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!

to read more Tasty Tuesday posts just click the button:

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. 

linking up with:

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!

click on the button to find other Tasty Tuesday posts:

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




linking up with:

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!

                                                          

up, up and away

 They were about halfway up when we saw them.  Not a job for the faint of heart!

Girl Talk

I was down in the village of Esperanza with CDF today speaking with about 40 girls from age 8 to 16 about the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and sexual abuse.  We covered the definitions of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and then addressed the medical, social, emotional aspects of the issue and broke into small groups for a time of discussion.  The girls were put into 2 large groups from ages 8-12 and 13 & up to cover the medical and emotional issues.  It was a long day, but a productive one.  We have no idea what the girls took away from it all.  The most important message that was stressed over and over again was that if something had already happened to them it was not their fault.

I was not scheduled to be a speaker today...I was just supposed to be a small group leader.  But I got asked to share my personal story of abuse so I did.  I had to tailor it so that the little ones could understand and that was a first for me.  One young lady shared with me in the small group time about a friend of hers that had been exploited.  I was grateful that my story led to her opening up to me.  And it was evident on the faces of others that they had stories to share but were not quite ready.

Tomorrow we will be presenting to Sunday School teachers and Children's workers here in Belmopan and giving the same talks.  Tom will join us and speak about the importance of counseling.  We aren't sure how many there will be at tomorrow's session.  But the plan is for 40 again.  And we expect it to be mostly women.

We have heard that there will be a small group of ladies coming from the Mennonite community and we are very excited about getting the chance to work with them.  It would be great if doors were opened through them that would lead to us being able to do a seminar specifically for the people in Spanish Lookout.  Please keep CDF and this work in your thoughts and prayers! 

Good news from afar!

We finally heard from Spencer today!  He is doing much better this week.  For those of you who don't know, Spencer is our youngest son, he is 21 and is with YWAM Kona on a mission trip in Togo.  He got sick shortly after arriving and had to be treated for malaria.  They have a very slow internet connection there in Togo and to get online they have to go to an internet cafe.  One of the team members said that it took her 45 minutes to log on to Facebook because the connection was so weak.  And they only get the opportunity to be online once a week.

It was such a relief to go on Facebook this morning and see a message from Spencer.  He is still having problems sleeping so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  He is also struggling to raise funds.  If you would like to help him with his expenses in Togo please send me an email or let me know in the comments and I will give you his donation info.

joy & blessings,
Alida

Thought for Today

  May we always remember to carve out time to replenish our bodies and our spirits.

Linking up with:

Tasty Tuesday

My friend Joann recommended this recipe... this is going on the menu this week.  Looks yummy to me!

Okinawan Takoraisu (aka “Taco Rice”)

just click on the title to find the recipe

This looks good too

No Fuss Chicken Salad
click the title for the recipe


So, what's going on your table this week?



Linking up with For The Love Of Blogs

Hi, I'm Alida and I watch reality TV!

seriously.  It is my guilty pleasure.  And there seem to be more and more of these shows to choose from than ever before.  For me though, there are just a couple of shows that I hate to miss.

I am a big fan of Amazing Race. It is not on in America right now.  However, Amazing Race Australia is on and I love it!  This is the first season and it is incredibly exciting to watch.  They have gone to some amazing locations... last week they were in Israel and one of their tasks was to walk the Via Dolorosa while carrying an 80 kilo cross.  They had to find one of their clues at King Herod's winter palace and I truly appreciated how the father and son team took time to stand and take in the sights at the Wailing Wall before heading on to their next task.

I also enjoy Food Network Star.  This week I was such a geek that I was on Twitter following the hashtag #star and answering all of the questions and making comments during the show.  Tom is such a good sport to let me take over the tv and be on my computer at the same time.  The contestants had to do a new take on traditional dishes like lasagna, meatloaf, or shepherd's pie.  Two of the dishes stood out for me.  The first was Vince's take on lasagna that he called Lachonga.  He took lasagna and wrapped it in a tortilla, deep fried it, and then topped it with sauce.  Ew!  The judges were not real thrilled either.  What did look good to me and got great reviews from the judges was Jeff's take on pork chops and applesauce.  He made a pork chop sandwich with apple slaw.  Yummo!  All of the contestants got to do a 3 minute cooking demo on Rachel Ray's show.  It was fun to watch.


okay.  So I bared my soul regarding my guilty pleasures on TV...what are yours?!!  

fruit from the yard

One of the stalks on the plantain tree in our front yard fell over.  We were told that it needed to be cut off so that the tree would continue to grow and bear fruit.  So when Tom went outside with the saw and a machete I ran to get my camera and followed along!

plantains fresh from the tree

Trimming the tree

There are a few more stalks about to fall over with fruit.

When the fruit falls off the tree it is not completely ripe.  Many people go ahead and eat them then.  They are used as a starch like a potato. It takes another 3-4 weeks for them to completely ripen and be soft enough to eat like a banana.  So we have not tasted them yet.  I am planning to make jam when they are ready.

Dinosaurs can be so rude...

Ever have a day when you felt like your best was not good enough to please someone else?  I wonder if that's how this poor dinosaur feels.  If he could open his arms any wider I think he would.  But, he can't...so he doesn't...and the best he could do was rejected by someone he loves.

When I saw this graphic I laughed.  Then I started wondering how many of us are guilty of this behavior.  It may not be something said with words but maybe it's in the way we look at someone or how we react to them that communicates the message that their best wasn't good enough.

Not long ago I wrote a guest blog post for my friend Cyndi.  I blogged about being afraid to speak and thinking before speaking.  When I was working on it I thought long and hard about the power of words.  I thought about saying things the right way and having the courage to express myself.  I wrote and then rewrote several different variations before I hit the send button on that post.  But when we speak we don't get to delete or retract the words.  Once they escape our lips they are gone. And we have to deal with the consequences of of those words.

I pray that I will continue to be cautious with my words...whether in print or in real life.  And that my words will bless and encourage others instead of making someone feel as if their best is not good enough.

Thought for Today

It's the rainy season here in Belize...sometimes it rains a lot and sometimes just a little.  

This photo was taken on a not so rainy day in our front yard.  

After the months of heat and fires because it was so dry, we are grateful for the rain!

Connecting with Word Filled Wednesday at Internet Cafe Devotions

and 

Scripture and a Snapshot at Katie Lloyd Photography