San Pedro pictures

Andy has been wondering for a while now if Lucas was old enough to go fishing with him. He decided to give it a go this time on San Pedro and Lucas was 'hooked' immediately. He now even has his own rod. Lucas does drive Andy crazy though as he refuses to follow instructions. 4-year-olds seem to believe that they know everything!

Problems of the Belize education system

Please have a read of this Channel 7 news story. This is alarming to say the least. How to solve this problem? I don't know. It would be a huge task. Personally, I just try and get as many Belizean children sponsored (through the Jaden Foundation) to go to the private schools. It's a shame that it has to be this way, though.

From the Channel 7 story:

Standards 6 Teachers Can't Pass The PSE Either

As we've reported, failure rates in the PSE continued last year and with examinations coming up in May, most educators concede that it won't get much better. And today, new information released by the Ministry of Education tells us why that may be the case. Late last year, teachers took the test and the results were alarming. Those were released to mixed reaction at a Ministry of Education press conference this morning. We were there.

Jules Vasquez Reporting,There are 355 standard six teachers in Belize - from varying backgrounds and with different levels of training In October to November, they were invited to take the PSE. Some didn't show up, but on test day, those that did were very much like the students they teach.

And the bad news is that they didn't do much better than the children.

In problem solving, 10 of the 300 teachers got between two and ten points out of a possible 50 points - that's a score of between 0 and 20%!

In the Toledo District, one teacher got 2 points out of that possible 50 - that's a score of 4%.

What's more, 98 of the 308 teachers - a third, outright failed the problem solving portion of the exam by earning a score of less than 60%.

But most teachers - 111 of them scored between 31 to 40 points, that's a score of between 60 and 80% - considered adequate score - but certainly not impressive.

In fact of the 308 teachers that did the math problem solving, only 12, earned a perfect score.

The district averages show teachers in Corozal and Cayo averaging the best with 36 and 37 correct out of 50 - average scores of about 75%.

And while math was worrying - the English test divided into letter writing and composition, wasn't as bad, but still gives reason to worry. 287 teachers sat this test and, again, most only did adequately.

Yvonne Davis,"The majority of our papers were at the adequate level. 141 of our teachers were writing at the adequate level, scoring about ten to fourteen points on the letter writing paper."
And on the composition again the greatest number, 115 of them were at the adequate level. 41 teachers failed this section of the test as well.

Overall, the scores are abysmal and the results profoundly worrying.

Chief Education Officer Maud Hyde underscored the concern: "When you face it, quite in this way and looking at the system across the board, it is certainly takes away your breath a bit and you know that you have to do something."

And that something was follow up courses to improve on their weaknesses. But the follow up sessions on Saturdays were poorly attended.

Yvonne Davis,"The response to the follow up was very poor I would say. For January 20th and 27th, the first two sessions in English by district overall only about 47% of the teachers came out and it fell on January 27th when 39.7% of them came out. February 46.7% came out and 52% last Saturday which was the last day of the follow up."

So who is responsible for these failures, first in the test and then in efforts to follow up?. Union President Anthony Fuentes was on the defensive, "The teachers will take this issue here today and see it as probably a deliberate attempt, maybe it might not be, but as an attempt to attack the teaching profession."

Maud Hyde,"The intent is not to necessarily be overly critical of what teachers and our teachers ability but as a nation to look at where we stand, to look at some of the things that keep us from seeing the performance from our children we would like to see and be able to address them."

Anthony Fuentes,"It is not only teachers who want but all stakeholders from Ministry, management, union, parents, children - all of us are involved in the delivery of the quality of education so all of us have to take blame."

And all those stakeholders, with the exception of children and parents were at the head table - and all could point to a contributory cause. Management, represented by the Chair of the Association of School Managers Carol Babb said it was the quality of teachers.

Carol Babb,"I was watching some of your expressions, your facial expressions when you learnt about the results of the PSE that the teachers themselves took. As a manager I am telling you that everyday we are faced with filling vacancies and being unable to find qualified teachers to fill those vacancies. Right now I look at one of my larger Anglican schools and at that school there are only three trained teachers and the principal and I, she came to me and she asked me what are we going to do?"

Indeed what to do, less than half the teachers are trained, one of them with only a standard six diploma.

Carol Babb,"We have to admit too that in very remote villages, teachers don't qualify, teachers don't want to go there and sometimes you have to take what you get. And I am talking from experience. I would have problems right now to find somebody to go to Punta Negra. Nobody wants to go to those places and I am sure in the case of that teacher that has a primary school certificate, that might be the only person who is willing to go there."

Problems wide and far reaching, and a test that now is failing both students and teachers. But Hyde says, nothing is wrong with the test,"If the system is not measuring up to what the expectations are, then the system needs to be addressed."
Jules Vasquez,"How can you say that the system has to measure up, no in the system punishes. You get 100% of your salary, these teachers will get 100% of their salary, these kids get half a life?"

Maud Hyde,"I think that is putting it a bit strongly. Half a life…we wouldn't want to say that our children can't succeed if they don't do well on PSE. Examinations are a necessary evil some people would say but education is not all about examination."

With no stated targets for improvement - and a clear indication that many teacher just cannot teach what they don't know - Hyde says things are under control - this is not a crisis.

Maud Hyde,"Whether we're in a crisis, I wouldn't say so. A crisis to me is something where everything is falling down. I don't think everything is falling down."

We're back on the beach

I don't want to rub it in or anything, but we're back on sunny San Pedro beach. Andy and Lucas are fishing off the pier right now and I'm hanging out at the apartment whilst the baby naps. I wonder if they'll manage to catch dinner.

Love ya! (photos will follow soon....)

Better late than never...

Here are a few more picture of our last Aruba visit. I know we've back for ages, but I have no other pictures to share since my camera died the minute we got back to Belize. A new camera has been ordered though, so in a few weeks I can take new pictures of life here.

I want my own kitchen!

It's nice to be living in our new house, but it would be even better if the whole place was ready, instead of just living in the bedrooms. I walk on the building site, of what will be our kitchen, living & dining room, and almost start to feel like the place will never be finished. We've been building this house for over a year now. I mean, there is definite progress and we are getting to the end of it all, but it's just taken so bloody long. If we had known this, we probably would have bought one of those pre-fabricated Mennonite house instead (Hmmm...is that why architects don't tell people how long it really takes to build a house? To not put them off the idea?)


Anyway, I know that once it's all done we'll forget about how long it took and just enjoy the place, but for now it's still a bit frustrating.

I get especially annoyed first thing in the morning. See, I need to eat something the minute I open my eyes, but because we don't have a kitchen yet, I have to walk over to the Dome's office, get the keys to the resorts kitchen, walk there, make our breakfasts and coffees and try and balance it all on my way back to the house. Virtually every morning I walk with my face through several spiderwebs (disgusting!) and/or get stuck in the rain and mud. Not the best way to start the day!


Still, as far as problems go in life, this is not bad. I can have a little moan, but really my life is pretty darn good.


I just know that once I have my own kitchen again it will be even better!!!!

The tipping point

How funny, yesterday I blogged about how suddenly everybody seems to want to move to Belize and then today I see an article on The Belize News Blog talking about the same thing in an interview with Paul Goguen, the man behind the Ara Macao project.

From the interview:

Paul Goguen: Belize is fast becoming the exotic place to be on the Caribbean Sea. Baby boomers and other adventure travelers are being lured to Belize to explore its unique blend of history, geography, environment and culture. IoVest, the Developer of Ara Macao, believes that Belize is rapidly approaching a critical turning point in its history, best described in a recent national bestselling book by Malcolm Gladwell entitled The Tipping Point. Gladwell describes how certain fashion trends, products, social habits and other cultural phenomena move from relative obscurity to mainstream almost overnight much like when a balancing scale suddenly tips to one side.


Yep, that's how we feel about Belize too. We're starting to reach a 'tipping point' here. Is that good or bad? Only time will tell. I'm never too scared of progress though. It's simply what happens & it's unstoppable anyhow. So what we need now is for this runway extension to be done at the International Airport and for more flights to come and go from Belize (direct flights to Europe, please!)

I would have never thought it a few years ago, but it tickles me to think that we were ahead of a trend once again ; ) Isn't life delightfully strange????

If you are thinking of moving to Belize, please check out: Belize Real Estate

Does everybody suddenly want to move to Belize, or what???

Wow, things are certainly changing here. For the longest time I thought that we were the only people who wanted to move to Belize & at times I wondered if we were crazy. Nowadays though it feels like the floodgates are being opened. More and more people are either making the move or considering it.

I receive daily emails of blog readers with questions ranging from 'Where are the best schools in Belize?' to 'How much does it cost to live in Belize?' and 'Where are the best real estate opportunities?'

Maybe I should turn this into some kind business, offer Belize real estate, build our own community or become some kind of Expat advice center. Hmmmm...something to think about.

Yesterday, by the way, I organized a 'Family day' at Banana Bank for the Belmopan International Women's Group and it was brilliant fun. There was a free art workshop by Mrs. Carolyn Carr, pony rides for the kids, a river boat trip and lounging by the pool. It really was lovely and the kids were all exhausted by the end it, which is always a plus. And, of course, the fact that the sun was shining all day helped too.



We also spent some more time on the beach last week, a quick hop to San Pedro. It was great, with blue skies & slight breeze. The best thing was watching the dolphins play around the pier late afternoon. Yes, moments like that make living in Belize so good.

If you are thinking of moving to Belize, please check out: Belmopan Real Estate for sale

All you need is....

So in a few days time it will be Valentines Day. Many people will be wondering what to do or what to buy for their significant other, whilst I’m only wondering whether or not to bake a cake for Aidan’s first birthday, our little Valentines baby.

You know, I’m actually starting to think that maybe I’m not all that romantic. I mean, Andy and I both forgot our first wedding anniversary last December. My mother-in-law asked us afterwards what we did on the day and we both just laughed as neither of us had thought about it at all. And I don’t think we ever do much on Valentines Day either. We’ve been together for about 11 years (again, neither of us are sure how long exactly) and I can’t remember if we’ve ever celebrated Valentines Day in any shape or form. And to be honest, I don’t care. I’m just happy that Andy and I have crafted this incredible life together and that after all this time we still enjoy each other’s company as much as we do.

I actually believe that Andy and I have a better relationship than most couples we know. We always show love and respect to one another and are we’re still very much in love, but we’re just not all that soppy.

Also, when my children were born I didn’t cry. Neither did Andy. Especially Lucas’ birth was this weird anti-climax in a way. I had been watching all these TV shows in which women gave birth and where the minute the baby arrived the violins would start playing and everybody in the room would cry. When Lucas arrived the room was silent. There were no violins and we all just looked at him, going ‘That’s him? That’s our child? How bizarre’. I had also imagined that there would be this instant recognition, but there wasn’t. I had to get to know him and fall in love with him over the following days and the same was true for Aidan.




I also wonder when I hear people say that they have never known a love like the one they feel for their children, that they somehow love their children more than they’ve ever loved anybody else, because I don’t feel like that. When I love someone, I love someone. There is no hierarchy for me when it comes to love. Of course, I would do anything for my children and I am totally responsible for them, whereas I do not feel like that towards my friends or other family members. But it doesn’t mean that I therefore love my children more than my husband or that I love them more than I love my parents or my other siblings. They are simply two more souls that I am intertwined with for (as I am concerned) eternity. And right now they are my main priority in life, because that’s what being a parent is in my eyes. But my love for them is no more and no less magical than my love for all the other amazing souls on my life’s path.

As the Beatles once said: ‘In my life, I loved them all’

Anyway, happy Valentines Day everybody and I wish for you all as much love in your life as you are willing to give (and that’s usually as much love as we are getting anyway)



Here is just a small selection of those that I love (in no particular order)....

I've been meaning to upload this for a while now...

My favorite thing about living in Belize is moments like this. The simple joys of an outdoor lifestyle.

And my least favorite thing about living in Belize is how all electronic equipment gets destroyed by the humidity. My camera has now died on me. That's another $900 down the drain. I loved that camera. The colours were so crisp, the video was great on it...oh, I will miss it so much. I don't think I'll ever buy anything that flash again. It just isn't worth it here.

Oh, and Karen won the bike race (for those of you that don't read her blog)
And obviously, we're very proud of our champion!

To hell and back (biking the muddy road to Caracol)

Well, Karen's made it through those hard days. We saw her race through Roaring Creek today and she was third when we saw her (out of everyone!)

We'll see her again tomorrow at Caves Branch.

Sorry, I have to leave it at that right now. May blog more later with pics.

Karen's most challenging day yet.

Today will be tough for Karen. She has to bike from Jaguar Paw to the temples of Caracol up in the Mountain Pine Ridge. Most of the way will be uphill on a road that has turned into an extreme mud bath. To drive to Caracol takes over 2 hours and is hard to do on days like these, when the road has turned to slush from days of rain. So how they will manage on bikes, only God knows. I wouldn't be surprised if no one manages to make it till the end.

Still, our crazy Karen is determined to finish this race and not only that, but to actually win it! (at least from the women)

We went to see her yesterday afternoon and this is what she told me:

On day one she came first. She beat both the men and the women, although the reason she beat the men was that they missed a turn and biked the wrong way for 1 mile. Karen even raced passed this guy who is apparently this famous biker (leave it to me to forget his name). Anyway, not only is this guy famous, Karen's bike is even named after him. So she beat him on a bike that carries his own name. Isn't that funny? I'm so proud of that tough little cookie of ours.

Yesterday, apparently, was horrendous. They biked through mud for most of the day and felt like they weren't getting anywhere. Many of the bikers have decided that the race is just too tough and have either pulled out (even one of the serious Belizean cyclists has packed it in and has decided to stick to road biking from now on), whilst others have chosen to just ride part of the race each day and to get into the support cars after lunch. Karen says that she can't even imagine quitting, no matter how hard it gets. She is in agony though and would give anything for a more comfortable saddle, but of course there isn't much that we can buy here in Belize so she'll have to just 'sit it out' (poor girl)

Once she gets through today, she (and the others) will be fine. The rest of the race is much more bearable. So everyone....send her your thoughts, prayers, psychic energy, whatever you can...'cause she will need it today.

Also, does anyone want to up their sponsorship pledge if she manages to actually win this thing?
Let me know. Of course, it's all going to a good cause, The Jaden Foundation. This money will help keep this year's sponsored children in both the private school and the public schools (with the private school being the biggest financial stretch, of course)

There are several ways to donate, just send me an email if you're interested in doing so.

Thank you all for your support.

Karen is doing great!!!!!

Just got a call from Karen & she says that the race is going really well. Not only is she doing the tour, she's actually racing it to win. Right now, she's leading the women and is even beating some of the men. You go girl! There were 23 people in the group to start with and one has given up already. We'll go and see Karen tomorrow afternoon. This is all so exciting!

Some more Aruba pictures that I nicked of my sister's blog

No news yet from Karen. We'll try and phone her again later...

Karen's bike race starts tomorrow!

Isn't funny how it's always so great to be traveling, yet it's just as great be home again at the end of it all?

Yep, we're back and I am so happy to be sleeping in my own bed again. I had become a bit of an insomniac those last few days in Aruba, which started with AC problems in our bedroom and then just became a general 'not able to sleep' problem. So annoying! But anyway, last night I slept wonderfully again. Shame that the baby woke up at quarter to five though.

Anyway, we did have a fantastic holiday in Aruba. The place is actually starting to grow on me. And of course I love being with my mum and my sister. And I love seeing them interact with Lucas and Aidan. It's only now that I have my own children that I fully realize how important family is. If only we could be nearer to all our family (those in Aruba, England and Holland). But for that to happen, we'd have to pull continents together. Got some muscle anybody?

So, as the title of this posting already said, Karen's Temple to Temple bike race starts tomorrow. David is driving her to Placencia this very moment for the start of the race.

Karen has actually become a tat nervous about it all. Especially as so many people are sponsoring her (with the proceeds going to the Jaden Foundation). She is scared that either she or her bike may not make it. I'll try and blog in the coming days how she's doing. Wish her well!

What are we up to these days?

Well, Andy & Hans have been playing their daily round of golf, we’ve been shopping and hung out on the beach for a while…so a normal day for us all here in Aruba. The kids tire us out of course, but apart from chasing them, life is pretty chilled (actually, it couldn’t be more chilled if we tried)

Last night we had dinner at a new Irish pub (Laurenz is very disappointed that they are still waiting for the Guinness to arrive) and the day before we all went to the Palm Island waterpark, which was amazing! Both the kids loved it and, to be honest, so did the adults ; )

Oh, and I’ve even had a few heavenly ‘moments for mom’ (moments without children). I had a facial and I’ve taken my first windsurf lesson, which I really enjoyed, so I may go for another one tomorrow.
We’ve put our flights back for two days so we can stay till Friday. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Karen’s bike race starts this weekend, we would have stayed even longer. Oh well…we will be back soon, I’m sure.

Lovely Aruba

I really can't be bothered to blog, but that's a good sign. It means that I'm too busy having fun.

Love to you all from sunny Aruba!!!!

Chochos

I just learned a new trick. Every time I prepared chochos, my hands ended up looking like they were covered in glue and for days after my skin peeled off my fingers (like a sunburn)

Well, after 3 years of being here I have finally discovered the secret to peeling and chopping chochos! You rub salt all over your hands before touching them. It's that simple.

I thought I should share this tidbit of knowledge with those of you that have recently moved to Belize or that are about to move here. No more flaky hands my friends!

Bon appetit!

Lucas' debut as camera man

What a nice lazy weekend. Andy is playing golf and I'm chilling with my children. It's so much better being back at the Dome than living in Belmopan and jetting backwards and forwards. And I'm starting to feel more and more at home in our 'half-a-house'.

Also, my piano is now finally in a nice inspiring location (overlooking the horses in the field and the river behind it) and it really makes me want to play more. In the house in Belmopan it was stashed away in an un-used room, facing a wall. It's amazing what a difference that makes. So throughout the day I now spent time on the piano. It's so enjoyable. I wonder how much I'll be able to improve without having any more lessons. See, Miss Bonny is too busy these days as a science teacher and with running her music school for children to be giving piano lessons to adults. So I won't get lessons from her until the summer.

Anyway, here are two little clips of the kids. One of which was filmed by Lucas. He is very proud of his achievement as a camera man/director.








By the way, Lucas' eye is okay again. He got a stung on his eye lid and the rubbing had caused swelling around the eye. So I just wanted to make sure that the grandparents don't end up worrying about him ; )

Biking across Belize

My sincere apologies for my blogging slackness lately, but the holidays, moving house, etc. have just been too distracting. In the meantime we’ve moved in to our new house, even though only half of it has been built. So I still feel like we’re camping a bit.

Our stuff is spread out all over the place; the house in Belmopan, the Dome and now our Riverside Cottage (the new house). There is building work going on all around us & we have no telephone, Internet or even a fridge yet.

Still, soon we’ll be over this chaotic phase. And already it’s so much better to be back on the Jungle Dome grounds, that in it self already feels calmer.

Now, I don’t know if you guys have been following Andy or Karen’s blogs recently, but in case you haven’t, Karen is going to do this crazy bike race around Belize at the end of January, called the ‘Temple to Temple’ tour, for which she has to bike 750 km. in 7 days!!!!

So Karen is out training a lot these days, but even for her standards, this will be a major challenge & achievement (we assume she’ll manage to do it)

Now obviously, this is a great thing for people to sponsor. And Karen has kindly offered to donate all the proceeds to the Jaden Foundation. Hopefully all the children that we got into the private school (BCA) this year will be able to continue their education there next year. We also buy schoolbooks for children in the public schools, but the private school is by far our biggest expense (well worth it though). This year we’ve sponsored about 25 public primary school children, 2 high school kids and 7 children to go to the private school. On top of this we pay for medical emergencies, school transport and occasionally support other local charities.

If you are interested in sponsoring Karen contact me and/or Karen and we'll let you know how to go about it(The donations can also be made tax deductible)

Adios my friends, I hope 2007 has been treating you well so far!

A moment of Zen

Well, I can finally relax again. The rooms are ready, the guests have moved in them for the next 4 days, Christmas is over (and I am one year older) and all is well. I can tell you now from experience, working on deadlines in Belize is NOT the way to go! And anyway, that's what we wanted to get away from when we left Europe. So for now, peace has returned and it's very pleasant.

Just a few pictures to get you up to date on what's happened here:

On Christmas eve we gave all the local kids presents (many of which were donated by Ros Grieve and the Coutts family. Thank you guys!)

The kids were delighted and are still very busy with the gifs, especially the 'outdoor' ones like the kits.

And then there's 'The House'. After 10 months of hard work we've managed to get half of it build. We've put up a temporary wall so the work can continue on the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the guest bedroom, whilst the other rooms can already be used.

Guest bathroom with Mayan carved basin ( a bit hard to see in this picture)

Master bathroom with sunken bath and (unfinished) private courtyard

Shelf unit in Master bedroom

Our new King-sized bed (I'll be able to waive to Andy from my side of the bed), complete with reading lights and build-in bookshelves.

In four days we'll be moving in!!!!!!!

Wishing you a merry Christmas!

Dear all.

I wish you the very best for this Christmas season and let's hope that 2007 will be a year of new beginnings. A year where peace returns to earth and where we all learn to take better care of the environment and each other (I guess that means that I'd like to see George Bush booted out or silenced by the American majority)

"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us, above us only sky

Imagine there's no country
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
and no religion too"




And now for something completely different...we will be getting those rooms ready in time. We had to switch to a 'plan B' to manage it, but that's just how it is. I'm just happy we can breath again.

6 months to build a house in Belize? I think not!

It's been pretty crazy here the last few days. We are still finishing off rooms in the new house that we're renting out just after Christmas. It's all becoming a mad rush, with several 'plan B's' thrown in to get the project done in time.

Anyway, I'm too tired to blog about it. But here are a few pictures of what's going on:

What we have to teach our children

Most people teach their children things like 'Watch both ways before you cross the road' and 'Don't accept sweets from strangers'. Here at the Belize Jungle Dome the main lessons are 'Don't walk through high grass, there might be snakes' and today's one was 'Don't tease the tarantula, it can be deadly'.

Yes, there was a tarantula on the tree next to the swing this afternoon and Lucas and his friend were throwing pebbles at it. Andy took the tarantula and, whilst it was in the bucket, we gave the kids a little lesson on these spiders. About how the red hairs on their back can be shot at you, how they are poisonous, how they don't like to be teased, etc.

Yep, this is jungle living at its finest!

Our happy baby

Isn't he the most delightful little thing ever? I could just eat him!

How a 4-year-old can make your heart melt

Lucas often surprises me with the things he says. This morning he was being rather moody for a while in the car, when suddenly he turned to me and said:

'You are like my sunshine, mum. Because you are always so nice to me.'

I definitely didn't see that one coming. It put the biggest smile ever on my face! You've got to love 4-year-olds; they drive you crazy and make you fall in love with them from one second to the next.

By the way...

I'm so happy with my new Ipod. After blogging about my busted Ipod a while ago I received several emails of people offering to bring me a new one. Oh, the amazing power of the Internet!

Karen bought a Fifth Generation Ipod in Canada for me & I have to say, it is fantastic! Love the video and photo option too. And it keeps Lucas entertained on long boring car journeys ; )

A day on the ranch

After almost 3 weeks of being in Belize my mum has gone back to Aruba. It seems like she was only here for only a few days, probably because we didn't manage to do too much, we were so busy nursing my flu-infected boys (they are better now, thank God)

One thing we did do was a little day trip to Green Acre Ranch on the Hummingbird Highway, a beautiful part of Belize.

The surroundings are so stunning. Shame the sun didn't co-operate much that day...

Oh, and look how big Aidan is getting. I bet he'll be walking soon, although I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Because that's when life really gets crazy! I would be quite happy if he waited until we moved into our new house. Still, it's not up to me, is it? And of course I'm a proud mum with each little milestone.