Here is a spanish interview I conducted with a peer to simulate what it was like in Belize! These are all the real questions that we asked the patients in spanish. Please forgive my horrible pronunciation it is something I want to work on!
Category: Artifacts
A Little Piece of Paradise
One of my absolute favorite parts about Belize was the beautiful and bright colors everywhere you went. Whether it was a house, a community center, a bank, or even a hospital, everything was bright pinks, oranges, and blues. It made me feel so happy everyday to walk outside and see all the wonderful colors everywhere. It reminded me that everything is always so happy in Belize, no matter the day or the circumstances. The last day of our trip, we went to an island called Caye Caulker. It was one of my favorite days because we got to go snorkeling and see a bunch of different animals that I had never seen before. Just like in Belize, Caye Caulker was bright and colorful everywhere you went! This picture I found reminded me of the island almost exactly. My roommates and I went and found a little restaurant that was on the water and looked exactly like the huts in this picture do! This picture reminded me of the great last day I had and the memories that I will cherish forever. 
By contemporary artist, Debbie Cooper: A painting of Caye Caulker
A Song about Hygiene
During one of our days in Belize, we were able to the attend a school in the village. We were told that we would be going into the classrooms at the school and giving a short presentation on proper hand washing and teeth brushing. As simple of an idea as this seemed to us, we were sure that there were some children who might not have been taught how to do this. We were instructed to come up with something creative for the kids when talking about these proper hygiene methods, so my group and I decided to make up a song for the kids to sing when they were brushing their teeth. The song went like this:
“ Brush your teeth round and round,
Brush your teeth all around,
Brush your teeth in between,
Brush your teeth nice and clean!’
All of the kids were singing it with us and we had so much fun! We got to give them all toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss in a little goodie bag afterwards which made the experience even more rewarding. On community day a few days later, I had a little girl come up to me that I had recognized in the classroom that day and she said to me, “Hi I remember the song you taught us and now I sing it when I brush my teeth!” That was the best feeling to me that she enjoyed what we had taught her and had actually learned something from it too!
Belize Animals Vs. US
The animals that everybody had in Belize were wildly different than the ones we had in America. One family had an animal called a “squash”, which is a relative of a raccoon and they had it chained up to a tree as if it were a normal pet like a dog! For me, this was something that surprised me. I had been expecting to see dogs and cats, which I did see many of but I was surprised by the wide variety of animals that people had that I had either never heard of or would never imagine keeping as a pet. One child I met had found a baby squirrel in a tree one day and took out of the tree and had kept it as his pet for years. There were goats, lizards, and squashes, oh my!
It was also different for me to see almost every single animal in Belize to not be neutered or spayed. In the United States, it seems to be that everyone gets their dogs or cats “fixed”, but in Belize, this is not the case. The only reason I see this to be a potentially bad thing is just the general overpopulation of animals that cannot be taken care of. It makes sense though considering that procedure would cost money that many families would not be able to afford.
Addison's Medical Service Trip 