The first of the year was mostly a rest day. We worked on our projects and continued with group meetings. A few of us decided to check out the local market. This is where the locals can buy their fruits and vegetables. (The local stores to do sell fresh fruit and vegetables) In the evening part of the group went to a drumming ceremony, I decided to stay back as I was having quite a bit of homesickness.

Saturday was such a fun day! It was the day we set up a health fair in Punta Gorda’s town park. The turnout was great and it gave many of us a chance to interact with the local Belizeans. Our screening fair was based on diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure). I was surprised to see frequent high blood pressures. While I was educating those with high blood pressure I found that most of them ate a lot of processed and canned foods. (Side Note: Belize is mainly a country of farmers. In the last 10 years however many people are moving from the villages to towns. This is creating an increase in processed foods because of availability.)

I really enjoyed educating and hearing their story about health. I was honestly amazed at how their health care system is set up. Medication and health care is not nearly as accessible as I thought.  One man in particular told me he couldn’t afford his blood pressure medication in Belize so he buys it in Mexico. Getting to Mexico was hard for his so he hadn’t taken it in 2 weeks! Can you imagine being in his position? What a difficult place to be. Others wouldn’t buy their medication because of costs and needing to purchase other things at the time. We all did a lot of teaching on how its important to take medication regularly. We also did a lot of referrals to the ministry of health. I am praying the ministry can help those who are having trouble accessing medication. ♥