BELIZE IS OUR CLASSROOM

When I was a student in the public schools in North Carolina, and even in college, it was always a treat to go outside for a class when the temperature was tolerable, and the sun was shining.  The lessons didn’t always pertain to where we were, but it was pleasant to have no walls holding us in.  Belize and CELA deliver a different kind of learning experience because the amazing environment and diversity of cultures here allow us to use the country as a classroom all year.

CELA is well known for the engaged learning opportunities we create for our students and faculty-led groups.  Our classrooms are created from our deep connections to Belize; on medicinal trails, on farms and ranches, at the Belize Zoo, with nurses at the local hospitals and clinics, in villages, towns, and Belizean homes. The forests, the Mesoamerican barrier reef, and the Caribbean Sea, the local markets, rivers, and farms bring a variety of topics to life.  Belize provides its own visual aids and presentations.  Living a lesson is often the best way to take in new knowledge.

The variety of people a student or group meets in Belize is a great source of engaged learning, too. With lecturers and knowledge bearers providing new faces, accents and different ways of looking at the world, rich texture is offered.  Meeting healthcare leaders and providers, seeing how domestic animals are cared for, listening to a Maya guide talk about his/her ancestors and their monumental, ceremonial sites are great educational components. Walking with a guide along the Belize River at the Community Baboon Sanctuary, viewing a Creole way of living and thriving, by sharing their space with the black howler monkeys, highlights a different way of existing and brings with it a lesson of how shared space and destinies can create a new way of being.

It’s not just the people and places that are part of the learning.  The exuberance of life in Belize, from morning birdsongs to evening concerts presented by bugs, toads and frogs, and barking dogs, creates a different backdrop to life.   The air and the fragrances carried on the wind, the humidity and the dusty, bumpy roads are teaching without students knowing they are learning.  Even the length of the days is a lesson in global positioning!  Many students see the vastness of the universe in the night sky for the first time.

One of the big takeaways for our students and their professors is encountering different ways of being.  Stepping out of their comfort zone, students look at their lives and living spaces in a different way, from the outside in.  They usually arrive at a place of appreciation for other ways of living and become thankful for their own.  Recognizing an interconnectedness, from here to there, from me to them, and how the whole fits together to make us, is one of many very enlightening lessons learned in Belize.  Belize is our classroom™ and the learning is engaging.

Author: Cynthia Reece, Communications and Enrollment Officer at C.E.L.A. Belize

CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF TRADITION: MARIA GARCIA

Last year our Ethnomedicine students visited Maria Garcia as a part of this course, which introduces them to the world of traditional health as it is practiced and integrated into the daily lives of Maya and Garifuna people. This prompted us to want to get to know Maria a little bit more. Here's what we learned.

Maria Garcia, born and raised in the Yucatec Maya Village of San Antonio in the Cayo District of Belize is the niece, student, and heir of some of the work of the late Don Elijio Panti. Prior to his passing in 1996, Don Panti was renowned in Belize and in the world of herbal medicine as one of the best Maya herbalist and spiritual leaders around.

Having apprenticed with Don Elijio, Maria took her commitment to traditional healing, sustainable farming, art, and conservation very seriously. In her back yard, you will find a good variety of medicinal plants as well as local crops that make up much of her diet and which has been passed on from generation to generation.

Realizing the importance the rainforest played in her practice and passion, she helped establish the Nooj Kaax Meen Elijio Panti National Park. Designated a National Protected Area in 2001, the 1,306 acres of pristine sacred rainforest that make up the park is home to hundreds of wildlife and plant species as well as sacred caves, temples, and waterfalls.

As the founder of the Itzamna Society, a non-profit and community-based organization, Maria shares with her community the importance of the conservation and sound management of natural resources, cultural patrimony (Yucatec Maya Dialect & traditional healing) and community development. She spends a lot of time in the village reminding people of the importance of preserving their native language which is known to them as Maya Ta’an. It is their mother tongue, surviving from their ancient Mayan ancestors. Its people are also renowned for their traditional abdominal massages, chiro-practice, and midwifery. It is a place where planting and harvesting are sacred, where prayer and thanksgiving have a great purpose, and where life is rich and whole.

Maria shared with us that people travel from all over the world to be treated by the herbal remedies of the rainforest and the traditional practices of the Tanah villagers. The knowledge of how to use hundreds of varieties of medicinal plants, prayers and secret stones known as "Sastuns" has been passed down from their ancestors.

According to Maria, she can’t stress enough the importance plants have to the way of life in her village. For example, the cohune palm nuts are used for jewelry or to extract oil for cooking. The young shoots when boiled or fried make a delicious snack. The roots can be used for a blood tonic.

In her back yard, a vine grows which quenches a day's thirst. Some of these very same plants provide the villagers with definite cures for asthma, arthritis, baldness, among others. It is through communion with nature, preservation of traditions, and a holistic lifestyle that the Maya herbal remedies, teas and spirituality can be shared.
Besides being well known for their cultural preservation efforts, Maria also discovered "art" after she and her sisters began carving slate years ago. She came to realize that something moved from within the depth of her soul which expressed itself through incredible energy and vision into action.

Designated as Prominent Artists by the official judges at Riverfest '95, Maria and her sisters are accomplished Yucatecan Maya artists. Their worldwide art gallery exhibits have been on display in England, Germany, Japan, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Dominica, and Belize's Bliss Institute.

Given her many accomplishments and unfaltering determination, we asked Maria what has kept her going all these years. According to her, when they decided to start carving slate, her father asked her, "Are you going to eat stone? Who is going to buy stone? People buy food, not stone." She shared that for the first few years he would not help his daughters as they pursued their new found passion. Still, they toiled over the stone for it was also their father who taught them, "When I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it."

And Maria is still doing it all!

 Author: Misael Canto, ASK & Belize Consultant, C.E.L.A. Belize

Our New Website & Location

There’s literally a world of opportunity out there if you are looking to expand your global perspective and your education to include studying abroad.  As Mark Twain said, “Traveling is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…”

At CELA, we continue to add to our learning opportunities and are reaching more students in colleges and universities all over North America in a variety of disciplines.  Over the past eight years, we have created engaging learning experiences for over 1500 students.  Our offerings for courses, faculty-led groups, and internships have expanded to meet the needs of students and professors in many fields of study.  We look forward to sharing the engaging experiences in Belize to many more young people and their faculty.



To support our expanded offerings, we have a new and improved website design, making information easier to find and the application or planning process a breeze to start.  We invite you to take a look and if you don’t find what you're looking for we may be able to create the perfect opportunity for you.


Apart from our new Website, C.E.L.A. Belize has changed locations. C.E.L.A. was able to move to a new location after months of searching for the right place for months.  We outgrew our office in downtown San Ignacio in 2018 after only a year.  We have moved to a large house on the La Loma Luz Blvd., right in front of the horseracing track near the river and the bypass bridge.  The new office is a large four-bedroom house which gives the staff and management room to work, meet and collaborate.  We have a conference room and spaces for classes in the comfort of air conditioning if needed.  We now have plenty of room to grow.

We have plenty of space to park in the yard and we are suburban enough to have horses grazing, iguanas sunbathing and large birds stalking their next meal.  When giving directions, we just say right in front of the horse racetrack in Santa Elena or across the street from the La Pasadita bar.  Those are good location anchors for most anyone living in Cayo. A sign will be going up in May.  We will host an Open House in June which is a great time to celebrate our new space, our growth and the community engagement we provide in many different ways.


Follow us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page to keep up to date with all that we continue to improve on and offer at C.E.L.A. Belize.

Meet the Team: Dr. Filiberto Penados

Dr. Penados shared his enthusiasm with us in a short interview at the C.E.L.A. office on his take on Studying Abroad in Belize. He has been a part of the C.E.L.A. Family from the very start as one of the founders of the establishment, to now being the Academic Director. He is also directly involved in several Faculty-Led Groups and aids in teaching Agriculture and Indigenous studies to several student groups every year.

Many students know Dr. Penados through his lectures, both locally and abroad at several universities in the USA and Canada. He expressed that many of his students are eager to come back or visit Belize for internships after listening in on some of his lectures.

Engaged Learning is something that Dr. P stresses very heavily in his work. While traditional methods for education are key, he believes that students learn best by entering the field and doing work here in Belize that they would not have been able to do back home. From working on farms, holding a cacao pod for the first time and even seeing the grand Maya sites of Belize, students get a real feel of what their studies are through getting their hands 'dirty'.

As a professor, he believes that Belize is a unique place to study abroad. "Apart from our official language being English, which gives us a hand over many other study abroad destination, Belize is also located close to where many of our students come from, The United States and Canada." He continues to say that " Belize is also a great destination for diversity. Students get to learn about many cultures, languages, foods, and destination in just this small little country. This helps students go back with a better sense of self and appreciation for the world outside of their comfort.

We asked Dr. P to describe Belize in his own words to potential students, to which he replied with our new slogan "Belize is Our Classroom"

To learn more about Dr. Penados and our other members of staff and faculty, visit us here. 

Coming Full Circle

When something comes full-circle it means that it has completed its cycle, and returned to where it first began. As I write this blog post, I am coming up on the end of my 90-day cycle here in Belize. It’s been over 80-days since I first arrived in Belize and I have just under a week left in the country; even less than that, I have only 3 days left in Punta Gorda Town, the place I have come to call home over the past nearly 3 months.

I am in Belize on an internship coordinated through CELA, the Center for Engaged Learning Abroad; I have been working with the Maya Leaders

Alliance (MLA), an indigenous social justice organization, in the Toledo District of Belize documenting the customary law of two of the Maya communities here. MLA’s office is in Punta Gorda Town, locally known as PG, which is the hub of the Toledo District, an otherwise rural district in the south of Belize.

I remember my first time being driven into PG with my CELA supervisor, Dr. Filiberto Penados – it had been a long 4-hour drive from the Cayo District where I had my orientation into Belize, and my attempts to orient myself on the winding roads were too easily lost with each speedbump and pothole we hit on our way into town. When we arrived in town, we parked at a local snack shop for lunch before Dr. Penados took us to MLAs office where we would be spending most of our time over the next 12 weeks.

A few days later, after only a couple more short drives through town and a quick introduction to the layout of the town on a map, I had convinced myself that I could find my way around and I was ready to start exploring, my first mission: to find my way back to the snack shop we had stopped at on our first day. My internship partner and I readied ourselves to walk into town and do some discovering in our new home before stopping for lunch again. Our first mistake: it was noon, and while that means “lunchtime” what it also means in Belize is “stay indoors and out of the sun at ALL costs”.

If I’ve done a good enough job of foreshadowing my lack of directional skills it should be obvious that we never did find that lunch shop that day. Not only that, but we got ourselves lost in the height – rather, the HEAT – of the day. That day was the first that I learned how easy it is to sweat through your shirt in 35 degrees and 90% humidity (something which I have since become very accustomed to). We had been walking for nearly 45 minutes when I realized that we had walked a circle, in fact, we had literally come full-circle and had ended up just a few blocks from our office where we had begun.

Today, after nearly 90 days living in PG, I always think back on this story with a smile, especially while I stroll past that same snack shop on my way to the market for some fresh fruit or to my favorite local café for a cold juice. Just days from now, when my time in PG comes to an end, I have the opportunity to go full-circle again, though in a very different way.

To me, one of the best ways to approximate how much you have changed over a period of time is to return to a place, or an experience, you first started with and to see how your perspective on your surroundings has changed. Soon, Dr. Penados will be returning to PG to accompany my partner and I in our final presentations and then, to drive us out of town one last time on our way back to the Cayo District. I know that, this time as we drive on that pothole-filled road out of town, in the opposite direction from when we came, my time spent in PG will have changed the way I see and experience my surroundings. Each time I have re-lived the drive into PG throughout my time here – usually on a rumbling bus returning from a village or on my bike returning from a windy ride down the highway – I am surprised by how well I have come to know the town and the roads I ride on. I am able to avoid the potholes with ease, and the places which seemed so unfamiliar to me before are now etched onto a map in my mind. I find myself asking: how is it that a place which seemed so unfamiliar to me just 3 months ago can now feel so much like home? The answer is simple: from the home-stay families I lived with, the village leaders in Santa Cruz and Laguna I learned so much from, and my coworkers I worked with, I have been welcomed into the homes of so many as if they were my own.

The local families which I have had the privilege of staying with over the past 3 months have opened their homes and their hearts to me. They have treated me like family and in turn I have come to see them that way, too. Many of the times I have been in the villages for work, conducting meetings and speaking with village leaders, I have also been welcomed into their homes with graciousness and generosity. Very soon I came to realize that my trips to village were not only about work, but much more than that, they become an opportunity for me to build friendly connections with my partners and to learn about Maya life in a genuine way. My coworkers have come to treat me not only as a valued member of the team, but also as a friend and a member of their ever-growing family of interns and allies.

It is these connections which make my internship experience special. No matter how long I spend away, I know that I built connections with the people I met here and that when I return those connections will still exist; no matter how long I spend away, I know that when I return, I will still know how to navigate that winding road and all the potholes on the way into PG; most importantly, I know that my impact as an intern and volunteer will live on in these connections and in the work that the Maya people of Southern Belize continue to engage in every day.

10 Tips For Future Interns Coming To Belize

Today was possibly the most uneventful day I’ve had in Belize, but I’m not complaining about it. I love being lazy on the weekends. I slept late, caught up with my family at home, and relaxed quite a bit. This time allowed me to think what advice I would give to a new intern concerning the work culture in Belize. My advice is as follows:

1. Have an Open Mind: This will likely be a totally new experience for you. It’s important to understand that things will be different than you expect. Try to understand why things are different.
2. Keep Busy: You will not always have an assignment to do or something clear to work on. During these times, keep busy in another way to help the office. If push comes to shove, work on something else (i.e. journal entries or something else productive).

3. Ask Questions: Assignments can be confusing. Explanations for the assignments can be confusing and broad. You want to do the work right and you will need help from coworkers.
4. Don’t Get Frustrated: This is a learning experience. There will be challenges and frustrating circumstances. Don’t let them get to you. Understand that this is all a process that will better you professionally for the future.

5. Expect Slow Days: For many, this will be your first time spending significant time in an office. Combining that with the heat can sometimes make the day drag.
6. Take Initiative: Don’t wait to be told what to do. Always ask if someone needs help with anything. Taking initiative can help solve a lot of other problems (i.e. staying busy, controlling frustration).

7. Make Comparisons, Not Judgments: It's important to compare your idea of US work culture with Belizean work culture. What could the US learn from Belizeans? Anything you could advise the Belizeans to consider?
8. Understand Your Role: Having a good understanding of your role in the office will make things run smoothly. It can be frustrating if you do not know what is expected of you. Ask your supervisor and your colleagues what they think your role is.

9. Don’t Get Discouraged: Keep your head up. You are not interning long enough to have time to get discouraged.
10. Appreciate Your Opportunity: You are gaining professional and international experience and getting college credit for it. This will be something you will always remember and is a huge resume builder. It is an opportunity very few people have and even less people take .

Written by Jonathan Moore, SUNY-Cortland, Summer 2015 intern at the Belize Red Cross.

For more information on intern opportunities in Belize check out our website, Facebook page or tweet us.

The San Ignacio Public Library

When I was a child growing up in a small town the local public library was my route to the rest of the world. I learned about history, war and peace, romance, geography, intrigues, space and the universe – and I’ve never lost my love of reading.  When we moved to Belize we brought 100s, maybe 1000s, of books with us – and more on every trip back and forth to North America since then.  After reading them and sharing with friends (the reliable ones that you know will return things!), they are donated to the San Ignacio Public Library.  I often run into people who say “I really liked your book so and so”.  The San Ignacio Library is a great resource to locals, children, ex-pats and tourists alike.



Jose Bolvito and Teresita Ulloa

Teresita Ulloa, Senior Library Assistant and Jose Bolvito, Technical Assistant, manage the lovely building overlooking the Macal River which opened on Nov. 3, 2010.  The Library is the product of the Social Investment Fund, San Ignacio Town Council, Belize National Library Service and Information Systems (BNLSIS) and the local Rotary Club.  The San Ignacio Rotary Club donated fans, lights, tiles, paint and the computers that are still in use there.  Internet access is available to library users for a fee of $2.00 an hour which goes towards maintenance and programs.



The Library has a full range of fiction and non-fiction (and appreciate all donations of books) for all ages.  They also run a variety of special programs to ensure that children are introduced to reading and the library’s resources including a Christmas Program (they make a wonderful tree out of old paperbacks!); celebrate specially designated weeks for Child Stimulation, Education week, Literacy week, etc.; run a reading competition for the Cayo District with the Cayo Association of Principals of Primary Schools (CAPPS); and a summer program for 7-11 year olds.

When I asked Teresita what she wanted most for the library she said “more space”.  Apparently the building was designed to have a second floor and she’s hoping the powers that be will see their way toward building that over the next year.  It would allow the growing book collection and activities to have more room.  Her second wish is for “more resources for kids”, such as games, puzzles, quiz books, “brain-teasers”, literacy materials, etc.  Her third wish was for cash donations to the library’s projects to help them buy prizes, trophies, and materials.  And finally, she hopes that someone might start a book club – especially an after school one for youth.

Contact Teresita and Jose at sanignaciolib@bnlsis.org ; by phone at 804-0459 or visit their facebook page. And drop in for a visit – enjoy the wonderful view of the Hawksworth Bridge from their verandah, check out the collection, and enjoy the cool quiet atmosphere of the library.

CELA encourages all of it's students to bring along books to donate to the library when they visit Belize to study.

Dr. Nancy Adamson presenting books donated by CELA Students

Written by Dr. Nancy Adamson, Executive Director for Center for Engaged Learning Abroad (CELA)