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0

The Big Day

by tacogirl 26/08/2010
written by tacogirl 26/08/2010
belize information

It’s 5:45 am – having a hard time snapping my head into place. Today is the big day starting with the morning show. After that hoping we get some down time before we have to go pick up Lucien Chung from the Planetary Coral Reef foundation and waste water Garden rep for Belize. We are taking him on a him on a tour so he can see can him first hand why this project is so needed and for San Mateo and many other areas in every district  of Belize. Heather said correspondence from him is direct and to the point. I think that is a good sign because the reason for getting him here is very direct and to the point San Mateo without question needs to be cleaned up and given some tlc in a major way.

Reef Radio morning show was great. The guys there are always supportive of  Holy Cross and Direct Abundance and they very much liked the idea of this pioneer grass roots effort to put in place an eco friendly waste management system in San Mateo community and applauded that the school is doing a state of the art bathroom facility with composting flush toilets.

In the end Heather and Cathy were glad they did the morning show and said the Reef Radio boys made them feel comfortable and at home which made it easier to tell the story. We all joked around yesterday afternoon about how Heather did not think I could pull getting them on the morning show off so fast and why she agreed to speak on tv. All it took was one call to Vernon yesterday and the wheels were set in motion – got the call 10 minutes later that he would meet us there at 7:10am to help share this exciting and important news with San Pedro about how the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation was coming here today.

Two thumbs up for Lucien it was a pleasure to meet him and it is just over the top exciting that he was willing to hear the story – tour the school  and walk the planks of San Mateo to see what needs to be done first hand and why.

I got the call at 9:18am from Lucien saying he was boarding the 9:30  Tropic Air Flight from Municipal to San Pedro. I asked him if he wanted to wait inside with air conditioning or outside and he chose the outdoor waiting area. I told him we would be there at 9:50am and he could look for look for 2 brunettes and a Blond.

That spun us into action fast and I was able to get the girls on the coconut phone and tell them we have to be at the airport in 20 minutes. The big moment was coming fast and while we were driving to Tropic I kept thinking about Heather’s advice for walking the planks to just breath and remember how many people cross them daily.

When we arrived at the school Vernon gave us a mini tour and we all got to see the progress on the new bathroom building. It is very big and pretty amazing . Once side has a ramp making it wheel chair accessible and the other side steps. There is a nice veranda surrounding it. Now all they need is for the toilets to arrive. We also got to see all the mechanics below which was cool – of course I took lots of pictures so you can join us on our mission and see it all.

After the tour we settled into the computer Lab – they use an areal shot of the school and San Mateo for their screen saver on the projector screen so Vernon was able to show Lucien the expanse of it. Eric was there and he showed Cathy and Heather the plank path they followed Tuesday – the same one we would be walking today. We started with the school dvd followed by 9 year old Gigi Harri’s self produced documentary on San Mateo and finished up with Lucien’s presentation on Waste Water Gardens. By this time we all knew this was a match made in heaven. Just as we finished up and were getting ready to have lunch when Miss Jan Brown came to join us – she wanted to meet the direct Abundance girls and  Lucien – perfect connections for when Marco Gonzales is ready to get their composting toilets in place.

Lunch was great we had great conversation –  chicken pasta and juice.

Break time will be back in a while to title the pictures and tell you what it was like to walk the London Bridges.

It was not as scary as I thought it would be and I think the reason was that the London Bridges in most spots are not too high off the ground. Walking the planks  gave me a whole new perspective on the struggles that San Mateo faces and just how important this project is.

We went to go see Shirley [who was not home]  the girls had wanted to thank her for getting all 25 surveys filled out by local residents in legible format and less than 48 hours. While there I saw two young boys playing in the yard –  All I could think of is that they were doing what boys are supposed to do. How do you explain to kids that playing in their yard on a gorgeous sunny summer day is not ok. Where do you tell them to go and play as an alternative when the whole neighborhood is not safe?

Seeing the new roads that are being built in San Mateo was a bright light on our tour – they are doing such a fantastic the San Mateo Empowerment Project – please join their facebook group and support this worthy cause. With San Mateo getting roads – composting toilets and waste water gardens the dream is turning into reality right before our eyes. The the kids will play safely in their yards and the adults will walk the streets that many of them helped build and share in the community upkeep of of the gardens that will not only help beautify their neighborhood but make it green and clean as well. What a great a fairy tale ending.

Holy Cross and Direct Abundance at the Morning show
Computer lab
Studying the area
The school library is fabulous
Tons of books on science - nature and ecology
Sharing enviornmental information
Ramp to the new washroom building
Size counts when you have 500 kids - teachers - volunteers - kitchen staff - maintenance crew
Checking it out
Holy Cross is going Green big time
Lucien and Vernon
Touring the bathrooms
Touring the Dental Lab
Information and presentation session
Making friends and new connections
Lunch
Let\'s clean it up
San Mateo
London bridge
Look how nice the new road looks - three cheers for all helping on that
London bridge
Kids
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Imagine when road gets here
and here
Imagine if you were carrying groceries
Step carefully
London Bridges
stp88709
Yay Road
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Stopping to say hi
Friendly people in San Mateo
San Mateo is on the way to being cleaned up
Growing a Safer Healthier San Mateo is so important
This is the start of making yards safe for children to play in
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
The new road is just incredible
It is really coming to pass
San Mateo is slowly getting an extreme makeover
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
New Road
New Road
New Road
Touring San Mateo
New Road
Lagoon side of San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
stp88769
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Girls in their window
Touring San Mateo
Mighty thin plank
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
stp88790
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Touring San Mateo
Lucien reading the 25 surveys from the residents of San Mateo that Shirley worked hard to get filled out in under 48 h

Related

tacogirl

Laurie Norton grew up dyslexic and was very challenged by the school. She never dreamed she would move to Belize and become a writer. A year after her move to Ambergris Caye, Laurie became an entrepreneur and professional writer starting tacogirl blog in 2007. Since then she has helped many people plan their vacations or move. She also has been published in Great Destinations Belize Guidebook, Moon Guide to Living in Belize, Insight Guides, Island Magazine several times and USA Today. Currently Laurie resides in downtown San Pedro and enjoys being a "city girl" on a tropical island.

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6 comments

MicheleinPlaya 28/08/2010 - 10:57 am

Laurie! This is so great. I love the waste water garden concept and it is actually something we will be implementing in the design of our new house here so as to reduce the contamination that may run into our underground rivers. I look forward to watching this move forward and seeing the progress in person!

Reply
tacogirl 28/08/2010 - 1:19 pm

I knew you would like this one Michele especially since you have long supported the idea of cleaning up the area and making it safe after taking a tour through San Mateo yourself.

Reply
Jan 26/08/2010 - 6:29 pm

Fantastic pictures! Thanks for keeping us up to date on this EXCITING project.

Reply
tacogirl 26/08/2010 - 8:10 pm

I am glad you are enjoying sharing the excitement Jan. If we could bottle and sell what we have all been feeling we would have the best ‘happy pill’ on the market.

Reply
Joanne O'Brien 26/08/2010 - 6:17 pm

Miracles I say!! Miracles all around. Great work Heather! Thanks for the Support Vernon! Thanks for being my freind Laurie! I am so touched. Wish I was there!

Reply
tacogirl 26/08/2010 - 8:08 pm

We wish you were here too Jo least you can follow it on tacogirl.

Reply

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It was my first time visiting Belize and San Pedro so naturally I had a ton of questions when it came time to planning... the travel. Taco Gril's blog was an invaluable source of information for all the travel questions in Ambergris Caye. I was able to learn a lot of basic information, as well as many tips and tricks. In addition when I reached out to Taco Girl for advice on finding a local photographer and a restaurant recommendation, she was very quick to respond and gave me many helpful suggestions. She also provided a lot more information from a local's point of view, which was much for valuable than than a typical guidebook. Thanks to her helpful suggestions we were able to celebrate my daughter's birthday at a nice restaurant, and had a great photo family session with a local photographer. I'm very thankful for all her resources and knowledge.read more
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Belize Blog Est. 2007

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ABOUT ME

I took the plunge and moved to San Pedro Town on the Island of Ambergris Caye, off the coast of Belize, Central America. Originally from Canada, I made the life-changing move to escape winter for good (in 2006) after one three week vacation. If you have any questions or want Belize help planning and booking, please feel free to contact me.

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A few childhood memories that shaped my desire to move to Belize from a young age. Sailing in the Virgin Islands, seeing a rainbow out the window of an island hopper as we flew from Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, Christmas in Hawaii and many trips to Florida.

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