First post from Belize

Hello everyone!

Sitting here in my treehouse accomodation in Punta Gorda Belize! Can you believe it!
It was a hell of a trip, i am only just recovering from it all. But got here in the end in style- Ruth and I had the plane down to Punta Gorda to ourselves, a little 12 seater, and looked out over the reef and cayes on one side and the jungle and mountains on the other. It was beautiful!

When we first arrived in Punta Gorda (PG to the locals) it was quite overwhelming. There is always music playing in the streets- raggae mostly, and really loud! There are so many different ethnicities here- garifuna, hispanic, mayan, westerners, its great. PG is pretty small and run down from first glimpses.

Hillside Healthcare is awesome. We are here with one other student from the US and a married doctor team, also from the US. Today we went on our first mobile clinic into the villages up in the jungle near the Guatemalan border. We set up in a empty hall and saw so many patients who were all lined up to see us. Hillside visits once a month and that is there only healthcare. It was so hot we were sweating profusely but it was an amazing experience. The children and beautiful, even with their snotty noses, and the mother dress them and themselves in their sunday best for use.

It is all very new and exciting and with each day i am learning more and more about the value of providing health care to a under resourced community. If you want to see more about what i am up to check out the website www.hillsidebelize.net .

Thats all for now, up early tomorrow for another busy clinic day.

xxx