New Kid on the Block

Greetings from Peace Corps Volunteer Denise!

Yes, Connie has finally been successful in obtaining a Peace Corps volunteer to help her with IAIA for the next two years. I am so very lucky to not only find myself serving in the beautiful country of Belize but also to find such a wonderful supervisor and friends as I have found in Connie and Jerry.

I arrived in San Pedro Columbia in early August after first spending seven weeks of pre-training in other areas of Belize. A number of weeks was initially spent trying to get myself situated both in a house in the village as well as at a secondary living site in the nearby town of Punta Gorda where I do my banking, shopping and occasional socializing with other volunteers and friends. I'm still working on the finer points of getting settled into both locations, but am already finding regular routines and rhythms filling my days.

As you can see from my photo, I'm closer in age to Connie than the usual Peace Corps volunteer who elects to serve right out of college. In fact, we almost look alike such that I am often asked if I am her sister! Even the village kids continue to confuse us... hollering out to me when I walk by, "Hi, Miss Connie!"

I'm originally from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, but moved to San Diego, CA in the late 1970's, so that's HOME to me. My background is quite diverse and my skills are many. I have a BA degree in psychology, have an extensive business background, and worked as an entrepreneur for many years, writing two books as well as inventing and marketing several of my own original creations. I later did handiwork, light carpentry and house painting for a living, so indeed I am a rather versatile Jill-of-all-trades. I am also an active sportswoman with a serious love of racquetball, which I hope to bring to Belize before my Peace Corps days are completed.

It is my hope to be at least half as effective and successful as Connie has been in all that she has accomplished since starting IAIA. She has many goals and aspirations yet to be fulfilled, and I look forward to tackling them with her... applying my time and energy helping the villagers to derive the many benefits possible from our collaborative efforts.

Because of my varied and extensive business background, having worked as an organizational business consultant for a number of years, I hope to be able to work with the local villages to find the ways and means to assist them with product development as well as the promotion and marketing of their products. My love of photography should play nicely withinthis arena, helping to make the process both productive and fun! Stayed tuned until next year's Newsletter when I'll provide you with a progress report of our accomplishments.

And thank you for your support of IAIA. I have seen only good thing happen within this organization and hope my contributions help to make this year even better!

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