the work I do

Lately I have been stretching for new and interesting things to write about because, frankly, not all that much is new or interesting to me anymore. You live in a place for 17 months (?!?) and no matter how strange the conditions were when you arrived, out of necessity you adapt. You wake with the roosters, you shower outdoors and you wear a sweater when it dips below 80 degrees. And that is just life and that is just normal.

So instead of the out of ordinary that I seek to inspire me, I thought that perhaps I should give the ordinary a shot. My work. That's right, I do actually do more than bake, read, and swing in my hammock all day. Maybe not a whole lot more on some days, but lately I have been relatively busy.

A couple of months ago I wrote about some meetings I had up in the capital with the Institute of Archeology and the Forest Department. Basically, these government agencies would like to establish the cave in Blue Creek as a community co-managed protected area. Since then some big things have happened. I have been having lots and lots of meetings with several groups in the village about establishing tourism-based businesses and I have begun some budget/hospitality training with these groups. The village council formed a task force to oversee the co-management agreement and now the Blue Creek Tourism Committee (BCTC) is an official entity. A couple of weeks ago we hosted a meeting in the village that was attended by representatives from 3 different gov't agencies that had made the 4 hour trip from the capital. It was a great meeting (see pics) and we laid out the foundations for making Blue Creek a major tourism destination while acknowledging the importance of protecting the environment. A UN funded agency (Global Environmental Fund) wants to provide us with a planning grant that could result in a building grant of $80,000BZ that would fund a visitors center, trails, and training for guides. I will be assisting the BCTC on the applications for this grant, the planning, and the implementation of the project.

The process of forming this co-management agreement while working on the overall economic development of the village of Blue Creek will also be the basis of the Masters Degree project that I will be finishing at UW next fall. It's all coming together. I am very excited and inspired by the work I am doing right now and feel fortunate that I am able to contribute to a project that will have a major impact on this village that has been my home for over a year now.