Day 5- Jeanne and Margaret

 

Today, Friday June 20^th we started by going to the school in the morning, there we helped the teachers in the classroom and also helped on the worksite. Both of us got to work in the pre-k section and watch them rehearse for their big graduation on Wednesday. Needless to say, it was adorable. We then ate at Ernesto’s and did some World Leadership School activities which may or may not have involved Ben getting on Ahmed’s back. In the afternoon we went tubing in the jaguar reserve on the South Stann Creek. Unfortunately, we were unable to bring cameras there but rest assured it was beautiful. We also saw two jaguar paws (one more than the group two years ago but who’s counting?) We ate dinner at our homestays and in the evening had a meeting with the leaders of the Maya Center community to learn about their leadership stories.

                Over the past couple of days, we have had the opportunity to sit down and talk with several leaders in this community. Yesterday, we spoke with several women at the cooperative. We were particularly struck by how progressive they were in terms of social issues. Another surprising factor was how fast they had made this progression: the 40 year old generation behaves much like our great grandmothers whereas our generation behaves more like our parents. This rapid change in social behavior is promising for future generations. We were impressed with the values they were instilling in both their sons and daughters in hopes of furthering social progression. However, we noticed that they had very traditional views. We were also surprised by the differences between their progressive thought process and their traditional actions. For example, although they believed strongly in fostering female independence, many women in the community are dependent upon their husbands  for financial support.   Indeed, the women in the cooperative acknowledged the fact that Mayan females are very protective of their children. For instance, they were really surprised our parents let us out of their view for such a long time and let us travel alone by plane (but of course we valiantly defended our parents).

                Tonight we were lucky enough to meet with 3 more leaders from the community: Ernesto, Aurora, and Liberato. Ernesto was the first official mayor of this village. He spoke to us about how even when most of the villagers were against him on an issue; he stayed firm on his viewpoint and helped the community reach a mutual decision. He explained that in order to really help the people, he had to be firm and selfless because, neither political leaders nor the wealthy supported him. For example he got married only at 35 (10 years later than the Belizean average). This is also because Ernesto fought for the people “which can be expensive” so the government and the upper class didn’t like him. Aurora is Ernesto’s wife and an herbal healer. She started making money when she was young by carving stones and selling them. By doing this, she and her sisters became like Belizean celebrities. She first got married at the age of 24 to Ernesto because she had been so focused on her work as a healer.  Although she was new to the village and felt very out of place, she braved the change and stuck by Ernesto. She helped him throughout his leadership career, offering advice when needed. She is also innovative since she is the one who had the idea to utilize tourism to further the village economically. What she lacks in charisma (she is in the shadow of her husband) she makes up for in integrity and love and like Ernesto and Liberato she is knowledgeable. Liberato is also very loving and as the school principal really made us understand the value of knowledge and education for life and leadership; as he was brought out of poverty by going to school. Because of this, he is very passionate about his work. They all showcased different aspects of leadership and were all inspiring.