Teaching Going Well

The volunteers are well underway with the teaching phase. Everyone has been put in pairs, living with host families and immersing themselves in the Belizean culture.

After a week of teaching training the volunteers visited their schools to observe the class and see how the children are taught and then the following day joined the class for their first day as teaching assistants.

The volunteers are teaching everything from art to maths, assisting at assemblies and helping the children with reading and writing. The reading and writing classes are something so crucial, yet the teachers simply don’t have the time to put aside for one on one sessions with the children who need it most. The volunteers are going to prove vital for the next couple of months.

The UK office is expecting an update from Belize with images very soon. Watch this space!

Sightseeing and Spanish

Our country manager in Belize, Ed, has sent this report on how the group are doing and what they are up to...

On Saturday all of the Trekkers will arrive back in Belize after a month of very intensive Spanish. The school that Trekforce uses has been fantastic and have been incredibly kind and welcoming. Each of the Trekkers has had one-to-one tuition, which at times can be very hard work, but it has paid dividends and everyone that has put the effort in has improved lots.

During this time everyone has been living in pairs or threes in small houses hosted by local families. Everyone loved this even though at first there were a few awkward silences as the families don’t speak a word of English. The families have been brilliant this year and have put up with some appalling Spanglish!

The language school has also laid on lots of extracurricular activities such as soap-making and local dancing – which have been very entertaining to take part in.

As the lessons only happen for half the day – everyone has had the chance to relax by the beautiful Lake Peten and enjoy the amazing sunshine that we have had for our entire stay.

Weekends have been exciting too and everyone has been free to travel independently in Guatemala. Most of the Trekkers went to Tikal, the Mayan ruins that were filmed in “Star Wars”, and sat on the temples to watch the sunset. Most too ventured south this weekend to see Antigua, an attractive small town in the south of Guatemala that is surrounded by active volcanoes.

After a farewell meal and a few drinks the whole group will be picked up on Saturday morning to start the next phase of the Trekforce experience – either diving or teaching in small schools in Belize…

Teacher Training

Those that are teaching are about to start a 4-day course in how to teach. This covers everything from how to project your voice and get the attention of the class, to how to plan lessons. During this time we have guest speakers coming in to talk to the Trekkers including the Deputy Minister for Education in Belize.

Diving

Those with less of an appetite for teaching are heading to the islands for a week of scuba diving on the Mesoamerican barrier reef. It’s a very Caribbean feeling island and a difficult place to get stressed. They will be diving with Belize Diving Services, which is run very professionally by an American couple.

Updates on the teaching phase will appear as soon as the UK office receive the next report....

Language Course Gets Underway

The group arrived safe and sound in Guatemala at the beginning of April to embark on 4 weeks of Spanish school. The school is in San Jose and the teachers have been extremely welcoming, much to the delight of the volunteers who admit that the phase is surpassing their expectations!

The weekends are free for the volunteers to explore the area some more, catch up on emails and mix with the locals so they take advantage of this and make sure they see as much as they can before the weekend is over!

The first weekend at language school fell on the Easter weekend, so the volunteers headed to Flores, an extremely small town in Peten, Guatemala. It is located on an island in the lake Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway. The town celebrates the Easter weekend with colour and dance and the volunteers joined in with the festivities.

The majority of the group chose to go to Tikal for the second weekend of the language phase, the largest of the Mayan ruined cities of the Mayan Civilisation. There are thousands of ancient structures in Tikal but only a fraction has actually been excavated. This includes six very large Mesoamerican step pyramids which are over 60 metres high.

For films buffs out there, Tikal was also used during the filming of Star Wars….


Now in their third week, the language course continues to run strong. The volunteers are living with host families in San Jose, close to the school, and attend Spanish lessons Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm. When they return from their day of language school many sit down to dinner with their host family, or eat out with their fellow volunteers. Either way they are living and breathing a lively and fascinating culture. An experience they are sure not to forget for a long time!

Mail can now be sent to a new PO Box number in San Ignacio:

PO BOX 266, San Ignacio, Caya, Belize. If you have sent post to the old PO BOX in Belize City, don't worry, post is being redirected.

We suggest that you give 2 weeks for post to reach Belize.

Projects completed and ceremonies go down well...

The projects are now completed and have been handed over in 2 separate opening ceremonies.

DAVIS FALLS

Davis Falls is Belize’s second highest waterfall and the location, surrounded by broadleaf forest, makes it an ideal tourist hot spot! The team have finished their project ahead of schedule. The opening ceremony was held on Sunday 25th March and was attended by representatives from our project partners "Friends of the Valley" as well as members of the local community. Trekforce's Country Director and Logistics Manager also attended.

The finished camp looks fantastic: two large thatched shelters have been constructed using local bay palms for eco-tourists to stay in when they visit the park. Trekforce make an effort to ensure that all of the wood for the project is sourced locally. Local farmers are asked to provide the materials and Belizean carpenters are employed to advise us on cost and numbers. This is important to us to ensure that locals are provided with an income rather than finding external sources! Local hardwood has also been used in the building of seven bridges to give more access to the different tourist attractions surrounding the falls.

Access trails have been re-cleared as they had become over grown with trees and vines. The clearing of the trail is as much scientific as it is manual. With a compass, GPS and map, the group walk along, clearing the trail using machetes and their hands. They must refer to the original map which plots out the trail to ensure that they are clearing the correct area.

The team conducted exploratory transects into the lesser known areas of the reserve and found previously undiscovered waterfalls. This is something the group are bound to talk about for many months to come! Exploratory transects are extremely important, discovering new areas of interest means that they can be highlighted to attract more visitors to the area, as well as ensuring they can now be protected! The park is going through a process of gaining national park status; therefore anything that can be found of interest in the area is an advantage!

With a couple of free days to play with they have also been playing hard to celebrate their achievements. They had a mock wedding (where each role was picked from a hat!) as well as a karaoke night hosted by Dwight Montero- a member of Friends of the Valley, at his home.

RIO FRIO

Working in partnership with Belize Forestry Department the group’s project was based in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, Southern Belize. The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve was devastated by the Southern Pine Bark Beetle. Since then, authorities have worked hard to build the rain forest and protect it.

Two ablution blocks have been built; this entails digging a large hole into the ground which is used as a septic tank. This is linked to the toilets they have also installed at a separate location. These are very impressive stone buildings, beautifully thatched, and set back into the jungle. They will be used by visitors to the area- both from the scientific community and tourists.

The group also used their thatching skills they had learnt during jungle training to re-thatch the palapa hut at the entrance to Rio Frio cave, using bay palm leaf. The intention is that area will become the first eco-tourist village in Belize that will cater for Belizeans and encourage them to enjoy their country's incredible forests and caves.

In addition to the two ablution blocks and rethatching, the group also cleared an eco-tourist trail to a huge natural limestone cave. The clearing of this trail takes time and patience. They must plot out the trail by using GPS and a map. The trail must be correct to the letter and then it is transferred onto a map. It will now be a new trail which can be used by anyone walking in the area! For the project group, it is a great feeling to know that they have put a piece of Belize well and truly on the map!



The group faced some delays in their last couple of weeks of the project as it rained lots and it was a bank holiday in Belize for the forestry workers. This meant that project materials could not arrive, and the forestry workers were not on hand to advise. The group made an extra special effort in the last week by getting up at 0430 to get project work started by 0600 and then working until 1830 when it gets dark in order to ensure that the buildings are finished for the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

The volunteers were very proud to hand over the finished project to the Forestry department, who were absolutely thrilled with the outcome and laid on a barbecue for the group. The project also created some media interest as Belize Channel 5 news also attended to cover the ceremony!

FINAL PARTY

The two groups converged for the first time since their jungle training ended nearly two months earlier. They were power-boated off to a tiny desert island called Goff's Caye. The island is a little bit of paradise for the group after roughing it in the jungle for the past 2 months! They laid on short skits for the other group, played games on the beach, and then partied well into the early morning! Everyone then headed back to Belize City where preparations were to take place for the next phase: independent travelling, diving, returning home, or learning Spanish in Guatemala.

Project over, Country Manager, Ed Stafford said: “The jungle part is over and was an unqualified success. Both teams can be very proud of what they have achieved over the past two months."

Final Week for the Trekkers

We can't believe it so we're sure you can't either, the 2 month expedition is coming to an end! Volunteers will shortly be returning home to the UK, moving on to the language or diving phase of the expedition or heading off for some independent travel!

In a short amount of time the volunteers have contributed a huge amount to the community in Belize. They have completed a comprehensive jungle training course which took many outside of their comfort zone but also prepared them for the rest of the expedition, they then went on to complete a worthwhile project, some even turned their hand to sport and completed the Ruta Maya canoe race. All are finishing off their unforgettable experience with a trek... from which they are sure to bring back some amazing images and stories.


The completed projects will be officially handed over to our project partners in a ceremony on Monday the 26th March which is extremly significant to the volunteers who have worked hard over the last 2 months to represent the Trekforce team as professional, committed and team players!


After the ceremony it's all hands to the pump as the medics and Trekforce leaders do their final medical checks on the volunteers and complete paper work. Trekkers prepare for their farewell party and confirm their travelling plans with the Trekforce Leaders on Wednesday 28th March. Whether staying on to complete another phase, going home,or deciding that they want to go off for indepenedent travel, this will all be discussed at a meeting on the 28th March. The first group of volunteers head to the airport for their journey back to UK on Saturday 31st March.

Pictures From The Project Phase

The project groups have been busy but there is always a chance to explore their surroundings...

Cave at Rio Frio....

Trekkers drink from some water vines...

Palapa at the Rio Frio Project....

Sunset witnessed by the Davis falls project...

Rio Frio Construction...

All smiles in the at the Rio Fri party....

Some of the Davis Falls group on the Caracol trek...

Trekkers Blogs- Jungle Training

As promised, here are some extracts from the blogs written by the trekkers in Belize.....

Note from Ed the country manager: If your nearest and dearest is in Belize with Trekforce and did not enter a paragraph above then it is undoubtedly because they were having too much fun to stop and write one. They all apologise profusely.

Ste Smith: Hey everyone! Totally love being back here in the jungle. Bit weird to start with (how much déjà vu??!) but settled back in really well, despite arriving with man flu! Everyone is really nice, a great bunch of people to spend almost half a year with. it’s great not having a clue what’s happening back home! Ste xxx

Steve Pike: Hellooo! Well, we made it! Everything is absolutely amazing – so much to see and the Trekforce folks are really cool. Everyone on the trip is wicked too and we are having lots of fun despite eating tinned veg and spam every day. Porridge is actually quite nice!

Dani Barley: It is amazing here, having a wonderful time, jungle life is definitely a great experience- wish ya were all here with me!

Louise Roberts: Hey everyone! I’ve made it :) Having a great time so far – seen some spider monkeys today and have been washing in a huge river with two crocodiles in it in the middle of the jungle! I’ve been living on porridge and rice, although every other day we get noodles!

Al Fraser: Hi all! The jungle is everything I expected and more! (more mud, generally…). I have so far mastered the hammock and bathed with some baby crocs. Both me and Louise are on the project we really wanted to be on and I am over the moon with what we will be doing. Best bit so far: walking along a remote jungle path, hearing howler monkeys for the first time then having a small group of spider monkeys hurling abuse (and branches!) at us from the canopy! Absolutely ace.. xxx

Naomi Carfrae: Hello! I hope you all at home are well, and the weather isn’t too terrible… I’m having a great time out here. I have a jungle training certificate to bring home and show you!

Rachel Humphreys now cooks, washes her clothes by hand and sleeps 4ft off the ground. She can make a table with a machete and this evening she raved with the best of them. She is suffering from the lack of chocolate. Today she was so hungry that she sprinted through the jungle at the prospect of baked beans. She is glad jungle training is over and cant wait to get on project RIO FRIO ! She will also be going on the Chiquable trail and wake up to the maya ruins at dawn.

Charlotte Macdonald: Hi Mum, Dad, Andy! I’m having a brilliant time – covered in bites, scratches and sunburn but still loving it! I‘m now an expert at putting up my basha, hammock and mossie net and it’s actually really comfy! I’m on the Rio Frio project and am hoping to do a 6 day canoe race for part of my trek!