Less than 24 hours 'til we're in BELIZE!

Hello!

I am getting super excited to get on that plane down to Belize! I think I am as prepared as I'm going to be, so let's do it!!

Over the past few weeks, the agriculture, engineering and business teams have met daily learning about Belizean history, culture, agriculture, eco-tourism, and economics.  We also learned about community development and service learning in general.  I really enjoyed learning about this young country and hearing about the past projects.

The agriculture team (plus one awesome civil engineer) went out to the Cobblestone Project Farm for some hands-on experience (in the pictures above).  The Cobblestone Project is a really amazing organization run entirely by volunteers.  They have a community supported agriculture (CSA) program set up in NWA, where those who buy a share from the CSA also provide a family in need with a share from the CSA ("Buy one, give one"). You can learn more about the Cobblestone Project here. We had a lot of fun planting herbs, thinning out corn, weeding and putting down hay!

My goals for while in Belize:

• Keep track everything in a daily journal
• Update the blog weekly– mostly with pictures 
• Send out postcards to family and friends
• Push myself to meet a lot of local people, by breaking out of my sometimes shy habits
• Participate in the engineering and business projects (in addition to the agriculture projects)
• Go snorkling
• Eat lots of Belizean food (including the royal rat!)
• Soak up as much of the culture as possible
• Plus many more....I don't want to bore you!

I'll update next week as soon as I can!

I also just want to say THANK YOU to those who have helped me out in preparation for this trip. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful family and friends. Love you guys.

Sammi

Up for Grabs: May 6&7!

We took some pictures of just a few of the things that will be for sale and had a great time doing it! If you see something you absolutely must have, comment and let us know you want to reserve it :)

I hope to see you at the sale!

Sammi

Hiya!

I'm Sammi, a senior studying Environmental, Soil and Water Sciences at the UofA. But if you're reading this, you probably already know me....

I wanted to keep this blog to document my experiences in Dangriga, Belize. The UofA has been working in conjunction with Peacework and the town of Dangriga over the past five years on several projects related to business, agriculture, literacy, ecology, and engineering.  I am participating with the agriculture team, which has in the past initiated some super cool projects, including the St. Matthew's school garden.

This year the agriculture team has several projects in the making.  We plan to distribute agriculture textbooks and information, establish a raised bed for an elementary school, help build a seedling house for the local agricultural college, conduct workshops pertaining to urban gardening to a local women's group (POWA), give nutrition and agribusiness lessons to local schools, and give helping hands where they are needed most.  I am so excited!

If you want to learn more about the project in general and past projects go HERE. You'll also find there a nice short video made a few years back about the project (it's worth your time, I promise!)

We don't leave for Dangriga until the 31st of May, but we're already meeting weekly (7AM meetings-eeek!).  In the mean time, I'm tryna raise some moneyyy! Andrea, my lovely roommate for the trip, and I are planning to have a vintage clothing sale to raise money for our travels.  Very shortly I'll be posting  pictures of some of the goods we'll have for sale on Friday and Saturday the 6th & 7th of May!

Until then,
Sammi