God & Nature II

Belize-
The semester is flying along and we only have about four weeks left, but a lot left to see and do! This past week, Corey Beals from George Fox University joined us to teach us holistically about God and Nature. Through a series of readings, discussions, hikes, swims and presentations, we engaged our mind, heart, soul and body in a thorough learning experience.

What better place to learn about God and Nature than to be in nature having class on a log overlooking a sparkling azure blue pool with many small waterfalls cascading down a local tufa dam?

A major "text" of our class this past week was our homestay with some local old-order Mennonites. Through attending church, horse and buggy rides, and going to sleep when it got dark out, we got a taste of a life lived intimately with the land. We were also challenged to rethink our choices about technologies that we choose to adopt, what is good for community, and the importance of community in our faith.

We studied what good work is by "sub-creating" our first raised garden bed on the new campus. Neil (Eastern U '12), Joshua (Student Life Coordinator), Michelle (Dordt '12)

In class we studied some of the effects of dualism ("If A and B are distinct, then A and B are also separate") on our culture, and learned how the perspective of us being separate from one another, from God, and from the land has caused much harm in our world. Corey suggested that we try and view the world through a lens where things can be distinct (i.e. I am not you, God, or the land) but not separate, so we can understand ourselves intimately connected with God, others and the land.

Midway through the week, we threw a birthday party for Olivia, who loves (and dominates at) a game called Dutch Blitz. Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Olivia and her teammate Emilia, proud champs of the Dutch Blitz tournament

Leaving campus one morning, we found a tree snake in the bushes and had fun holding it (until it released its musk on us)

Rachael (Calvin '12) tried to appease the serpent with a starfruit

At the end of the week, we traveled to Blue Hole National Park and ventured deep into the earth to explore caves and an underground stream.

Small Group Olympics

BELIZE--
Here at CCSP Belize we try to live harmoniously and graciously together as a community. Sometimes that involves a little bit of ruthless -- I mean, healthy competition. And what better outlet than the First Bi-Annual CCSP Belize Small Group Olympics! It was a strenuous battle between "The Composters," "The Unbelizeables," and "Greek Salad," and each person was probably tested beyond their limits. Probably. Such limit-testing events took the form of:

Thumb Wars,

intimidating game faces of Mark Wolstenholme (The Composters) and Joshua Peterson (The Unbelizeables)

the age-old Mop Balance,

Composter Deb Tam going for the gold

rapidly consuming questionable Belizean snacks,

Neil Berger holding it together for The Unbelizeables


Wheel-Barrow Races,

Michelle Alkema poised and ready to wheel her Greek Salad teammate, Lizz Wormald, to victory

a bit of Frisbee Accuracy,

Emilia Nilsson, sporting her Greek toga, tossed the disc better than a salad

...And many more! Though the event organizers (who were on opposing teams) had some difficulty agreeing on the distribution of points, it is certain that at the end of the day everybody won, because we all partook in a refreshing victory treat of frozen choco-bananas.

Sustainable Community Development... Again!

BELIZE -- The second installment of Sustainable Community Development brought us to Northern Belize, Central Belize, and then over to Western Belize (it's a good thing this country is only roughly the size of Massachusetts). Our trusty van (dubbed "Harvey" by popular usage) only protested once, when it decided it really liked the deep, deep mud up in the northern village of Patchakan. We tried to change its mind...


...and eventually it let us continue our exploration of different forms of development in Belize. Led this time by professor Lowell "Rusty" Pritchard, we enjoyed the rest of our time in Patchakan with our host and good friend, Alfonso.


Alfonso is one innovative and resourceful guy, and he has been a friend of CCSP for quite some time now. He showed us several areas of his organic farm where he continually seeks more sustainable ways to work the land, provide for his family and benefit his community.




Further explorations of development brought us to an extensive Mennonite community in central Belize, and to a popular ecotourism resort that seeks to run its business with special attention to ecological sustainability. Throughout some of our travels, this little fellow followed us:

Vermilion Flycatchers are very interested in Sustainable Community Development

Tropical Forest Ecosystems

BELIZE --
The semester is swiftly moving along and we're on the brink of fall... Actually we don't have fall here exactly, but slowly enter the dry season along with some cooler temperatures. Two weeks ago we visited Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary with our Forest Ecology professor, Erik Lindquist.

We ran into some travel complications on the way to Cockscomb

During our time at Cockscomb we learned about the Jaguar sanctuary, did field research in a tropical moist forest, and saw a lot of beautiful birds. We learned about the tropics, why they exist, and some of the forces that are threatening them today.

This guy ran from us for a while until we caught him; then he didn't want to leave.

We added to our campus bird list with some early morning birding

By the end of the week it was amazing looking back at how much we had learned and experienced in such a short amount of time. Forest Ecology was a packed week that we will never forget, and will continue to reflect upon as we live in the middle of a tropical forest!

Sustainable Community Development, part 1

BELIZE --
In order to learn about how to develop sustainable communities, or how to sustain developing communities, or how to develop communities sustainably, we spend 2 weeks studying and taking field trips around Belize. Our guide for the first week was professor Jonathan Warner from Quest University in Canada. Jonathan challenged us with questions about empowerment, globalization, biblical views of poverty, and what a development strategy based on God's shalom would look like. To complement these questions, we visited a few places in Belize.

One place we visited was a women's group in the nearby mountain village of San Antonio. A loval San Antonio woman named Timotea started this group because she wanted to see the women in her community using their collective skills to benefit themselves and their community. They currently focus mainly on pottery making, embroidery, gardening, raising chickens, and cooking.

Deb (Messiah '12) learning how to make bollos, a traditional Mayan meal

Something that we thought was pretty awesome and resourceful at the women's group was their biodigester. A biodigester is a simple system that turns organic waste (in this case, pig manure) into a nutrient-rich fertilizer and methane, which can be used to run a stove for over 6 hours!

Lizz (Messiah '13) knows that what comes out of this beast of a pig can help us heat water

We also learned about some more complicated methods of development by visiting a hydroelectric dam on the Macal River. There has been some controversy in Belize about the positives and negatives of these dams as Belize is in need of electrical energy, but there are some very real trade-offs surrounding river health and water quality. No easy answers here.

Mixed reactions to the questionable development method

We let these questions simmer for a bit (and spent a week in the rainforest) before coming back for Sustainable Community Development part 2...