Author: Shaadee Shojai                     Major: International Business 

Hi! This is the timeline of my amazing experience with the people of Dangriga located in the Stan Creek District of Belize. Just for some background info, my name is Shaadee Shojai and I am going to be a senior in the Walton College of Business this upcoming Fall. I participated in the Virtual Service Learning in Belize project, and while I did not get to travel abroad this summer, I do not feel like I missed out on the experience to learn and grow from others. I originally choose this program as a way to learn how to help others as well as expand my cultural horizons and fulfill my study abroad requirement. Unfortunately, I was not able to go abroad this summer due to COVID restrictions. I was concerned that this would hinder my experience, but I found that I was able to still enjoy and immerse myself in Belize without even being there. My project while completing this virtual study abroad was to act as a mentor to guide small business owners in Belize. I, along with three other students, put together an “internship program”, where we focused on different business topics each week and put together resources and activities for each small business to look over. This project truly helped me especially, since I would like to go into a management or HR position and the aspect of putting together a training and guiding a group of people towards a common goal really aligned with my future career aspirations.

My biggest concern about this whole project was that I wouldn’t be able to gain as much experience or knowledge, because this program was virtual, but if I could offer any advice, I would say do not let a program that is virtual deter you. Everything you do is what you make of it. If you put in no effort or extra work, then you will get nothing out of it, but do not assume you will gain nothing just because a program is virtual. Studying abroad is not feasible for everyone, so making sure that any program you go into is what is best for you, is very important and just because it is virtual does not make it less valuable than actually going abroad. I feared that I would not be able to immerse myself in the culture properly but realized that you can learn about people’s cultures just by talking to them. In Stan Creek a big part of their culture is that many in the area descended from the Garifuna people. The Garifuna were a group of people who were both African and Indigenous and came from the Island of St. Vincent. They were exiled from Honduras and later were able to settle along the coastal regions of Belize. The Garifuna people have their own language, cultural attire, and music. The culture is heavily matriarchal and deeply different from not only American culture, but also the cultures of the Central American countries surrounding them.

My experience with this program has been amazing! I would definitely recommend this program to others and encourage people to help expand this wonderful district in Belize. Though this is the end of the road for me, the people of Dangriga need ongoing help with expanding their tourism industries and small businesses. That means they need to rely on more University of Arkansas students in the future, and I hope we will be able to continue to guide them towards better and more lucrative opportunities in the future. While I wish I would have known this program was going to be virtual, ultimately, I am glad it was. This allowed me to sharpen my technical abilities as well as teach other how to improve their computer skills. While this wasn’t necessarily the program I signed up for, I wouldn’t have changed anything about it. I had continuous support from the head of the program, Dr. Farmer, as well as open and continuous communication from our project lead in Belize. The experience wasn’t perfect, but it was fun to try and work out roadblocks and find solutions for problems that arose. I feel like I grew, not only as a student but as a person, and that is something I will forever be grateful for.