Céline Taylor Smith

So far, I definitely consider my journey in Belize to be one of the more challenging experiences I have taken on in my life… but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It is impossible to accurately put into words the educational, practical and personal growth that occurred for me when I was in Belize, however, my time working in the field, in the office, making connections within the community, as well as travelling around the country has greatly impacted my aspirations for the future.

During my time in Belize I was stationed in Belmopan, working as a Human Rights Village Planning Intern at an organization called National Association of Village Councils Organization (NAVCO). I was working May through to August during the summer of 2016, which just so happened to fall during the time that village council elections were ongoing. NAVCO is an umbrella organization, intended to represent the interests of the District Association of Village Councils (DAVCO), which is sequentially representing the Village Councils, intended to be the voice of the villagers. NAVCO works to establish a bottom-up approach to development, ultimately to liaison with the government on pressing issues that are taking place within the village. As my internship was focused on identifying, reporting and addressing general human rights violations within the village, particularly the ones that are in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, I spent a lot of my time in Belize meeting with a wide variety of people: leaders within the community, Village Councils, teachers, children, members who were severely poor or without communication, the list goes on. By doing this, I was working to collect information that represented the entirety of the population, from developed to entirely remote villages. 

Sounds great in theory right? Realistically, nothing went as planned. The villages were politically divided, villagers were next to impossible to get a hold of for interviews, I needed to switch around supervisors, my homestay was going through a loss within the family, and I was experiencing the loss of a friend at home. The culture shock seemed unbearable on top of the various challenges, the heat added the extra edge to my mood, cultural differences put me in uncomfortable situations, and I had enough mosquito bites for 15 people combined. So what exactly did I gain from all of this? A sense of reality in combination with a newly formed skill: resiliency; a skill that is much more difficult to gain from within the borders of Canada. A skill necessary to withstand the current ongoing challenges on the world stage and push forward to make change.

 I cannot express my appreciation enough for the support I received from the VIU faculty I worked with, as well as NAVCO staff and liaisons: Catherine Schittecatte, Mark Williams, Larry Wolfe, Victoria MacFarlane, and Jackie Ingram, not only in the beginning stages of putting together my internship, but mostly for being there whenever I needed, even from thousands of kilometers away. The Global Studies Internship is an experience I believe that every student should aspire to take on. The program supports students’ aspirations and helps them in not only discovering their future academic and career pursuits, but also discovering their true selves. This internship opportunity greatly enhances the learning that takes place within the classroom and is a powerful addition to a student’s educational experience and growth at VIU.