My Life in Motion

If you had told me a year ago that I would be living in a country the size of Vermont and a population of just 380,000 people, working for a tiny non-profit, and living with a family of with 4 children & 5 dogs... I would have told you, you were crazy. But here we are.

A year ago, I thought that I had it all figured out. With a co-op at Harvard Medical School underway and a plan to graduate the following fall, it felt like I was all set. But something was missing. I liked doing research, but I wasn't in love with it. I chose neuroscience because I wanted to help people, but when it came down to it, the lab research I was doing just felt so far removed from the individuals it might eventually help. I wanted to get my hands dirty.

So, in true Northeastern fashion, I quickly flipped my plans- extended my educational "schedule" so to speak- and started designing my own co-op in Belize. Through Northeastern’s Alternative Spring Break Program, I was able to travel to Belize twice to volunteer at an organization called Barzakh Falah. There, I helped build sustainable earth bag structures that would eventually become a home for abandoned young children and a transitional living center for young women leaving the orphanage system. 

The earth-bag kitchen at Barzakh Falah

Now, through my self-developed co-op position, I am going to be working with Barzakh Falah for 6 months to recruit volunteer groups and increase our visibility on social media. The ultimate goal is to be able to open Barzakh Falah to at-risk youth by the end of 2017. I think it is possible- but there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

The biggest barrier in our way is that we are located in the small Central American country of Belize. When I first told my friends and family that I would be moving here, the most common question was, “Where is that?” or, “Wait is that an island?” or even better, “What part of Africa is that?”.  The entire country isn’t that visible to the average un-traveled person. So how do we go about gaining visibility for a small non-profit in an vastly unknown place? I’m hoping the power of social media comes through for us.

The *actual* location of Belize

Luckily, YOU can help! Check out our brand new Instagram/ WordPress Blog/ Facebook pages! Please like/ share/ follow us! I’ve been updating them quite frequently and there are lots of fun photos and stories from our volunteers.  It would mean the world and you would be contributing to a lovely cause with almost no effort.

Just one of the "posters" I have created on co-op