Health Fair

Hillside has health fairs once a month at different villages in the Toledo district. This Sunday we drove two hours to a village called Otoxha. I had previously visited this particular village one week ago to talk with the alcalde ("chief") of the village, village chair person, community health worker, and school principal to get their approval to visit their village. They were very excited to have us. These health fairs are geared more towards kids and are meant to be fun, but I've found they take lots of work to organize!

At the fair we taught kids how to brush their teeth and floss. We had a plastic model of dentures that the kids could use to demonstrate how they would brush their teeth, which they really enjoyed! We handed out tooth paste, tooth brushes, and floss. We had another station set up teaching kids about nutrition. The medical students made up game where the kids had to place certain foods in the right food group. We also played soccer, jump rope, and tag with the kids teaching them about the importance of exercise. We also had a station for face painting. I personally got really good at painting butterflies that day! We also checked the adults blood sugars and pressures. If we saw any abnormal results we let the person know that in the beginning of May Hillside  would be back in their village for mobile clinic. On mobile clinics we do full assessments of the patients and have many medications and supplies that are needed.

After the health fair ended we drove down the road to have lunch at the alcalde's house. His wife prepared a dish for us called caldo, which means soup in spanish. It's comparable to chicken soup and is usually served with tortillas. It was my first time tasting caldo and I really enjoyed it!

Cultural Day

Today the students and I had a break from clinic work and home visits. In the morning there was a presentation put on by the Belizean staff members here at Hillside. They talked about the different cultures you'll see here in Belize such as East Indian, Garifuna, Mayan, and Creole. After the presentation we drove to Nim Li Punit  to tour the Mayan Ruins. It was interesting to see the open tombs and step pyramids that date back to 700AD. We also saw the second longest carved stela in the Mayan world. 

After the tour we headed to meet the Ixchel Women's group. The Ixchel Women's group gave us a glimpse into their Mayan home and culture. We learned how to grind corn on a stone and make corn tortillas on the traditional comal. They cooked us a traditional Mayan meal which consisted of tortillas, jippy-jappa stew, and chicken. We also had sour sap juice. It's yummy. At the end of lunch we were able to buy some beautiful baskets made by the women woven out of the plant called jippy-jappa.

Then we made our way to Blue Creek. Our Belizean tour guise lead us on a hike to the Blue Creek caves. We hiked through the forest over rocks and hills for about 15 minutes. After reaching the entrance of the cave we fastened our life vests and slipped on our head lamps and entered the darkness. It was an incredible experience having the headlamp as the only source of light in the dark cold cave. It was difficult at times convincing myself that there were no creatures in the water wanting to grab my feet! We swam deep into the cave for about 45 minutes and climbed over multiple tiny waterfalls inside. After our adventure in the cave we had time to swim in the creek and play on the rope swing. 

Overall, cultural day was a success!

Weekend trip: Tom Owens Caye

The students and I planned a trip to Tom Owens Caye, which is beautiful 1 acre coral island in the Sapodilla Cayes reef system - a marine reserve in the Caribbean just off the coast of Belize. Early Saturday morning we took an hour and a half boat ride to the island. After lunch we went out to sea in search of whale sharks. We were prepared to snorkel along side the 47,000 lb fish, but unfortunately we did spot any. We then went snorkeling around the island. We got lucky and found some fisherman throwing some conch off their boat, which attracted a couple eagle sting rays. It was amazing being inches away from the rays. A couple students and I went fishing in the evening. We first caught some fish called bonita and used them as our bait. We ended up catching 2 barracuda that night! We had so much fun that we decided to go fishing early in the morning too. That morning we caught four more barracuda. The owner of the island cooked the fish for us and we had it for lunch along with fried conch, rice, and beans. It was tasty. We also had lots left overs, which we brought home with us. Sunday I spent the day swimming and lounging in a hammock. Around 3 pm we headed back to civilization.

 The view from my room...

 Fishing!

 The fishing crew....

 Hungry eel.