This week we started getting down to business with the hall kitchen. On Wednesday it was built up to 5ft. So, on my part, that meant taking the blocks to Felix, and keeping his cement bucket full. On Wednesday evening I went with Fr Chris to Bella Vista, for a First Holy Communion rehearsal. Eighteen children are making it this year from the village. After we drove to Trio, a Q?eqchi? (ketchi) village, for a service celebrating the Immaculate Conception, a Feast Day taken very seriously in Central and South America. Trio is a relatively small community, the church is not much more than a shed, big enough to hold 60-100 people. Trio does not have electricity.  Why this is, is not quite clear as a banana farm just behind the village has been linked up to the national grid. The people seemed very happy, I don?t think they realized they were going to miss Eastenders. Trio is probably the best community for music in church. In the tiny church, they have a massive marimba. So 6 big people play, it sounds very unique, a cross between a xylophone and a harmonica. 

Thursday I drove Fabian around the villages, he had to drop off the mail and check up on a few things. First stop was Bladen, he was checking the progress on the new school building. It is a semi permanent construction that means it has a concrete floor and a zinc tile roof. It was almost complete ? only 1 side had to be finished. The donations from England pay for these school buildings until the government erects permanent ones instead. The last stop was Seine Bieght in the south, next to Placencia. This village is growing fast, the school needs more room, so they were meeting to discuss this. I drove on to Placencia while waiting, this is very much a resort village. Postcard scenery, a lot of tourists and gift shops, it is a world away from Dangriga, let alone the villages.

Friday, fortunately I was sick, food poisoning most likely so I stayed in bed all day. Unfortunately, I was well again Saturday, so had to get up and work.

Saturday evening I walked into town to meet some drummers at a place called the Shed where people meet most nights and play. They were not there but I met a couple of drummers who took me to a Belluria across the road. This is like a funeral wake, it takes place when the family saves enough money. Part of the Belluria is called a Dugu, this has links to Voodoo spiritual beliefs where the family member who has died, possesses another family member who is alive and they act and talk the same as the dead relative would have. They strongly believe this person is actually possessed, taken over completely by the deceased, the Belluria is celebrated to feed the spirit of the deceased. I didn?t actually meet the cousin, who was the one who had apparently been possessed. I wasn?t too disappointed!
  
Monday I drove Fabian to Belmopan for a meeting, which is where all the government buildings are, then onto Belize City to meet Fr Chris Cutler at the airport who is currently studying in California. He is taking a year out for his Sabbatical at the School of Applied Theology in Berkley. He has come to Belize for Christmas to help out Fr Chris. On the way back we picked up Derek as well, who got back from his travels around Mexico, Guatemala and Caye Caulker the day before.
  
Tuesday, I dropped Fr Chris Cutler at Punta Gorda, the southern most port in Belize. He caught the boat across to Guatemala to meet friends for a couple of days. In the afternoon I checked on the kitchen, all the concrete posts had been set and waiting to set. In the evening Derek and I went for dinner at Fabians house as a farewell meal for him. We had fish, cooked and eaten whole, with Johnny Cakes, which are like big scones and delicious. When we got back, there was a band playing in the parish hall. This was to celebrate an appearance of the Virgin Mary to a peasant boy in Mexico during the 16th century. The feast day has grown a lot and is now very commercial, a bit like St Patrick?s Day in England and Ireland. Funnily enough the music played sounded very similar to Irish folk music; the dancing is a lot less energetic though. Let?s face it, here people don?t need to jump up and down to keep warm!
 
Cheers, Stephen

(Stephen is a parishioner from Hayes and volunteered his time and talents to work out in Belize, supporting the community there.)