This town council building is pretty typical of the "City Halls" throughout Belize. Punta Gorda, like Dangriga, is on the edge of the ocean so they do not need air conditions most of the day. Fans will do because the sea breeze is only moments away!
We traveled to Punta Gorda Thursday, July 24th mainly for the Indigenous Mayan Human Rights case that as Atty Moore puts it, "keeps going and going and going." Although she and attorneys from the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program won the Landmark case October 18, 2007 that recognized certain areas of Southern Belize as Indigenous Mayan land, there are still wrinkles to iron out and monitor in the application of the law. Moore is explaining a possible agreement that the Mayans may engage in with a European oil company that wants to do seismic testing on Mayan land. To the left is Mr. Cruz. He translated for the Mayans.
Attorney Moore sits as she fields questions from Mayan village leaders. It was interesting to see the care she took in relating to her constituency and ensuring that they understood the agreement well enough to make an informed decision.
After the meeting, we headed to lunch. My hair decided to "go with the wind" in this photo. Included with me and Attorney Moore are Froyla Salam and Nicole Friederichs. Salam is the Mayan Leaders Alliance Coordinator and Friederichs is a lawyer fellow with the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program in Tucson, Arizona.
I took this photo because I thought the art work was so beautiful. There are many homes with beautiful doors hand carved.
This is the church that the doors are connected to.
A view of the streets in Punta Gorda. A notable difference is the lack of trash and debris, unlike Belize City & Dangriga.
Belize has a very young population. Here's one of the cutest little Mayan girls playing in front of her yard.
If I stay here much longer, I'm gonna jump in one of those boats and head to Guatemala!!!!
Downtown square of Punta Gorda.
No comments:
Post a Comment