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| "Welcome to Aguacate" sign; in a Mennonite dress & rain poncho |
The Surprise:
The five of us going to Toledo pretty much knew four out of the five villages we were going to be assigned to. The four communities were carry-over villages (villages that hosted BH1 volunteers) and the fifth community was to be a new site that had never hosted a volunteer. I had originally hoped to be placed in Santa Theresa since it possesses an functioning satellite health clinic with a active doctor and nurse; however, due to last minute Safety and Security issues, it no longer became a prospective site. The long-awaited day to reveal our site placements arrived and no one, the trainees and staff alike, was attentive enough to sit calmly during the morning training sessions. The only thing mentioned in our nervous conversations were conjectures of where everyone might be placed. When each volunteer and their villages were finally revealed that afternoon, I was happy to be designated as the volunteer of.....(drum roll please)..........Aguacate! It's a small Q'eqchi community with a population of 400 people located in the bushy highlands of Toledo district.
The Origin of Its Name (uncertain whether these stories are legitimate):
1. Two men, one Spanish and another Mopan, were hiking through the jungle and got very thirsty. They stopped for a drink and named the village "agua" the Spanish word for water and "cate" the Mopan word for want
2. There is supposedly an abundance of avocado trees that surrounds the village (I have yet to witness this)
Brief description:
Geography - Aguacate is a Q'eqchi Mayan community situated in the western half of Toledo. The village is elevated and hilly, located in a valley between some low mountains. Located on the north end of the village, there is a bridge across a major river, the Aguacate River, that connects to the main road leading to the entrance of the village. There is also a small creek to the south of the village, which villagers use as a water source for bathing, washing clothes, and doing dishes. During the rainy season (June - Jan), the village can be cut off from the rest of the district as both the Aguacate and Blue Creek bridges are prone to flooding. After the two bridges are crossed, only one road exists to get to the closest town, Punta Gorda, which is about an hour and a half away.
Amenities (or lack there of) - Although the village experiences several power outages a month, Aguacate luckily has electricity, as it is connected to the grid through Belize Electricity Limited. There are few street lamps scattered along the main road and most families share a single connection with their neighbors through long extension cords draped across a great distance. In addition, there is a village water system that allows most families to possess one pipe in their yard; however, the system frequently runs out of water, therefore families have to rely on utilizing government installed hand pumps connecting to underground wells. To my dismay, there is neither a sewage system nor an established waste disposal system. Several households share their latrine with 10-15 members of the extended family and those who don't have the resources to build one, resort to using the high bushes in their yard. Another major setback is the limited cell service in the village. Most villagers need to spend time finding a "good spot" to use Digicell or climb up a hill to the cemetery for SMART service. And unfortunately, there is no internet connectivity available in the village.
Organizations, religion, & politics - This community utilizes both a Village Council and the Alcalde System, both of which are important structures of the village and heavily involved in projects and events. The Chairman of Aguacate also happens to be the principal of the only school in the village, Aguacate R.C. (Primary) School. Many other organizations exist such as the Aguacate Conservation and Development Committee (ACDC) that runs the home stay program in our village, the PTA that supports the school, a Water Board Committee that refills our community's pipe water daily and even a Women's coop that creates local art and crafts to sell to tourists. Although there isn't an established police station, minor infractions or disputes are managed by the village police and presented to the Alcalde to solve. For more heinous crimes, police officers from Punta Gorda are to be contacted. In addition, the village has a tiny health post and a community center utilized by the Ministry of Health, Humana People-to-People, and Hillside clinic for their monthly mobile clinics and educational sessions. Also, there are only five churches throughout the village: Mennonite, House of Prayer, Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Pentecostal; all of which start their services at 8am on Sunday morning. Although Belize is currently run by the United Democratic Party (UDP), majority of Toledo district is represented by the People's United Party (PUP). Elections will be held this year on November 4th, 2015.
Transportation - The village recently inherited an operating bus (owned by the Kan family, aka. my host dad) that drives to town so that villagers can buy necessities for the week. The bus runs only on Mon and Fri from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and since it is the only village bus to go to Punta Gorda, the villagers need to be strategic when planning a trip out of the village. During the weekdays, there is also a public school bus that transports students to their respective high schools in neighboring villages of Blue Creek and Mafredi. In the case of emergencies or a mere desire to get out of the village, one would have to pay a decent sum of money to either charter a vehicle (currently only one truck exists, also owned by my host dad) or catch a ride on the back of the few motorcycles to come and go.
With hindsight:
In Chapter 3 (The Mystic Tongue), I had mentioned that although I was slightly disappointed that I was not placed in a Spanish-speaking community, I was going to give it my best fate decided to put me in a Q'eqchi village. Now that I am 3-months in and an official Peace Corps volunteer of Aguacate, I couldn't have asked for a better placement where I can push myself to my upmost limits and engross in a community that will provide the full peace corps experience. As for the most part, I learned to trust the peace corps staff and their erratic, unexplainable decisions. [PS. Much love for our PC staff!]
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"We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare for us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." - Marcel Proust
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