NC State University

by sophomore Whitney Chrisco

As I rustle around in bed the delightful, elegant, but loud and persistent sounds of parrots, toucans, and chickens fill the air along with the pungent smell of several out-houses. I remember that I am in Belize, and I am hesitant to open my eyes, scared to find what may be chilling on top of the mosquito net that separates my safety zone from the rest of the thatch roof hut that I have been sleeping in. I open my eyes and immediately scan my surroundings. There are not any scorpions that have fallen from the thatch roof above, where a family of them live. My eyes move to the cement floor and wooden walls searching for tarantulas. I am again thankful that they have not made it into our one room shed that we called home for the week. As my eyes scan the walls, which are only wooden for the bottom half and screen for the top half, I am not surprised to see a rooster sitting upon the ledge on the outside of the screen. I look to my roommate and I say, “I smell beans and rice. What do you think?” She agrees. We begin to ponder if they ever get tired of eating the same thing, but we came to the conclusion that they probably do not think anything of it. They are grateful for what they have and eat what is available. We immediately remembered that we were going to be having fry jacks (a kind of fried flour tortilla) for breakfast! Our host mom had shown us how to make them a couple nights before and it immediately became one of our favorite things to eat in Belize.

Learning to cook some traditional foods was one of the first things I learned how to do within the household I stayed in. There were many things I learned from my trip to Belize other than making fry jacks and sleeping properly under mosquito nets. When reflecting on my experiences there I begin to rethink about the impact communication plays in a society, the struggles of education, and the everyday things that many US citizens take for granted.

Communication in Belize was much different than what the average person living in the US is used to. Living in the small village we learned that word travels fast. Their biggest source of communication is each other. People in the US rely heavily on internet capabilities such as e-mail and instant messaging as means of communicating with each other. Although land line telephones are still used on a daily basis, cell phone interaction is probably one of the main things we rely on. Our cell phones not only allow us to make and receive calls almost anywhere at any time of the day no matter where we are, but they also allow us to text each other when we are in situations where we cannot answer the phone. These are a few of the main ways we converse with each other regularly, but technology in the US has also impacted communication in a negative way. If you are walking across campus on any given day many students can be seen with earphones in their ears listening to music from their iPod or mp3 player. This is even a new characteristic built into many cell phones. In fact, you can even check your email and talk on instant messenger through you cell phone these days. Either way, after seeing how our communication differs from that found in Belize, I strongly believe we have been impacted in a negative way by it. Many people have forgotten the significance of meeting someone in person, having a face to face conversation, and being friendly and personable to each other. Some people develop relationships with faculty and advisors strictly through email instead of setting up an appointment to meet in person. Is this laziness or is it just easier? I hate when I see someone I know walking by and I wave to say hey and they do not even hear me because they have music blaring in their ears, tuning everything out around them. If this is not a communication barrier I do not know what is! Yes, the village I stayed in only had one land line, and yes, there was only one place to connect to the internet. But, the kids were not consumed by instant messaging and computer games. Instead, they played with each other until the sun went down. News traveled by word of mouth around the village and everyone was very friendly to anyone walking by them. They would always strike up conversation and their kindness and respect meant a lot. I truly think this is part of the US culture that is gradually fading away.

Another issue that I was faced with was the education system in Belize and how it differs from ours. When working with the school kids I saw so much potential in the children. Some in particular were exceptionally bright and it was hard to realize that they do not get the resources they need to excel to the potential that they carry inside of them. It made me realize how fortunate we are to get the education we are provided. Even some of the schools in the US that struggle with funding to grow and to get the advancement they need to keep test scores up or to motivate the kids, have way more than the schools in Belize. The assignment I chose to review with the older school kids preparing for high school entrance exams was acid base science. They did not have established labs or work books to review or to show them how acids and bases interact. Instead, we had to review with materials we could find in their homes and around the village. Also, when practicing for their writing tests they had to share prompts. Their library was the size of one single classroom and many of the books were out dated, yet they understood concepts and wanted to learn more about things that were not introduced to me, or that I did not understand until my upper level high-school courses and even some college level classes. I was very impressed with their motivation to learn even though they did not have resources that many of us have grown up with. One young girl in particular had worked her way up through her school’s spelling bee and was preparing to go up against other schools. The principal of the school, also her teacher, came up to us and said that someone had recently donated a computer. He had a computer program that would help her study her words. The only hindrance was that he could not get the computer to run the program. A few of our very keen team members jumped on this trivial task and over the course of a lunch break they had the program up and running. The young girl was able to have the computer set up in her home to study! We asked several of the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up, and several of them had big dreams and aspirations. I just hope that they stay motivated and I pray that those kids will continue to work hard to meet their goals. It is not fair how so many of us take advantage of our elite education system in the US. We have so many things given to us and we do not even realize how lucky we are. It makes me wonder if it is even necessary to have all of this luxury to learn.

There are many other common things that I have realized upon returning to the US that we take advantage of. Trash is one of the things I noticed there was not a lot of in Belize. There were no trashcans in the homes and they did not seem to make trash like we did. After I realized this, I began to notice that in fact they burnt their trash. This became a concern to me because the chemicals and pollution released from burning trash could cause health issues amongst the people in their village. Also, water was not something to waste in Belize. They had rain water filter systems that they used for their source of water. They did not have hot running water and they did not let the water run as they bathed. Many families did not have showers in their homes and instead bathed in the river, but those that did have showers turned the water on only as they needed to rinse off. Other differences that I noticed were the smaller selection in grocery stores, the lack of paved roads, traffic signs, and enforced law. Do we really need all of the selections we have in our grocery stores? To come home and walk into the grocery store was overwhelming and I realized that we honestly have so many more choices and options in the US, again that we take for granted. Belize only had four paved roads. I do not believe I ever saw a traffic light or a stop sign. Also, speed was not enforced. This could lead to reckless as well as drunk driving and poses concern for many drivers on their roads. We may not realize how good we have it in the US. I never would have stopped to think how advantageous the world I live in is, but now I feel like even the smallest things make me stop and think. I have never in my life felt so lucky for what I have been given and more thankful for the opportunities that have been given to me.

We have a lot to learn from the people in Belize. They lead a simple life and they are happy with what they have. Like I have pointed out, although we have the latest technology, elite education systems, enforcement of the law, and choices to make that at times seem limitless, we still struggle in some ways. Maybe by living a simple life you become more appreciative of what you have, because I feel like we have so much, yet so many people are not grateful for it. Living gratefully is something I learned on my trip. Aaron, my team coordinator in Belize stated, “To live gratefully, is to live a great life”. That is one reason why I enjoyed my teammates and my time spent with them in Belize. Like Aaron pointed out, we were all there because we all had something in common. We all were grateful for what we had and we realized it and felt the need to share it with others. We all discussed during our last reflection how our trip will forever have an impact on our lives and how we will surely be able to look back on our lives later on down the road and pick out the things we do and have done differently because of our experience in Belize. I cannot write in words all of the little things that I carry with me that have impacted my life, but my experience has opened up my eyes to not only a different part of the world, but also the world I live in. I hope to always live and lead a grateful life and continue to learn from the world around me.

If there was one thing that I could share with others it would be that there is a difference in the impact of learning about another culture and learning from another culture. To understand and comprehend facts is just knowledge that you read, hear, and retain. But to witness firsthand the impact of government in other places, to listen to the stories from the village people about their heritage and the values they place on family and their community, and to live the lives that they do for even just a week..this is to truly learn about another culture. This is to walk into something unfamiliar and to walk out with a new, humble, and grateful outlook on life.