Hello from Belize!
by Connie Burk

Our second year in the rainforest has flown by, and we are happy to report that we continue to enjoy our life on the river near the Village of San Pedro Columbia in southern Belize, and that we continue to feel welcome by the villagers here.

The year hasn't been quite as hectic as our first year here, when Hurricane Iris intervened to add several items to our list of already planned projects. Since the village has settled back to normal, with most rebuilding completed and food crops back on schedule, we have been able to focus more on our original intentions - for my husband, Jerry, farming, and for me, the Columbia Opportunity Center.

Jerry is always busy planting trees and experimenting with vegetable crops. Recently, he harvested his first soybean and peanut crops, which we hope to grow self-sufficiently, and we're very much enjoying a steady harvest of traditional food crops - bananas, cassava, plantain, coconuts, pineapples, chocolate, etc.

In the meantime, Jerry's become quite interested in collecting and growing seeds of all kinds, including many local varieties of trees. He is also growing two valuable non-local trees for seed - moringa and peach palm - hoping to introduce them into village use. These trees, producing highly nutritious seed (peach palm) and leaves (moringa), have the potential to become economically viable hog feed in the village. Currently, many pigs run free in the village so that the owners can cut down on needed feed. This situation is unsanitary and most residents find they are unable to grow flower or vegetable gardens near their homes because the pigs can be quite destructive and "don't respect" fences. Hopefully, the introduction of an easy-to-produce feed source will help the village leaders enforce their policy requiring pigs to be confined.

I enjoy my days at home a lot, especially puttering in the garden, but I find my three or four days each week spent in the village very rewarding as well. The Columbia Opportunity Center's popularity and impact continue to grow, and it has become a second home for me, complete with students, friends, and neighbors. I also try to make time to network with others in the village and in the region who share my interests in the sustainable development of the area and the empowerment of its people.

We hope you enjoy reading about our activities this year.

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