Life as a PCV in Belmopan

March 29, 2011


So I was chosen to speak to the new Peace Corps Trainees to tell them what PCV life is like. The panel included: Me, Miles, Roger, Owen, Manissa, Jim and Janine, Gayla and Dan. What we were required to talk about was:

1- Describe a variety of PCV lifestyles, activities, and assignments (urban/rural/project)
2- Discuss some strategies for community integrations, gaining trust and credibility, and beginning work.
3- Discuss some challenges associated with integrating into the community and corresponding strategies.
4- Explain potential challenges, corresponding strategies to overcome them, and some benefits regarding living with a host family.

So things I presented on were the description of my site, Laguna Village. (Laguna’s population is 271 villagers. We have many tourist attractions, such as the mountain, cave and lagoon. The village was established in 1970. We have a multigrade primary school, a health post, 2 corn mills, 2 small shops, and we used to have a bus on market days (however, they sold the bus recently and now I have to bike to the junction and catch a bus to go to town uhhh a struggle… makes life much more difficult).

Then I discussed my assignment: I am a teacher trainer. I try to give workshops and do model lessons. My number one project was starting the Chabil Chahim preschool in September. I have intervention reading groups that meet in the afternoons. I also helped the school get the BTL free internet for the school. In addition I am in the process of working on getting more books for the classroom libraries. My secondary projects include the Laguna Women’s Group and GLOW club. My women’s group got a grant and is going to begin an extensive cuxtal project. I also have a GLOW group where my girls meet twice a week to work on self-expression, self-esteem, and self-reliance.

On the panel I also discussed about the challenge of integrating into the community and a corresponding strategy of gaining trust and credibility. The challenge for me was that I was learning so much from my host family and not visiting other families and houses enough. So I learned to take a few nights a week and visit others.

Another challenge was that I wanted to start all my projects right away; however, I had to learn and practice patience and visit others because the villagers need to get to know you before they trust you.

A potential challenge I had with my host family was that a lot of things were stolen. I had to learn to set boundaries and distance myself from them. A benefit about living with a host family is that they will help you introduce yourself around the village and having host siblings (they will really help you with language, socializing, and learning about the K’ekchi culture.)

The new group seemed very shy and didn’t have many questions, but I guess that was because it was their first week in country.


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