So I’m going to Belize this summer…
and I am super excited! I have another Tumblr, but I wanted to separate this one out for travel updates. I tried a blogspot, but it just wasn’t working for me.
I will be leaving for Dangriga, Belize, on May 17 at 6:00 AM from Memphis International, and I will be spending a month there studying abroad, getting 6 hours of upper-level business credit for doing community development work in Belize, best deal ever!
The program is a partnership with a fantastic organization called Peacework, through their “global village network.” The program pairs universities with developing communities and establishes a long-term program of partnership, and different disciplinaries from the university participate depending on the requests of the community. University of Arkansas is the very first school to participate in this program, which started two years ago, so it’s very new and exciting. We have a group of about 50 of us going down this summer, with students and faculty from Engineering, Social Work, Literacy, Agriculture, Ecology, and of course, Business (that’s me!). There will also be Pre-Veterinary students and Medical students from U of A Little Rock coming, too.
The projects we’re working on are fantastic, some are new and some are continuations of past projects, everything from installing a water system to bring clean water to the village, to microloans for education, small business seminars and consulting, and an oral history project about the Garifuna, an ethnic group in Belize with a large population in Dangriga.
I’m right in the middle of finals right now, but in the next few weeks before I leave I’ll post more about the project descriptions, our group, and the cool things I’ve been learning in my honors colloquium, “Community Development in a Global Context,” I’ve been taking this semester in preperation for the trip. I’ll be bringing my laptop to Belize, and there is an internet cafe in in the town we’re staying at, so hopefully I can update my Tumblr pretty regularly!
2 years ago