What is in the news in Belize?

We were!!

Our time in Orange Walk Town this weekend was incredible!  I cannot find the video but here is a link to the transcript of two of three interviews>> CDF Holds National Youth Rally

The news cameras showed up near the end of the rally while Pastor Antoinette, a local pastor, was leading the youth in a purity pledge.  They even filmed Tom, Patrice and I handing out New Testaments. As people were clearing out they interviewed Jadine, a CDF board member, along with Patrick and Esmerelda, members of the drama team from Mt Hope. We had 130 youth show up and some parents too.

The program began with prayer and then the Belizean national anthem followed by several performances from the youth group that went up with us from Mt Hope Church in Unitedville. We had worship and then I gave my testimony, followed by Patrice, a volunteer, giving a talk on who CDF is and what we do.  After lunch we split the large group into three small groups.  Jadine took the kids under 12 and she taught them about personal safety.  Patrice, took the parents and taught them how to talk with their kids to protect them from abuse or exploitation.  And Tom and I, had the largest group, ages 12-18+, and we took turns teaching about the emotional, psychological and spiritual effects of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.  It was an awesome day!

Getting ready to start

Youth from Mt. Hope performing a rap song

Drama team from Mt. Hope

Late comers in the bleachers

Worship

Father-Daughter

Mother-son

Belizean flag

Break time

Signing in

Everyone was given lunch 

Pastor Antoinette

New Testaments to be handed out

Patrick being interviewed

We had to cancel the Saturday event because of Tropical Storm Harvey coming through.  The plan is to reschedule so that we can go back and do a presentation to the community and the surrounding churches.  Parents were very receptive to our message and the teens were engaged all throughout the day.  We hope that word of mouth along with the story making the news will draw out even more people when we go back.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

Sensitization weekend in Orange Walk

We are gearing up for another busy weekend.  On Friday we will be with CDF at a sensitization event for teens to educate them about Commercial Sexual Exploitation..  And on Saturday we will be doing the same thing for the community and local churches.

At the youth event I will be sharing my testimony about sexual abuse.  And on Saturday at the community event, Tom will speak on the psychological effects of exploitation and I will speak on the spiritual effects.  There is a large team going up together for these back to back presentations. Including the youth group from a local church here in Belmopan.  They will be performing several skits throughout the day on Friday.

Recently I was spoke with someone who used to live in area the presentations will be in and I heard about the number of young girls who take jobs in bars that often lead to prostitution.  Often, these young ladies see this 'job opportunity' as a way to help provide for their families.  We hope that the education we provide will dissuade at least one girl from falling prey to that type of lifestyle.

Keep us, CDF and all who will be attending these events in your thoughts and prayers!

Thought for Today

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Tasty Tuesday

We tried something new that we found at the supermarket.  Soursop juice. 

It has a sour- sweet taste that is kind of like mixing a strawberry with a pineapple.  The juice we purchased was a little too sweet for me. Tom, however, liked it a lot.  Soursop ice cream from Western Dairy is awesome and I have ordered it several times but for some reason the juice just didn't work for me.

I had to use Google to find a photo of Soursop.  And you can read more about it by clicking here

We will keep on trying new things and letting you know what we find.  We are going to Orange Walk this weekend to speak at a CDF conference and we hear great things about the tacos up there.  We have even had some friends ask us to bring some back for them!

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A few of my favorite things

Some of the most fascinating sights here in Belize are the people and a few of my favorite things were spotted as I was fully engaged in people watching.   All of these photos came from a wedding we attended not long ago.  Enjoy!

Pedicures

Shoes

Food

Darling little girls

Manicures

Braided Hair

So what do you look for when you people watch?

Security for Migrants

Living here is a real eye opener.  There are issues that we are learning about and sometimes it is hard to know where to stand.  We attended a forum this week on Security for Migrants.  It was put on by the Institute for Study and Dissemination on Migration.  INEDIM They are working to build a policy and advocacy agenda in Central America regarding migration and security.

What made this a new line of thinking for us is that it was stated more than once how the US is focused on controlling and criminalizing migrants which makes them vulnerable.  This group wants the focus to be on the understanding that the primary responsibility of countries in Central America is to guarantee the security of every human being by protecting their options and by giving them the opportunity to be free.  It was stated that people have the right to migrate or to stay in their country of origin.  She went on to discuss the inequities, the precarious labor conditions and the uncertainty and insecurities that migrants face here in Central America regarding housing, health care and education.  It was a lot to take in.

Having lived in California for 17 years we had more than one occasion to vote on issues regarding migrants or, as they are called in the US, illegal immigrants.  In California it was an issue of who had the rights to services or who didn't have the rights to services.  Here it is not so cut and dried.  We are talking about people.  Poor people trying to make a better life for themselves.  Some who are made migrants through trafficking.  Some who cut their way through the bush between Belize and Guatemala then built houses and began providing for their families.  We have been told that after living here for five years you can become a citizen.

As we sort out our beliefs and where we stand on all of these issues we are still faced with what to do and who to help or who to support. One of the churches we are working at has been actively involved with helping the children of migrants by providing tutoring to get them ready to start the school year.  Our women's group took up a collection of canned goods to help feed one of the poorest families.

It was thought-provoking to hear the arguments for protecting the migrants and the condemnation of the US for criminalizing them.  I think we were the only North Americans sitting in that conference room.  It was hard not to feel defensive or protective of the US stance.  I was also confronted with this...are we only here to serve those who are legal citizens of Belize?  Or are we here to serve whomever God places in our path?

Helloooo!!

When we were down in the village of Esperanza I went to this little store front just adjacent to the community center where the conference for girls was being held.  I wanted to get a couple of cold bottles of water because it was an incredibly hot day.

No one was manning the store when I walked over.  So I called out fairly loudly to see if I could get someone's attention.  No one came so I called out again.  I did this at least four times and was about to walk away when two of the neighborhood kids came running across the field.

They pushed the call button, smiled at me and then ran back to the house they had been playing at.

I was embarrassed by not even noticing the button but so grateful they came to my rescue.  The call button rang out like a doorbell and it was answered very quickly...next time I'll know better.  Or maybe I should hire a local kid to teach me the ropes!

Thought for Today

As we get more involved here in the community we see the need for Light in so many areas of life.  There are marriages in pain, people struggling to feed their children, youth looking for significance in the wrong places.  I know these problems are not unique to Belize...they exist around the world. There seems to be darkness everywhere.  May those of us who pray to the Light call upon Him to enter into the darkness of our neighborhoods and bring wholeness to those in our midst who are struggling. 

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Tasty Tuesday

Our plantains are finally ripe! 

So that meant jam making time!

We ended up with 6 of these 1/2 pint jars.  

Alida's Plantain Jam

12 plantains, ripe

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. cinnamon

Put all of the ingredients into the crock pot and cook for about 4 hours on low.  Allow to cool slightly and then place mixture in blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Place in clean, hot canning jars and place lid on immediately.  Tighten jar lid.  Place the jars upside down until they are completely cool to help them seal better with the heat against the seal.  

It was quite a thrill to be able to use fruit from our yard.
And we are fortunate that the mixture even made it into the jars...we had to taste test it, you know!

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Reading vs Reality TV

I saw this photo in my Google+ stream and cracked up laughing.

And then I saw this one and it was not quite as funny to me. 

I already confessed to enjoying reality tv so this second photo hit me in a different way.   I was slightly offended.  I mean, come on, I read.  My books are not jumping off of the shelves in protest when I watch Food Network Star or Amazing Race.  My Kindle for PC downloads and the hard copies of books that I own are all doing quite well.  They are not neglected one bit.

Reading challenges me, it makes me think,  it enlarges my vocabulary and enriches my spirit.  When I sit down to watch Food Network Star I get inspired by the creativity I see with food.  When I watch Amazing Race sometimes I see glimpses of places we have been or places I desire to learn more about.  I see people stepping out of their comfort zones to take on challenges that leave me speechless.  Watching these types of shows is a relaxing escape.

I agree that reading can take you away and give you an escape too.  I still get caught up in a good book now and then that I cannot put down until the wee hours of the morning.  As a child I climbed the tree in our front yard with a book and spent long summer days traveling all around the world while resting in that tree.

So lighten up book snobs.  There is plenty of room in our lives and in this world to enjoy some of what reality tv has to offer and still keep our books happy.  uh oh...I think a few of my books might be making a run for it!

You know you're in Belize When...

you have to slow down to go over a speed bump or a "sleeping policeman" as they are called here.

  If you are lucky there will be a sign like this one to give you a warning.  Most of the time we are not so lucky. 

 When you choose to drive in Belize beware of the sleeping policemen!

What is in the news in Belize?

UN helps Belize fight highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in Central America

3 August 2011 – 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing an HIV/AIDS grant agreement with Belize to treat and prevent the disease among the large number of teens and young adults in the country, which has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in Central America.“Scaling up treatment isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s a practical possibility, even in poor countries,” Jeffrey O’Malley, Director of the HIV/AIDS Group in the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy, said yesterday of UNDP’s agreement to manage the $3.1-million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, & Malaria.

The fund is an international financing institution that to date has committed $21.7 billion in 150 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programmes for the three diseases.
“This partnership between the Global Fund and UNDP is the best of both worlds,” said Francisco Roquette, UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in Belize, which has a total population of just 333,200, 35 per cent of whom are younger than 14. “It’s a perfect combination of very global knowledge with very concrete understanding of the challenges on the ground.”

Belize has an HIV prevalence of 2.1 per cent among adults, the highest in Central America and third-highest in the wider Caribbean after the Bahamas and Haiti, according to a 2007 study. UNAIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, estimates some 3,600 people are currently living with HIV in Belize, 2,000 of them women.

“Strong partnerships across multiple ministries of government, and between governments and communities, are absolutely essential,” Mr. O’Malley said. “Prevention works when it focuses on and involves those most at risk of HIV infection.”

Bordering Mexico and Guatemala, Belize faces numerous challenges that can drive the HIV epidemic. With high rates of poverty, unemployment, chronic malnutrition, drug abuse, and violence, the country is highly vulnerable to economic shocks and natural disasters. Provision of adequate health care is significantly hindered by the steady outflow of many professionals, including health-care workers.

The grants program aims to deliver life skills-based HIV education to secondary school students; provide access to condoms and subsidized referrals and testing for sexually transmitted infections; design and deliver psychosocial support to people living with HIV; provide support services to children affected by AIDS; and offer anti-retroviral drugs free of cost at all treatment points.

Thought for Today

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Psalm 103:6




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Tasty Tuesday

I had a Belizean friend ask me if I know how to make Stewed Chicken...I had to admit that even though we have eaten it many times at events here in Belize I have yet to cook it.  Since we have been here almost a year I need to remedy that....so here is a recipe that I am going to try:

Stewed Chicken
3 lbs. of chicken legs and thighs
1 onion
1 green pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of powdered recado
1/4 tsp vinegar (or enough to form a paste)
2 Tablespoons of Marie Sharp’s Belizean Season All
2 teaspoons of Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups water (about)
2 limes, juiced
Instructions:
Add lime juice to a bowl of hot water. Wash chicken pieces in the lime water and pat dry.
Saute onion, sweet pepper and garlic with some olive oil in a large stock pot until lightly browned and set aside.
Mix recado with with vinegar and rub onto the chicken pieces. Also rub 2 Tablespoons of the Belizean Season All to the chicken.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken pieces. After browning the chicken pieces add them to the large stock pot with the onion, pepper and garlic mixture. Add just enough water to leave about 2 inches of the chicken uncovered. Add salt and pepper to the stew. Turn the chicken occasionally while simmering for about an hour (or longer). Cook until the chicken is tender.

I think this is one of those recipes that each woman does a little differently here so I may make a few modifications to the recipe depending on what ingredients I have here in the house.  

It is usually served with rice and beans and a fried plantain....Yum!