Belize Mission March 2016 – Day 6
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- It took almost 2 hours to drive the 20 miles over a dirt road to the last Mayan Village we set up today, right on the Guatemalan border. The two heads on the right are the driver, Mel; and Punta Gorda Rotarian Roy.
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- This picture is actually from the previous day… but it was a rough ride to… (see next picture)
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- Yes, these villages are clean and the people in them are very respectful of each other. Population of the village is posted as 300.
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- Almost all the houses have running water but they do not have electricity unless the owner has provided a generator or solar power.
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- All the communities have a health center… but we will talk about health in tomorrow’s log.
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- The preschool building did not have solar so we used a generator. We got the generator with a broken pull cord, so with a little ingenuity Neal got it started with a jump rope! At least now we could set up and check out all the equipment requiring electricity.
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- On our way to a late lunch in a traditional Mayan home…
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- Lots of open spaces in the roof design and walls allows for plenty of ventilation, thus keeping the house comfortable in hot weather. The walls do not support the roof but are attached to the timbers that are stuck in the ground. The cross and roof timbers are held in place with a natural looking vine. The roof is made of palm fronds, the floors are dirt, beds are hammocks… with practically no furniture.
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- For lunch we had chicken (free range, tough and stringy) soup and tamales. No vegetables or fruit juice. The chickens and dogs were asked to leave so we could eat in peace. The children stayed.
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- Waiting for the food to be ready… The villages we completed today were Blue Creek and San Benito Poite. Tomorrow we have a different day. First we will go to the Rotary meeting, then a trip to the hospital and finally two more communities to have Resource Centers. In tomorrow’s log we will talk about the health situation in Belize.
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