In an attempt to keep up with my writing, I am going to try and compress my stories at the risk of leaving out some details. Today we woke up and Zac had been asked to speak at a local elementary school assembly. Jesus, one of the local coaches/teachers who has been instrumental in Sports Servant's progress here asked him to give some words of encouragement. I first met Jesus yesterday at a local soccer tournament put on by a group that is somewhat like an intramural league in the U.S. We arrived at the school to find the children in the school yard organized and lined up by grade listening to their Principal's announcements for the day. Armed with Zac's video camera, I snuck behind the children and positioned myself to tape his speech. It was good to hear the passion in his voice he clearly has for this project as he thanked the students and teachers for their involvement. He also laid out his vision for the future and his vision for their school to be a model for the other village schools.
After the speech, the kids were dismissed and they filled back to their classrooms. We began to speak with Mr. Moranis, another teacher and another very strong reason for Sports Servants success at San Narciso. As we chatted about how the program has been working and challenges they still face, I began to notice the children walking back into the school yard with toothbrushes in hand. They all stood in line dipping their brushes in a cup of water they held int he other hand and brushed their teeth. It was funny to see and hear them as they repeatedly produced the familiar foamy white discharge one gets from a good tooth scrubbing and then spit it on the ground. Jesus explained it was part of a program put together by Loyola University who brought supplies annually and gave free checkups to the children and other villagers. It helped me to grasp the depth of the needs of these people. They truly are without so much in life that I have grown up with and taken for granted without a second thought. Yet while the clearly absent basic necessities were evident all around me, there seemed to be a common theme of genuine contentment and happiness I was unable to put my finger on. The sadness and despair I would think would be associated with doing without is not as present as I would have expected. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Most of the people seem upbeat and generally friendly. Being a visitor, I may be seeing parts of society that are not jaded, but I have a sense that the atmosphere is genuine. It makes me re-think and evaluate my own ideas of happiness and what that truly looks like. I am saddened to say that overall these people seem to be much happier with their plot in life than many Americans I know. It begs the question, who then truly is the poor country?
After a few hours we left the school on our way to meet with yet another principal of a high school when suddenly we were distracted by a monkey. We stopped at a house where a young boy was digging a trench and got out. Zac, as with most people in Corazol, knew the boy and greeted him. As we got closer, we could clearly see the monkey was attached to a tree by a
collar. We learned from the boy the monkey's name was Poncho and he was a one year old Spider Monkey. i was absolutely excited to get the chance to see a monkey up close in the wild as I have asked for one for Christmas ever since I could remember. As I got close enough to get into a picture with Poncho, but not getting but being careful not to get within reach of his leash, the boy said it was O.K. for him to climb on me. I reached my hand out and Poncho walked over and wrapped his little hand around my fingers and threw his tail around my neck. I was officially boarded and was amazed at how strong he truly was. He climbed all over me and grabbed my glasses off my head. I was so excited yet scared that I was going to be bitten at the same time. After about two minutes I walked away so the leash could pull Poncho free from me as there was definitely no way of "putting him down." Finally all of his limbs were pulled from me and I was free. It was one of the coolest things I've been able to do and I am a little embarrassed to admit how much I enjoyed the experience.
Later in the day we traveled back to town and to Tony's. This is the resort where the girls are staying and we have been eating most of our meals. While Zac and i ate lunch, a strange yet accurate metaphor for my first experience in Belize came to me. In the movie, "The Abyss," Ed Harris' character is going to dive off of a trench wall in the middle of the ocean thousands of feet deep. In order to do this he must use an unconventional breathing system. Fictional of course, this system requires him to breath in liquid oxygen that they demonstrate on a rat to prove it will indeed no drown him. In dramatic Hollywood fashion, they place a helmet on Ed's head and slowly fill it with a pink liquid resembling pink lemonade. As the helmet fills up, he begins to panic and doesn't want to breath in the liquid. As his options run out, he is forced to take in the fluid into his lungs. After a few panic filled breaths, his body relaxes and he begins to breath normally and on his own again. This reaction reminds me of the first twenty four hours I experienced in Belize. The culture and surroundings are so unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Nothing around me is common or familiar. My mind went into somewhat of a panic as I refused to accept this reality presented in front of me. But, once I was able to accept this reality and allow myself to experience it, I realized I could exist in it and survive. Even though, like breathing liquid instead of air, it was a little more difficult and uncomfortable, I was able to do it. I am truly grateful for God allowing me to uncomfortably experience this and allow me to open my eyes to a whole new perspective on a world I was unable to see or comprehend in it's entirety prior to today. I only hope that I will know how to proceed from this point forward.
After the speech, the kids were dismissed and they filled back to their classrooms. We began to speak with Mr. Moranis, another teacher and another very strong reason for Sports Servants success at San Narciso. As we chatted about how the program has been working and challenges they still face, I began to notice the children walking back into the school yard with toothbrushes in hand. They all stood in line dipping their brushes in a cup of water they held int he other hand and brushed their teeth. It was funny to see and hear them as they repeatedly produced the familiar foamy white discharge one gets from a good tooth scrubbing and then spit it on the ground. Jesus explained it was part of a program put together by Loyola University who brought supplies annually and gave free checkups to the children and other villagers. It helped me to grasp the depth of the needs of these people. They truly are without so much in life that I have grown up with and taken for granted without a second thought. Yet while the clearly absent basic necessities were evident all around me, there seemed to be a common theme of genuine contentment and happiness I was unable to put my finger on. The sadness and despair I would think would be associated with doing without is not as present as I would have expected. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Most of the people seem upbeat and generally friendly. Being a visitor, I may be seeing parts of society that are not jaded, but I have a sense that the atmosphere is genuine. It makes me re-think and evaluate my own ideas of happiness and what that truly looks like. I am saddened to say that overall these people seem to be much happier with their plot in life than many Americans I know. It begs the question, who then truly is the poor country?
After a few hours we left the school on our way to meet with yet another principal of a high school when suddenly we were distracted by a monkey. We stopped at a house where a young boy was digging a trench and got out. Zac, as with most people in Corazol, knew the boy and greeted him. As we got closer, we could clearly see the monkey was attached to a tree by a
collar. We learned from the boy the monkey's name was Poncho and he was a one year old Spider Monkey. i was absolutely excited to get the chance to see a monkey up close in the wild as I have asked for one for Christmas ever since I could remember. As I got close enough to get into a picture with Poncho, but not getting but being careful not to get within reach of his leash, the boy said it was O.K. for him to climb on me. I reached my hand out and Poncho walked over and wrapped his little hand around my fingers and threw his tail around my neck. I was officially boarded and was amazed at how strong he truly was. He climbed all over me and grabbed my glasses off my head. I was so excited yet scared that I was going to be bitten at the same time. After about two minutes I walked away so the leash could pull Poncho free from me as there was definitely no way of "putting him down." Finally all of his limbs were pulled from me and I was free. It was one of the coolest things I've been able to do and I am a little embarrassed to admit how much I enjoyed the experience.Later in the day we traveled back to town and to Tony's. This is the resort where the girls are staying and we have been eating most of our meals. While Zac and i ate lunch, a strange yet accurate metaphor for my first experience in Belize came to me. In the movie, "The Abyss," Ed Harris' character is going to dive off of a trench wall in the middle of the ocean thousands of feet deep. In order to do this he must use an unconventional breathing system. Fictional of course, this system requires him to breath in liquid oxygen that they demonstrate on a rat to prove it will indeed no drown him. In dramatic Hollywood fashion, they place a helmet on Ed's head and slowly fill it with a pink liquid resembling pink lemonade. As the helmet fills up, he begins to panic and doesn't want to breath in the liquid. As his options run out, he is forced to take in the fluid into his lungs. After a few panic filled breaths, his body relaxes and he begins to breath normally and on his own again. This reaction reminds me of the first twenty four hours I experienced in Belize. The culture and surroundings are so unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Nothing around me is common or familiar. My mind went into somewhat of a panic as I refused to accept this reality presented in front of me. But, once I was able to accept this reality and allow myself to experience it, I realized I could exist in it and survive. Even though, like breathing liquid instead of air, it was a little more difficult and uncomfortable, I was able to do it. I am truly grateful for God allowing me to uncomfortably experience this and allow me to open my eyes to a whole new perspective on a world I was unable to see or comprehend in it's entirety prior to today. I only hope that I will know how to proceed from this point forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment