Changes in Latitudes girls invited us over for breakfast so we could meet Marije who is doing a very interesting project called Cat Walks around the World. Changes in Latitudes Bed and Breakfast was the first one to sponsor her stay here in San Pedro – Banana Beach Resort and Holiday Hotel have also joined in.

Marije’s story is very cool – she was living and working from home in Rotterdam and sometimes when she got busy and needed space she would go for walks clear her mind. She realized that walking always made her feel better this gave her the aha moment to turn her walking into a worldwide thing and raise money for a good cause at the same time. Her last name is Cat so the working title Cat Walks around the World made perfect sense. She takes her red carpet with her and in each country she visits she films video of her ‘Cat Walk’ and challenges.

Marije is taking her red carpet and doing Cat Walks in 20 countries at the end of her journey she will take all her  Cat Walk film footage and turn it into a longer video. Her mission is to make people aware of the enormous strength of body language to themselves and others and to inspire all human beings to follow their heart and use all the opportunities in the world to make dreams come true!!

As part of Marije’s Cat Walks around the world she takes on challenges by anyone who wants to give here one. 50% of the money goes to help keep her going and the other 50% goes towards Cleft Lip surgeries for kids in Guatemala. People have had her to things like stick her head underwater in a fountain – tell the story of Snow White to a stranger without using any words -  take a homeless person for a drink and if she sat with them for an hour she would make $25 Euros and over an hour $50 Euros. Her latest Challenge is to get Artist Trading Cards from 9 countries, at breakfast a few of us volunteered to help her complete this mission by making ATC cards for her.

Before coming to Belize – Marije was doing volunteer work in Guatemala with Tess Unlimited. Tess is a much needed organization that helps raise money for surgeries of children born with cleft lips – a common thing in Guatemala. Tess also has an education center in a small village in Guatemala and helps kids with Math – reading and learning English.