fascinating geological formations and contain several species of cave dwelling animals like cave spiders and bats. What a fun way to end the semester!

CCSP (TRASH) ART SHOW

2007-12-07T11:58:00.003-08:00

Is it possible for us to practice resurrection (as we like to say here at CCSP) with garbage? One person’s trash is another person’s art! We spent this Tuesday morning collecting trash along the Western Highway and Macal River, just down the road from our home here at Nabitunich. Instead of hauling it away to the dump, we opened up the bags and our imaginations to see what we could find. We had so much fun finding new and inventive ways for recycling those things we normally throw away or found on the street. And what a talented group we had this year! In a variety of colorful and just downright odd fashions we all attended the art show Thursday night, circling around each other’s work and listening to the artist’s inspirations. Here is a sampling of some of the work staff and students created.

TITLE: plant sequoias
ARTIST: hillary peterson and melissa lewis
MEDIUM: plastic bags, t-shirt, string, steering wheel cover

TITLE: chips and berry
ARTIST: crista krivoniak
MEDIUM: recycled study guide, cardboard, chips bags

TITLE: avant pop
ARTIST: leah johnson
MEDIUM: bottle caps, a rock, telephone wire, buttons

CHRISTMAS IN SUCCOTZ

2007-12-07T11:39:00.001-08:00

Each December in Succotz, the closest village to our farm, the Good Shepherd Clinic (run by Nurse Margaret, part of the Juan family who live on and own Nabitunich) has a special Christmas lunch for the mature members of Succotz (aged 80-100). Nurse Margaret asked if we would come and sing Christmas carols for them while they ate, so we all packed up in the van and cruised down to the church. We sang 17 songs in 80-degree weather – isn’t it usually freezing cold when we sing these songs? Here is the group singing Silent Night.

WHERE DOES OUR FOOD COME FROM?

2007-12-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

There is so much pleasure in eating. But how can we take pleasure in an international food system that prioritizes economics and efficient (and consequentially unsustainable) production over quality and healthy relationships between people and land? Wendell Berry has been a favorite of all of ours this semester and he offers a few suggestions on what it might look like to eat responsibly:
1. Participate in food production to the extent that you can. If you have a yard or even just a porch box or a pot in a sunny window, grow something to eat in it.
2. Prepare your own food. This means reviving in your own mind and life the arts of kitchen and houshold.
3. Learn the origins of the food you buy, and buy the food that is grown closest to your home. The local food supply is the most secure, the freshest, and easiest for local consumers to know about and influence.
4. Whenever possible, deal directly with a local farmer, gardener, or orchardist. By such dealing you eliminate the whole pack of merchants, transporters, processors, packagers and advertisers who thrive at the expense of both producers and consumers.
5. Learn, in self-defense, as much as you can of the technology of industrial food production.
6. Learn what is involved in the best farming and gardening.
7. Learn as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species.

We eat a lot of rice and beans here in Belize, both of which are grown locally. It is so nice to be a part of a food system where we can know where your food comes from, and even at times know the farmer that gives us the fruits and vegetables that we eat everyday.

SCD2 IN PATCHAKAN

2007-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

Sustainable |səˈstānəbəl|
adjective: able to be maintained at a certain rate or level

Community |kə-myoōnitē|
noun: a group of people living together in one place, especially one practicing common ownership

Development |di-veləpmənt|
noun: a specified state of growth or advancement

Though there is no true or right definition for sustainable community development, our purpose this week was to see how healthy development work ought to be done, in socially, economically, and environmentally responsible ways. Particularly this week we talked about food systems and how developing countries are affected by agricultural development projects. We spent part of the week in northern Belize in a Mayan village called Patchakan, a community that has been deeply shaped by the presence of large-scale export industries including papaya and sugar. We were fortunate to hear the story from both sides – from the tour guides of the factories that we visited and from the manual laborers whom we stayed with in our homestays. Next time you visit the grocery store, look in the produce department and you’ll likely find papayas exported from Belize by Brooks Tropicals, the fields and packing plant we got to visit this week. Also, it’s possible that some of the sugar you’re putting in your coffee or baking with is from the sugar cane fields of Patchakan, Belize. In fact, the food we consume each and every day has traveled an average of 1500 miles before it makes it to our tables. We spent a lot of time talking about alternatives and found some really neat information. For instance, if a family were to eat one meal a week of locally produced food (though CCSP hopes all of your meals would be local!), we would save 880 million barrels of oil per year. Sometimes the answers are in the math.

CCSP PARTICIPATES IN WORLD AIDS DAY IN BELIZE

2007-12-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

December 1st is World AIDS Day and this year the Creation Care Study Program teamed up with our St. Andrews Youth Group to participate. Students in both groups raised money from local sponsors as well as baking almost 200 cupcakes for the event. In the end over $400 BZ was raised to fight AIDS in Belize. The event was coordinated by Cornerstone Foundation, for more information on donating or getting involved with Cornerstone visit www.peacecorner.org

PETER'S BOTFLY, OH MY!

2007-12-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

Peter’s botfly finally made its way out of his lower back after a long and awfully uncomfortable five weeks. What is a botfly you might ask? Here is what happens:
1. Mosquito stings you or you rub up against something with botfly host egg and it makes it’s way into your body
2. Botfly larva lives and grows parasitically off of body for any amount of time – usually comes to full maturation at 6-8 weeks
3. If conditions are right and it fully develops, larva drops from host and finishes life cycle in the soil, soon becoming a fly.

Lucky for us, only one botfly species attacks humans, the Dermatobia hominis. Also, there are only a couple of places in Belize you can get a botfly – it is likely Peter got his in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary while we were on Forest Ecology. Check out the before and after pictures.

MR. PABLO COLLADO

2007-12-04T12:29:00.001-08:00

Our good friend and nationally recognized flautist Pablo Collado spent Thanksgiving with us this year. Pablo, in CCSP's opinion, is the best flute player in the world (you alumni fully understand). What a treat it was to have him walk around our dinner tables and serenade us as we ate our turkey and stuffing. After dinner he preformed for us for about an hour, playing anything from his own music (accompanied by recordings of jaguars and howler monkeys), Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, and a few Christmas songs here and there. It is hard to describe Pablo’s stage presence. He’s got the musical passion of Yanni with the dance moves of Michael Jackson (well, not quite). But look at the guy - he can play two flutes at once! This night is sure to never be forgotten. Check out Pablo’s website for a magical experience.

THANKSGIVING IN THE TROPICS

2007-12-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

So here we are in Belize and it’s 80 degrees and it’s time for Thanksgiving? Approaching the end of November, most of us think of cooling (and often freezing) temperatures, falling and colorful leaves, warm drinks and even warmer cloths. For us, Thanksgiving Day was spent either snorkeling the reef at the Turneff Atoll or looking through a microscope at Nabitunich – far from what feels like a usual Thanksgiving. But as we all came back together on Saturday, we put together a pretty incredible afternoon of food, fun, and fellowship. As the Second Annual CCSP Thanksgiving Football Game took place on the lawn, pumpkin pies and a few turkeys sat in the oven being carefully watched by students and Miss Martha and Miss Shelly. Students decorated the veranda and dining room and really made it look great. We invited all of our friends and neighbors to our feast and had over 40 people come and enjoy Thanksgiving with us (check out the picture below). It was so nice to have everyone together again, and we especially enjoyed our musical guest Pablo Collado (see Pablo post). We have so much to be thankful for.

MARINE ECOLOGY AT CALABASH CAYE

2007-12-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

Every one must be struck with astonishment, when he first
beholds one of these vast rings of coral-rock, often many
leagues in diameter, here and there surmounted by a low
verdant island with dazzling white shores, bathed on the
outside by the foaming breakers of the ocean, and on the
inside surrounding a calm expanse of water, which, from
reflection, is of a bright put pale green color.

So wrote twenty-six-year old Charles Darwin upon returning from his circumnavigation of the globe aboard the HMS Beagle. Those of us who took marine ecology could understand why Darwin felt the urge to wax poetic on the topic of coral reefs. This semester we returned to Calabash Caye, a small island in Turneffe Atoll largely dominated by mangroves. During the first two days, inclement weather kept us mostly indoors, huddling over cups of coffee and ovaltine, while listening to professor Laurie Furlong classify groups of marine organisms from phylum to species. Thankfully, the sun made an appearance just as we were ready to hit the water for some serious snorkeling. A highlight for many students was the mangrove snorkel. To many tourists, mangroves are smelly and unsightly. But if only they could don a mask and snorkel, they would realize that a miniature coral reef, with all the colours of the rainbow, is growing right on the prop roots of the red mangrove! Indeed, mangroves play a vital role in the marine ecosystem. Not only do they provide a nursery for juvenile fish but they also prevent sediment from reaching, and choking, the corals. Another memorable experience was the night snorkel. It’s always a little unnerving jumping into water at night, not knowing what may be lurking below you, having learned in lecture that sharks can see you and smell you well before you can see them. Taking the plunge at night was well worth it, however, as we saw nocturnal creatures, like lobsters and squid. The week ended with a volleyball game where we were eaten up by sand flies…

Did you know? (From Osha Gray Davidson’s, The Enchanted Braid)

A bumper sticker for reef fish might read, “God Created Adam and Eve, Adam Who Became Eve, Eve Who Becomes Adam, and Adameve.” Most reef fish are hermaphrodites, meaning that they can change sex. The most common form of this behaviour is for females to change into males. Interesting…

Corals are classified as animals, not plants. Very counterintuitive. And they eat other beings! At night, their tentacles emerge to shoot paralyzing darts into their prey, mostly zooplankton, which they then pull into their primitive mouths.

The sand beaches that we all love are actually excrement from parrot fish, who crunch at the hard rock of the reef to get at the algae. Think about that the next time you’re soaking up the rays on your favourite beach…

ST. ANDREWS YOUTH GROUP

2007-12-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

CCSP students have teamed up with the St. Andrews Church to form the St. Andrews Youth Group. The youth meets every Saturday night as schedules allow. They have played lots of games and done lots of crafts. Highlights have been sports day, cookie decorating and skit night. The youth group is currently raising money for the AIDS walk taking place on 1 December 2007, World AIDS day.

FUN WITH MICROSCOPES

2007-12-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

While some students were off exploring the ecology of streams and marine environments, the others were busy under the microscope. Prokaryotes versus Eukaryotes? Sounds like a blast! Well it really was as the twelve nursing students who spent a very intense two weeks studying bacteria, fungi, viruses and the interesting diseases associated with each one. The microscopes had a good workout as the students learned to gram stain and identify bugs from their throats, armpits and the kitchen sink not to mention some other more private areas. In the end even though the class was very challenging each student appreciated finishing off Microbiology in a quick two weeks.

STREAM ECOLOGY

2007-11-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

Dr. Ed Boles taught stream Ecology this semester. A citizen of Belize, he had many insights that were new to all. The focus of the class was on community supported projects that were happening or had once happened around the watersheds of Belize. Our main focus was on the Sibun Watershed, which we toured by canoe and van. Our adventured started a little up river of Hells Gate, a beautiful karstic site that reminded us all of Swiss cheese. Though our time on the river was nice, rain inevitable put an end to our trip as our campsite was completely swamped. We made our way back to our main base via the bed of a sand truck. It was a rough ride and will probably be reported to parents as follows, “Dear Mom and Dad tonight we road standing up in the back of a sand truck down a dark road at high speeds. All is well.” After we dried off a bit the rest of the week went on as normal. Ed left us with a great deal to think about. Most of all he peaked our curiousity about our own local watershed and the work that is going on there. One thing for sure is that it will be hard to look at a stream and not think about it as being one of God’s great tools of renewal. The change brought on by the streams broad strokes over the landscape will always amaze us. What a mighty God he is.

OFF ON FALL BREAK

2007-11-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

Time for fall break! Most students plan to explore Guatemala while others will come back to Belize to meet with family. Here are just a few things students will see in Guatemala. Stay tuned for more soon...

TIKAL, GUATEMALA

2007-11-30T14:19:00.001-08:00

Just before we all headed off for fall break, we spent the weekend at Tikal, the largest and one of the most spectacular ancient cities of the Maya civilization. Located in the Peten district of Guatemala and about 2 hours from us here at Nabitunich, Tikal is a massive site with a fascinating history. The name Tikal most likely derives from Ti-akal, a Mayan name meaning "At the Reservoir”. Different than most Mayan cities, Tikal was not built close to any major rivers, lakes or springs, and the city had to live off of what was collected during the rainy season in a series of reservoirs throughout the complex. Being one of the major cultural and population centers of its time (200 AD), Tikal is situated in lowland rainforest, with jaguars, tapirs, toucans and monkeys lurking all around. There are thousands of ancient structures at Tikal and only a fraction of these have been excavated after decades of archaeological work. Besides the breathtaking ruins, a highlight for many was to watch the spider monkeys jump around from tree to tree. Below is a picture of Temple I, one of the largest structures at the site.

SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE!

2007-11-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Leah Johnson! Happy Halloween! Happy Reformation Day! Tonight we had the toga party of all toga parties. With everyone in their nicest sheet, we came together for dinner (and chocolate cake thanks to Miss Martha) and a little Belizean-style watermelon carving (no pumpkins here). Breaking up in small groups, we really made these little melons come to life. We closed off the night out at Jared and Meghan’s house with a bonfire, smores, and all of the scary stories we could think of. Below is a pig that Jared and Meghan's small group put togther.

XUNANTUNICH

2007-11-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

After weeks and weeks of waiting for the river to go down, we finally made it to Xunantunich (to access the site you take a hand-cranked ferry across the Mopan River). Xunantunich, our neighbor a mile or so west of Nabitunich, means “Stone Maiden” in Maya and the ruins carry over two thousand years of history. Artifacts have been dated by as far as 200 BC though the height of the civilization took place between 200-900 AD and was one of the major cultural, political, economic, religious, and agricultural centers in it’s time. The largest pyramid, El Castillo, rises 130 feet above the main plaza and offers an impressive panoramic view of the Cayo District and Guatemala. It is also visible in the distance from the Nab, something incredible to look at and think about as we walk to lunch or class. The Maya are one of the many diverse people groups in Belize and have left significant cultural and historical impacts on this country. They developed complex writing systems, were brilliant astronomers and mathematicians, carried out colorful religious rituals throughout cities like Xunantunich, and developed a calender as accurate as the one we live by today (the Maya calender ends 21 December 2012!).

BARTON CREEK OLD ORDER MENNONITE COMMUNITY

2007-11-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend we visited an Old Order Mennonite colony called Barton Creek and they asked us not to take pictures. Wanting to respect their wishes, here is the best picture we can give you.

how refreshing
to live without electricity, running water,
to get around by horse and buggy,
to spend the morning hoeing
fields of cabbage and plowing the fields
for next years potato crop.

sitting on the porch at night
hymns are sung from almost every direction,
from almost every farm house.
as the day comes to a close, the farm animals quiet,
we sit in a circle in the grass,
telling each other stories of home.
the younger children, restless,
whisper to each other in german.
the older ones stretch their bare feet into the grass
glancing back and forth between the sky
and whoever is speaking.

and then silence, pure silence
as the family heads to bed.
the stars shine brighter than usual,
the night and the moon, the dewy fields glisten.

working a farm means waking up hours before the sun,
four a.m., maybe five.
i crawl out of bed later than the rest,
they are already up, working—
milking cows, collecting eggs for breakfast,
shaking fresh cream in a mason jar for breakfast butter.
inside the flame of the candle gives off just enough light
to start cooking.

outside the moon is still bright on the pasture.
and the songs of the simple people
echo through the hills of Barton Creek.
breakfast begins with silence, a long,
unanticipated silence.
silence broken with a prayer.

and breakfast begins again as we get up from our knees.
bowls are passed around the table
full of oatmeal, bananas grown in the sideyard,
the morning’s collection of eggs,
fresh baked bread with butter from the cow’s utter and
honey purchased from the penner family
a few farms down the road.

with our stomachs full for the days work,
we finish breakfast with scripture,
a hymn of thankfulness,
and a time of silent prayer.
amen.

the rest of the day we work, mostly.
but first we are shown the greenhouse,
the horse that powers the saw mill,
the barn, tools, and sugar cane press,
the family’s canning room.

walking through the fields
we see the beautiful, perfect, rows
of broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, hot peppers.
like members of their own family
these people talk, caress, send their vegetables
with such care.

finishing in the fields we head back to the house
for cold mint tea and bananas.

written by Taylor Kirkland

GOD & NATURE

2007-11-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Could it be that contemporary ecological degradation is a result, in part, of us not knowing our place? Steven Bouma Prediger writes in his book, For the Beauty of the Earth, “We care for only what we love. We love only what we know. We truly know only what we experience. If we do not know our place – know it in more than a passing, cursory way, know it intimately and personally – than we are destined to abuse it.” Much of what we do and think about at CCSP is fundamentally about relationships – between people, place, and God. The past two weeks the students have been taking God & Nature, a class designed to help students develop a theology of creation that understands humans as stewards of the earth. We spent the first week with Sylvia Keesmaat, a New Testament Biblical scholar and long time CCSP faculty, talking about and reading the biblical narrative with new eyes. The second week was with Rolf Bouma, an environmental ethicist and director of the Center for Faith & Scholarship in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Though we considered topics like deep ecology, eco-feminism, the “wilderness” debate, and animal rights, the week is designed to help us understand better what it means for us to understand scripture and offer Christian responses to current environmental problems.

COCKSCOMB BASIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

2007-11-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

Scarlet Macaws and Jaguars we wish but Tapirs yes oh my!!!! That was the order of the week as the CCSP crew made there way through Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. The wildlife was rich and student’s spirits were high. Lead by Eric Lindquist of Messiah College we had a successful go of Forest Ecology. We spent three days having our eyes opened to God’s creation. Lectures and mini investigations were the order of the days while the nights allowed the students, staff and professor to unleash their inner child and look with utter amazement at the things that go bump in the night. Jaguars were high on the list, especially after Bart Harmsen gave us stunning look into jaguar research that is spanning the Americas. Though none were seen we know they have a powerful presence in the basin as their footprints dotted every trail. Our hopes remained high throughout our time and our commitment paid off, as we were all able to at least see the majestic mountain cow on three separate occasions. Though this is a 400 lbs creature its ability to evade and disappear silently into the lush Broadleaf Forest astounded us all. No trip to Cockscomb would be complete without a visit to Tiger Fern. Here is a picture of students enjoying the cool waters after a long hike up.

Com gitchya Kriol Kultcha heeya!

2007-10-23T10:24:00.001-07:00

In the mid-1980s, Gales Point Manatee was threatened with the loss of its traditions. Economic difficulties forced the young people to leave the village to go in search of jobs. Soon drumming and dancing rarely occurred except on major holidays. The flow of cultural information from the village elders to the youth all but stopped. It was at this time that several young men of the village vowed to keep alive the drumming culture that they remembered so vividly from when they were children. Together they headed into the hills Boombay Andrewin to find the elderly Mr. Irving at his "drum shack" deep in the bush. Mr. Irving, a master drummer from the village, who lived the life of a hermit on his secluded farm, passed his skill on to the young enthusiasts. Today, the most prolific of the four young drummers that made that journey into the hills is Emmeth Young. Together they have formed the Maroon Creole Drum School and Cultural Center to help preserve the unique culture of Gales Point Manatee. CCSP had the opportunity to invite Emmeth’s group, Fore Afrique, to play for us here at Nabitunich. With rhythms like Djole, Kuku, Kakilambe, and Soli, the group shared their drumming expertise and cultural insight – plus we had a chance to get down and show off our best dance moves! What an incredible night for all!

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE LIVE FOR

2007-10-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

At its core CCSP is about giving students the opportunity to learn about shalom. This is not simply thinking about peace but thinking broadly about what the word shalom entails. Shalom means peace but it also conveys a sense of wholeness and balance. The Creation Care Study Program wants to help students to celebrate the presence of shalom, mourn its absence, and struggle to restore it in a broken world. This is a relational process that includes our relationship with God, with ourselves, with each other, and with creation. These “right relationships” are how Nicholas Wolterstorff suggests we begin to view shalom.

Today is October 16, 2007. It marks the seven-week mark that our community has been together. Living, eating, sleeping, playing, and learning alongside each other has been wonderful and challenging for each of us. Living at Nabitunich gives us an incredible opportunity to explore and practice the concept of Christian community. We have not been perfect in this experience but it has been good. We have had a lot of fun together, we have worshipped together, and we have learned from one another throughout the first seven weeks of this semester. We trust in God that there are more great moments to come and that in living with one another the presence of God would be felt by the members of the community and those who visit us this semester.

LEAH P. AT SAN IGNACIO MATERNITY WARD

2007-10-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

My nursing observation was at the San Ignacio maternity ward. The hospital itself is so different than what one would see and experience in the United States. Separate rooms did not exist so all the mothers were together in one room with six beds and a curtain which was the only privacy they experienced when doctors were doing their rounds. Belizean mothers go through the labor process alone, and because of this, often to wait to come to the hospital until right before they are ready to deliver. Also, mothers never stayed more than 24 hours after delivery unless there were complications. I shadowed three different midwives, and was blessed with the opportunity to see the births of five beautiful babies. Everyday was so unpredictable and exciting. I never knew what I was going to see or experience. Since the fathers are not allowed in the delivery room, I was often the mother’s only source of encouragement during delivery. I was able to do many tasks such as taking vitals, measure the fetal heart rate, bathing babies after delivery, distributing medications to mothers, help start IVs, and so much more. I also had the amazing opportunity of sharing Christ’s love and comforting a teen mother who lost her baby late in the pregnancy. Overall, it was an incredible experience.

CRISTA AT GOOD SHEPHERD & OCTAVIA WAIGHT

2007-10-15T15:29:00.001-07:00

My nursing observation was with Nurse Margret at Good Shepherd’s Clinic on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and at Octavia Waight Centre (a nursing home) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This was a wonderful experience because I got to interact with people of all ages and patients of all kinds. My observation included prenatal, elderly care, infants and education. I was able to help with prenatal check-ups, which included determining due dates and finding the baby’s heartbeat, and with patients who suffer from chronic ulcers due to diabetes. I observed many patient visits at Good Shepherds clinic which helped give me a feel for the types of problems that face most Belizeans today. These common problems include lack of nutrients -iron and folic acid- from their diets and diabetes. At Octavia Waight I helped with basic tasks such as cooking, cleaning and playing an intense game or two or ten of bingo. This was a wonderful eye opening experience which taught me not only about health care and cultural differences but about what it means to be a compassionate caring person. I learned that nursing is not just about giving injections, changing bandages or taking blood pressure. Nurses should be the listening ear, crying shoulder or comforting touch that we all so desperately need in a world where depression is considered a weakness. These past two weeks have definitely changed my view of nursing.