One of our weekend excursions included a visit to an iguana sanctuary where we got to meet some baby iguanas!
Author: Grayson Young | Major: Biology
This summer I spent one month on a service-learning study abroad in Dangriga, Belize. When I arrived in the Belize City airport on May 15, I had no idea how much I would learn, not just academically, but about myself and a place I would grow to love.
The reason I chose this program is because I aspire to work on international medical missions after graduating from medical school, and I believe having prior experience serving in an international setting will be invaluable. It’s long been a dream of mine to work with Doctors Without Borders to bring healthcare to developing nations and underserved communities. This study abroad was uniquely appealing to me because of the opportunity to earn credit hours and gain experience that will be helpful in my future career while serving a community. Even though I didn’t spend any time learning in a classroom setting, I learned so much about what it means to serve others in an international setting. Through our work with the Peace Work organization, I got to work closely with people who share my dream of serving internationally as a career. Among many other things, the main thing I learned is that serving others is rarely what you expect, and it is crucial to be able to listen and adapt to what the community is saying. For example, one of our main projects was to produce and deliver healthcare related information to the students at a school in Dangriga. We went in with our own expectations on what material we were going to cover and what activities we were going to do, but after discussing with the principal on what the students needed to learn and how the students learned best, we had to completely change our plans in order to best serve the students. This program was a unique experience in my college career because it provided an opportunity to learn things I couldn’t possibly learn in a classroom. By serving the community and truly getting involved in the community, I got to learn so much more about the culture of Belize than I could ever have if I hadn’t been engaged with so many community partners.
My favorite experience outside of our projects was the weekend we spent in San Ignacio touring Mayan ruins. By far the best part of this weekend was touring Actun Tunichil Muknal, meaning “Cave of the Crystal Sepulcher” in Mayan. This is an ancient Mayan ritual cave where they practiced sacrifices to Chaac, the Mayan rain god. The tour began with us swimming into the cave through freezing water before hiking nearly a mile into the cave to the chamber the Mayans used for their rituals. At the end of the chamber is “The Crystal Maiden”, a fully intact 1100-year-old skeleton. Hiking through the cave while our tour guide was telling us about ancient Mayan culture was incredible and one of the best experiences of my life.
I would absolutely recommend this study abroad to any student wanting to have a unique experience in international service. This program is different from other study abroad programs in that what you learn won’t be from spending time in the classroom, but rather by learning from community partners through serving. The culture of Belize is so welcoming and since English is the primary language of Belize its easy to get to know the people and the culture. There aren’t many opportunities like this in the world. The projects you get to work on truly make a difference, and there are so many fun unique opportunities in one of the most beautiful places in the world!