First of all, Golden Stream was filthy hot. By 8 a.m., I would have sedentary sweat – the inexplicable kind of sweat that forms while doing nothing more than breathing. Conversely, Nebaj is cold and rainy. After one night of shivering in bed, the question “I left Chicago for this?” has already crossed my mind.

In the jungle, nightly entertainment included stream swimming in daylight, reading books, or playing games.  Bedtimes at 7:45 p.m.were not unheard of, and often times I felt like I could have been channeling Laura Ingalls Wilder. With my newly acquired electricity and “big city” life, my evening options have been expanded to things like TV shows online (hello The OC re-runs), trips to a local comedor or café for a cerveza, and cheese (yes, cheese is an activity).

This brings me to the most fundamental difference: food. A refrigerator and toaster oven have opened all sorts of doors for my culinary arts, but not without an initial crippling shock. I staggered around my new mercado as a bewildered gringa, not really knowing what to do with such different produce. Where are the plantains and sweet pepper? I fell into a panic when offered yogurt and milk while visiting the nearest store for groceries. These are things I can buy now. I will never have to eat another bowl of oatmeal for breakfast again.

Despite all the differences, the similarities of such disparate regions are uncanny and beautiful. The shy kindness and giggling of Mayan niñas and the carefully-made, colorful outfits of Mayan women are something familiar and comforting. Even hundreds of miles apart, transcending political boundaries and languages, these similarities are what remind you that we’re all cut from the same cloth… and that tortillas are good everywhere.

To check out my new organization, Limitless Horizona Ixil, visit our website at www.limitlesshorizonsixil.org. For more information on how life really was in the jungle, peruse previous entries from Belize.

Before coming to Belize, my cooking repertoire included peanut-butter and banana sandwiches, burritos, and a mean tostada. In a particularly gutsy endeavor to make hard-boiled eggs last summer, my roommate and I innocently plunked a couple eggs into a pot of water and watched in horror as they cracked upon sinking to the bottom. Needless to say, I lack a basic culinary swagger.

Transitioning to a land of raw ingredients (flour, corn, squash, plantains, sweet pepper) has forced me to learn my way around a kitchen. This has not been painless, and I’ve lost a lot of good meals out there. This is straight-up jungle cooking, stovetop and four pots. Have I mentioned that we have neither an oven nor a refrigerator?

Here are a couple of snacks and tips that I have found to be comforting even in the darkest of refrigerator-less, oven-less times:

No-bake oatmeal cookies: Stovetop cookies, anytime, anyplace. The one stressful moment is the rigid timing of the boiling process, but you can handle it.

Dutch-oven cakes: Beyond the giggle factor of what the phrase “dutch oven” means (this took some explaining to my British roommate), this is the miracle process for baked goods. Take one large pot and boil 1-2″ of water. Place an object in the water that will be able to hold a smaller pot above the liquid (bent fork, upturned pot lid, big rocks, etc). Complete recipe in smaller pot and then place in larger pot, above the water. Cover larger pot and let cook for >45 minutes. The trick is the patience to let the heat do its work without lifting the lid and letting out all the steam. All recipes remain the same (here’s a good banana bread one).

Kamal cooking: A kamal is a big, cast iron flat surface used to make tortillas. It was a glorious day when we figured out a way to cover the kamal with an overturned pot to be able to melt cheese and make pizzas over a tortilla. Be sure to grease the kamal a bit so that the tortilla doesn’t burn while waiting for the pizza goods to cook.

No refrigerator substitutes: Powdered milk is not Wisconsin dairy, but it does the trick and lasts as long as the ants don’t get to it. Oil can be used in the absence of butter. And it’s key to get over the Westernized paranoia of refrigerating everything. Eggs can be left in tropical heat for >1 week and still be good. That said though, be sure to always crack your eggs into a separate bowl first, so as not to spoil the rest of your meal in case the egg has gone bad.

The all-powerful curry: Cook any bean (lentil, black-eyed pea, pinto) with an abundance of water and chuck in any vegetable. Seriously. Anything. Squash, zucchini, carrot, potato, coco yam, plantain, raisin, eggplant; sky’s the limit here. Douse everything in curry and you’re instantly serving an exotic dish.

My cooking has gotten better, but I’m still short on diversity. Due to my enthusiasm for the curry, my roommate gets nauseous at the mere mentioning of it. So if anyone has some recipes to suggest, I think he’d appreciate it.

Any tips from other countries?

Bridget Barry is currently a volunteer with the Ya’axché Conservation Trust in Southern Belize. For more snippets of the day- to-day lives of volunteers, check out these other posts by La Vida Idealist bloggers.

On the conservation front, we have been under attack because of the restrictions we put on access to the Bladen Nature Reserve (BNR). Only researchers and students are allowed to enter the park after being awarded very specific permits. Belizeans are putting pressure on Ya’axché to open up the protected area for use by all locals. As we continue to emphasize that we are protecting the natural resources of BNR for future generations of Belizeans, we are reminded that most researchers and students entering BNR are foreigners.

On the humanitarian front, I have been concerned that we may be creating a “culture of dependency” among our buffer communities. As our projects focus on poverty alleviation, community development work is integral. This includes agro-forestry projects, organic gardening endeavors, gender-specific programs, and business development training. Because our funders like to see the direct benefits to the villages, we are often just handing free tools, seedlings, machinery, irrigation systems, and supplies to our participating farmers. While this really helps to jump start enthusiasm, it doesn’t build ownership of the equipment. It isn’t surprising to see a $3000 rotor-tiller sitting dormant in utter disrepair because no one takes responsibility for its care. But even so, communities are starting to just expect these “benefits” of their impoverished condition and are putting Ya’axché in the role of a reluctant Santa Claus.

Despite these hard days, it pays to have just one farmer attending an integrated pest management training express particular interest in organic gardening, or one young girl on a marketing field trip ask me to help with establishing a women’s group in her village. It reminds me that we are doing good, and that we’ll continue doing good.

For more information on conservation work in Southern Belize, check out the Ya’axché Conservation Trust website.

I am by no means a heavy consumer – living on the $0 wage of a volunteer, my oatmeal, beans and rice are all bought in bulk. But seeing one of my used cans of refried beans being chucked into a pile of rotting garbage, I instantly was compelled to consume nothing whose packaging was not biodegradable. This, of course, is an outlandish claim to make, something that cannot be reasonably, or sanely, upheld. But it speaks to the root of my primary struggle – striking a balance between conservation and being a mere mortal.

Belize, like many Central American countries, has no nationally implemented solid waste management system. Household trash is usually burned or taken to a nearby open-air dumping place. Batteries are tossed in rivers, and pristine landscapes are littered with plastic bags and Belikin bottles. If I pick up one piece of garbage and bring it back to our garbage can, where will that can be dumped?

In our efforts to reduce our contribution to the rubbish problem, Ya’axché has conducted composting trainings in many surrounding villages, instructing community members on how to reuse their waste. As part of a marketing campaign for organic vegetables in the area, we are giving away reusable, canvas bags to each customer who buys more than $5BZD ($2.50 US) of organic vegetables at our market booth. A new project is underway that will bring inland villagers on day-trips to the coastal reef, as a way to illustrate how interconnected the water system is and where the garbage may end up. These actions may seem small in the beginning, but hopefully they’ll lead to a greater consciousness of consumption and disposal.

Any other grand ideas for a country that lacks solid waste management?

For more information on the conservation strategies implemented by Ya’axché Conservation Trust, check out our website at www.yct.bz. Interested in more creative solutions by other volunteers? Check out these entries: All-Female Transport in Mexico, It All Started with Our Apple IIGS…, and When Microenergy and Microfinance Meet.

Interesting surprise on a pair of shorts.

One of the main reasons I chose my volunteer position was the free housing provided at the field center.  Prior to making the move, I asked my standard first question: “Are there tarantulas?” The response was just short of laughing in my face. Aside from tarantulas, we are also the proud hosts of visiting rats, bats, scorpions, moths the size of birds,  and an array of mystery creatures that seek refuge in our clothing.

After a fellow volunteer got stung by a scorpion in the shower two nights ago, I thought it might be a good idea to offer a peek into the world of jungle accommodation, being sick abroad, and how best to coexist with our beastly little friends.

An important consideration before choosing a volunteer position should always be international health care. Whether your program offers it  (Jesuit Volunteers Corps and Peace Corps both provide excellent health coverage) or if it is easily accessible from your location is definitely something to keep in mind. For less serious health concerns, I have found Ibuprofen, anti-diarrheal medication, vitamins, aloe, bug repellent, anti-itch spray, and a bug net to be my weapons to alleviate all discomfort.

Coming down with a bug net for my bed was a result of it being foisted upon me by my mother. At first I regarded it as merely contributing to ambiance, but it has proven to be a lifesaver. It has protected me from bats flying overhead, tarantulas lurking on the floor, and persistent biters buzzing around the room.

The boys have taken to calling him Randolph.

Often times all of these unwelcome visitors create a battle to get a good night’s sleep. There are times when I feel like I could stay up all night scratching. Additionally, sleep isn’t quite as sacred in these cultures. Therefore, the morning rituals of slamming doors and blasting the radio aren’t considered even slightly inconsiderate. To combat this, I always have a book, my headphones and iPod in bed with me. If it’s just too early for me to rouse myself or if I need a distraction from the painful itching, I settle in with soothing music and hope for another hour or two of shuteye before stumbling awake. It also has become quite natural for me to start winding down as the sun sets, and I’ve gotten over my initial resistance to 8 o’clock bedtimes (just one more hour! Please Mom!). Changing sleeping patterns can make all the difference.

In the end, no one is strong or lucky enough to avoid all health mishaps abroad. It might always be upsetting being sick without the comforts of family, friends, or Full House reruns to watch on T.V. We all want to remain tough, but sometimes you have to break down and give yourself a day or two to deal and heal.

For more information regarding life abroad, check out these other La Vida Idealist posts: “The Experience: Enjoying Your Time As a Volunteer,” “Seeing the World in New Ways,” “Living in Two Worlds at Once,” and “Talk to Me!”

-“Right now” does not mean this very second in Belize. In fact, very few actions are completed in a timely fashion. I’ve noticed that one of the hardest cultural differences to which we Americans have to adjust is that this part of the world moves a little bit more slowly.

Clutter is king with limited workspace at Ya'axché

- A lot of my time has been spent rewriting sentences and attacking spelling and grammar. Coming from a country where it is expected to receive at least a high school diploma, it was a bit of a shock to find that many of my colleagues have very limited education. I have found it very rewarding, albeit time-consuming, to revise and discuss documents with my coworkers. A little effort now will help them infinitely in the future.

- Handcuff your laptop to your body and start introducing it to people as an extension of yourself. As most international organizations are strapped for cash, it is unlikely to find a good, reliable computer. Having a laptop is a luxury, but I might say a necessary luxury in order to maintain control over your work and have a haven of personal organization.

-The funder is God and therefore must be treated as such. This means that if they want you to put their logo and a paragraph of recognition on every single document, you go that extra mile and start putting it on your résumé and your Facebook. If they want you to produce monthly progress reports in addition to comprehensive follow-up reports each disbursement period, you thank them for giving you the opportunity to get carpal tunnel from typing so much. We all know the principle: Help grandma reorganize her photo album every couple of weeks and count on a fat birthday check each year. The same goes with tedious requirements from grant providers: Jump through their hoops and you, and your organization, will be rewarded.

I came to Belize after the job market forced me to realize that either I could get paid to do nothing in the USA and endure the winters of the Midwest, or I could get paid to make a difference while living in the tropics. Having majored in Spanish, I set my sights on Central America, but somehow I ended up in the only English-speaking country on the isthmus.

My placement is with Ya’axché Conservation Trust, a community-oriented organization that advances integrated landscape management for equitable development in Southern Belize through sustainable land use management, strategic advocacy and awareness, and by supporting socially innovative and economically viable enterprises. In short, Ya’axché is a unique organization that understands the need to work and cooperate with those occupying the land in order to successfully protect it.

Home sweet home for the next six months!

I receive free housing in the rural field center located in Golden Stream, Belize. It is solar-powered, quite austere, and home to tarantulas, rats, bats and fellow volunteers. I have been dabbling in project management, community resource planning, creating income-generating projects for women, freshwater monitoring, and sustainable agriculture efforts. I also hope to gain experience in sustainable development and working with women in the developing world.

Okan (Welcome!) to my blog. I hope it proves to be a helpful resource to those out there considering joining the ranks of the unpaid in Latin America!

Preparing and serving breakfast, a fruit snack and lunch everyday for 500 kids is no small feat; even the busiest restaurant in town does not serve that many people on a daily basis. While the school did have a couple of good stoves, the amount of food being cooked definitely warranted something more industrial, as the regular stoves could not properly handle the work load.

Enter  Tony and Ginger Rogers of Texas, a couple who volunteered at Holy Cross this past summer. Ginger was helping with literacy and remedial reading while Tony assisted with building. During their stay, they asked the school what was needed most and were told a heavy duty stove. They went back home to Texas and and set the wheels in motion to raise the money needed to buy a quality stove of the kind most restaurants possess.

After raising the funds, Ginger and Tony were able to get the stove to Amarillo, Texas to Pastor Tim Tam from the Word at Work Ministry. Transportation from Texas to San Pedro was generously provided by Belize Natural Energy Trust (BNET), headquartered in Belmopan. Last but not least, Sterling Vorus of Island Ferry stepped up and volunteered to get the stove from Belize City to San Pedro.

This was definitely an event to capture for the school blog. I decided to ask my friend Mitch to come along to check out Holy Cross School, and catch the ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the new stove which was followed by lunch prepared by Chef Victor Nal of Sunset Grill. Among the people who came out to celebrate were Sterling Voris of Island Ferry, officials Sylvia Baumgart Laasner and Deborah Sewell from BNET, representatives from local papers and of course, school staff. Mitch told me afterward she was glad she went and got to see firsthand what the school was like, not to mention hear the stove story. She was also able to taste something cooked on the new stove by Chef Victor – Belize’s 2009 Chef of the Year and a frequent volunteer with the feeding program – and Miss Rosalia, head kitchen staff.

So you can see that all of these people were the drops of water that helped fill the bucket to get a much needed industrial stove for the school. And it’s a gift that keeps on giving – the kids will continue to benefit from the feeding program and get served two meals a day and a mid-morning snack, keeping their bellies full.

If you need some cash for your nonprofit or project but aren’t sure where to begin, here are ten fundraising ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

1.  Hold an auction.
For the past two years and counting, we have been running a Cinco De Mayo auction fundraiser for Holy Cross School. We set up a committee and get local businesses to donate prizes, and have the newspapers help promote the event.

2.  Host an event at a local restaurant or bar.
Most businesses are willing to help support local organizations and fundraising efforts by holding events and even donating a portion of the proceeds to the cause.  The curry cook off at Lime  and and the July 4th pool party at Pedro’s are both good examples where the involvement of local businesses can make a difference.

3. Organize a community yard sale.
Friends of the Humane Society periodically organize community yard sales in the park. People pay for use of a table to sell their goods, and the money raised from tables plus the $1 entry fee goes to the local humane society, SAGA. This type of fundraiser is always a big hit here in San Pedro.

4.  Sell raffle tickets.
Selling raffle tickets – which is very common here in Belize – is a great way to raise money. At $5 – $10 a pop, it’s easy to sell tickets for great prizes such as a cell phones and iPods, which are often donated by people visiting on vacation.

5. Get out the barbecue.
Doing a community barbecue and getting local businesses to donate food is a delicious way to raise money. We did this when we needed to fundraise medical expenses for Gaspar, one of the Holy Cross kids who had been having back-to-back seizures.

6.  Organize a torch run or walk.
Organizing a torch run or walk is a great way to get people together. San Pedro has an Annual Torch Run/AIDS walk that has been successful in not only securing funds, but creating awareness.

7.  Set up a school fair.
In Belize, when a school has a “fair,” it is commonly known among locals that this is a fundraiser for the school done by the teachers, parents and kids to include the broader community in its money-making efforts. Holy Cross School uses calender events such as Halloween and Valentine’s Day as great excuses to host fairs.

8.  Become active on Facebook groups and message boards.
Since volunteering at Holy Cross School, I have found that members of the Ambergris Caye message board are more than willing to help from afar. They love the island and the people on it, and have stepped up to the plate on numerous occasions to help when money or various items were needed. Same goes for people who have joined our Facebook group, Holy Cross Journey of Hope.

9.  Approach bigger businesses for donations.
Our good friend Joanne started a company in Canada called Direct Abundance, which is working toward using the resources available in Canada to help those in Belize who need it most. They do this by securing donations from different businesses and organizations who are willing to donate.

10.  Contact schools back in your home town.
Heather, a teacher at Greenholme School in Canada who is also involved with Direct Abundance, has taught her kids who do not have a lot themselves the importance of helping those less fortunate. She has gotten them to donate school supplies for kids in Belize, and they are also planning a program where the students are required to complete 40 hours of community service work before graduating.  Through activities such as selling chocolate bars, the money raised will go to sponsoring a student’s high school education in Belize.

Whether you are volunteering abroad or want to help from afar, I hope you find the ten ideas listed above a useful starting point in your own fundraising efforts.

Mr. Daniel Jones and his class

Miss Colette is one of my expat friends here on Ambergris Caye. An avid volunteer for many organizations, she saw a need within the community and decided to start her own program, Be Kind Belize, which resolves to teach kindness and empathy to kids. Humane education programs such as these help children develop stronger interpersonal skills – speaking and listening, for example – and can help to improve attitudes towards caring for others. Respect for all life is one of its core values.

Currently, Miss Colette is looking for volunteers who are interested in setting up programs at individual schools here in Belize. If you’re not in Belize but want to help from afar, she is also looking for volunteers to secure donations for prizes for the kids. (Animal-themed items are preferred, but any cool kids’ stuff is welcome.)

Another great place to volunteer at is our local humane society, SAGA. Founded in 1999, Saga is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to help homeless and suffering dogs, cats and other animals. Most of the stray dogs and cats on the island and other areas of Belize are not neutered, and many are undernourished and ridden with disease.

Saga Society is working on raising money to build a better animal shelter on the island. They are also in the process of establishing a subsidized neutering program with the hopes of eliminating the current Health Department approach to animal control, which is the use of strychnine poison.

When volunteering, consider what interests and skills you have to offer and how you can adapt them to the local community you choose to volunteer in. There are so many great organizations in Belize that will welcome extra hands. Lan Sluder a well known writer and authority on Belize, has highlighted many of them on his Belize First website, in addition to giving great tips for getting the most from your volunteer experience.