In this interview, we hear from Kim Izzarelli. Kim is working as a Peace Corps Youth Development volunteer in Belize. What Kim shares gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place. Kim talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Kim’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Social Identity during Service
- Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Why did you choose to serve as a Youth Development volunteer in Belize?
Funny, but I actually chose neither.
I checked the box on the Peace Corps application that said “Send me where I am most needed.” And when I received my offer letter from the Peace Corps, I had to look Belize up on a map! (I did remember Belize was called British Honduras back when I was in college in 1981… before it gained its independence.) But I was happy to be selected and was up for the adventure.
And the Youth Development part…that was a tough climb. Sure, I run, ride my bike, and work out a lot, but except for my brief stint as pee-wee soccer coach when my son was six, I’d never coached on the pitch or competed on a sports team beyond high school.
Additionally, our project, a youth sports program, was new. So while starting this new role, which honestly was quite a departure from my former corporate life, I was forming new relationships and working with counterparts who were somewhat new to working with Peace Corps volunteers. It felt like we were carving our own path in the beginning.
Peace Corps Belize did a great job providing our cohort with basic training on sports and team management, how to best collaborate and support our counterparts, and a little First Aid and teaching of Life Skills, but once on site, the rest was really up to us.
I knew my strengths were my strong organizational skills and ability to motivate others, and I leaned into that. In my first year of service, I worked after school and weekends with my primary school girls’ basketball team, and we won the national championship. It was an exhilarating experience to build and develop this team from initial skills practice through tournament-level play and one that I’ll never forget.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps?
I’ve always been an active volunteer and dedicated community member, going back to my childhood days as a Girl Scout.
Fun fact: I was born on October 14, 1960 — the day then presidential candidate John Kennedy announced the concept of forming a Peace Corps on the steps of the University of Michigan during his campaign stop. So growing up, I was always intrigued by the Peace Corps birthday on the calendar with mine. I applied after graduating from college in 1982, but sadly, I was rejected. Years passed. I married, earned a few more degrees, raised my family, worked like crazy — but the desire to serve in the Peace Corps never left me.
Then, one day in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, I decided to give it a go again. And here I am.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
The Toledo region, where I live, is the most southerly of Belize. I live in Punta Gorda, a small, beautiful community — an old fishing town very close to Guatemala on the Bay of Honduras. The climate, like the people here, is warm and welcoming with lots of tropical rainforests, cool rivers, and the Maya Mountains close by.
Everything grows here. The region booms agriculturally with an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables that I really enjoy, particularly mango, avocado, bananas, and pineapples. Most locals eat chicken, rice, beans, or BBQ. A local Garifuna dish enjoyed by my host family is hudut – a rich, coconut fish stew, served with mashed plantains, called fu-fu.
Living with a host family
I love my host family, and when given the option to live independently after six months, I elected to stay with them. I have a big bedroom and refrigerator in my room. We share the kitchen area, washer/dryer, and large bathroom with shower and flush toilet. After I experienced a prolonged period of heat rashes last summer, my hosts surprised me by installing air-conditioning in my bedroom.
My hosts speak four languages at home: English, Spanish, Kriol (local Pidgin-English dialect), and Garifuna. The family operates a commercial bakery attached to the home, so there is always plenty of fluffy Kriol bread or Powder Buns available. Overall, I feel very safe and secure living here and in this community.
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
Southern Belize is an incredibly diverse area. I’m from New York, so I wasn’t really expecting so many different ethnic groups to be actively living and celebrating their culture in Punta Gorda. Primarily, they are: East Asian, Maya Mopán, Maya Qʼeqchiʼ(Ketchi), Chinese, Kriol, Garifuna, and Mestizo. There’s a significant amount of intermarriage within these groups, so the backgrounds and stories of each family are fascinating.
Add to this, many families are known throughout Belize and have contributed to the growth of this young nation and its mix of cultures, customs, and languages. Culture Day is celebrated at my assigned school, and it is an incredibly vibrant event with so many colorful traditional clothes, delicious food, music, and dance on display — all presented and curated through the teachers and our beautiful students. I love it.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about challenges in Belize?
I was stunned by the high level of Internet connectivity in Belize. The entire country is 5G with newer and more recently built platforms than in the U.S.
Also, the cost of Internet use is much less. Outside of my town, there is generally Internet access available in remote areas, at a minimum in each community center. More and more school-age children have devices here, which is good in terms of access; however, it is bad in terms of increased screen time and inactivity sitting indoors watching videos.
Thirty years ago, there were no available processed foods in Belize. Now, grocery stores are filled with aisles of junk food, processed meats, and dairy, and children drink soda and sugary juices. Pediatric dental care is pretty much non-existent. Diabetes is now on the rise for both children and adults in Belize. It is unfortunate to see children and adults becoming overweight by over-consuming highly-caloric, processed food in a region where so much fresh food is grown and goes to waste.
This brings me back to our Youth Sports program, the initial reason I’m here, and the importance of why the government of Belize collaborated with the Peace Corps to implement it.
The hope is that if children learn to respect and appreciate their bodies through sports, and have knowledge of Life Skills to navigate their issues, it is likely they will have healthier, more productive lives as adults.
6. What challenges did you face while working on Youth Development projects?
During my service, I supported youth sports summer camps; one summer with the assistance of a USAID SPA grant and the next without it, unfortunately. There probably was no noticeable difference from the perspective of the young campers, but I felt badly that the camp was under-resourced and wished we could have offered more in terms of programming, nutritional and health education, opportunities for parental involvement in sports training, and, of course, new equipment and supplies.
Also, during my tenure here, there has been a fair amount of labor force disruption, industrial actions, and the like, which occasionally affected project planning and programming with our counterparts. Initially, I was frustrated until I finally learned to manage my own expectations. The experience has taught me not to worry as much about situations out of my control.
7. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
Secondary projects are the highlight of my work here in Belize.
Pawsitivity – The Toledo Humane Society
With many stray dogs roaming our community and two local rescue operations working near full capacity, the creation of a new humane society was definitely a community need and one which we knew could be achieved with the collaboration and coordination of volunteer groups, including Placencia Humane Society and Believe in Belize, a nonprofit organization based in the U.S.
Along with a group of local community volunteers, we formed Pawsitivity – The Toledo Humane Society. To date, we have held several pet care clinics, and our veterinary partners have performed more than 100 neuter/spay and other vital medical procedures. I am most proud of the fact that through our collaboration with the Placencia Humane Society, donors are able to make tax-deductible contributions through Believe in Belize’s 501(c)3 organization — and we’ve also set up a webpage to build community and grow support!
Other collaborations
I would also highlight the various project work I’ve done in collaboration with organizations such as Punta Gorda Rotary and HIAB – Home of Indigenous Arts of Belize. With HIAB, I was able to transfer my marketing and business development skills to indigenous women who needed guidance building their artisan businesses. This work has been truly rewarding and allowed me to engage with members of the community I would not have met otherwise through school or my project.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an YD volunteer in Belize?
I would say enter service where you can. This may not be obvious at the start. It was difficult for me to break my own cultural beliefs, say… favoring individual achievement over collectivism. For example, I know now that when I assist my school principal, a teacher, or host, it allows them additional time or capacity to go and complete other important tasks. For me, it was a new process to accept that the small things I did were actually important in contributing to the bigger picture or greater good.
Second, I would advise volunteers not to get hung up on your project as an end-all, be-all. It’s similar to how a college major does not define your entire college experience. I tell new volunteers that The Project is what gets you into service, but once you’re on site, the potential and possibilities to make other meaningful contributions will multiply — and you should want to do that and not keep yourself restricted to a narrow lane. Be impactful.
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
I particularly liked MST, Mid-Service Training. It comes obviously about halfway and it is an important flashpoint to evaluate the work you’ve done, what you’ve learned, accomplished, and to take stock in yourself and set goals to make the remaining time in service productive. I enjoy this kind of reflection. After a year of challenges and setbacks, it felt good to have some competency established under our belts.
Also at MST, some discussion occurs on individual plans, post-service. Up until that conference, I’d fully intended to return home after close of service. But I discovered through the MST process that I really love development work. After hearing about the Peace Corps Third Year options available, either in-country or transfer to another country, I realized that if I could make it work financially, a Third Year would allow me to serve on another continent in an assignment more oriented towards the type of development work I wanted to do. And so, I applied!
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Belize volunteers?
Mine were silk pajamas and wool socks. Whatever makes you comfortable, bring it. And I can’t emphasize enough the importance of Quick-Dry shirts, socks, and underwear.
I can’t live without my YETI mug (makes a great gift), good Protein Powder, my travel clothesline with built-in clothespins, Ziploc 2-gallon bags to keep laptops and equipment dry in the rain, rainproof drawstring bag, a bike lock, a titanium spork or (spoon-fork) — Amazon sells them. Bug spray towelettes. Headlamp. A high-quality microfiber beach towel, if you can afford one. Synthetic Net bags to keep fruit or anything you want to hang up and keep bugs away. Duffle bags with wheels. Extra phone chargers.
And bring your sense of humor and adventure, always!
11. How has learning the language been?
I understand and speak enough Kriol to function at school and get through sports practices, and still learning new phrases every day.
Social Identity during Service
12. What has been your service experience?
I’m definitely more open to different points of view and finding common ground. I have befriended some very liberal and very conservative-leaning and religious people by finding areas where we have common interests or agree. I’ve found it interesting working in a Catholic school environment, not only for exposure to the historical and religious education aspects, but to understand teachings from another point of view.
13. What Challenges and triumphs have you had?
I entered service at 62 — the oldest in our cohort, with most volunteers near or newly out of college or in their mid-thirties. During PST, I did have moments when I felt out of place and questioned why I was there, but all that soon faded once I was on site and my age and experience became an asset.
Older women are respected in Belizean society, and emphasis on constantly seeking the feminine ideal does not exist here. Honestly, I’ve found this refreshing compared to the U.S., where women spend a lot of their time and money seeking youthful beauty options, whether it is hair, nails, skincare, makeup, or clothing.
Here, I cycle at least 10-15 miles a day on my gravel bike. Often I will hear someone shout “Hello, Bike Mama,” which is both a compliment to my fitness and a sign of respect, meaning you often don’t see many 64-year-old women out riding bikes.
I walk a lot when I don’t bike. I swim frequently and attend a HIIT workout class twice a week with other women. My meals include a lot of protein, fresh fruit, and vegetables. I don’t wear much makeup, my hair is in a bun, and I generally wear a Quick-Dry shirt and bike shorts every day. I’m outside much of the day as compared to sitting at a desk working a computer screen all day.
In short, I’ve never been healthier — and what has changed me most through my experience here is I’m probably less anxious about aging, and more mindful of the harmful consumer culture in the U.S. that continues to value youth and beauty above everything else.
14. What advice for aspiring volunteers?
Lastly, I would suggest socializing in as many different circles as possible during volunteer service to increase the richness of your experience. For myself, I had a Rotary contacts, teachers and staff from my school, counterparts from my project and summer camp, church, fitness group, expat-retirees, host family, colleagues from NGO’s, business owners, even a local birding group and my fellow Humane Society volunteers…and some people who don’t fit in any category! The point is, don’t make your fellow PCV or cohort gang your weekend default to get out or travel. Push yourself to get out and form new relationships.
Final Thoughts
15. Any last comments you’d like to pass on to future Belize volunteers?
Keep a diary. Time goes by fast and it is nice to have some of your thoughts nailed down for posterity.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Kim’s, apply to the Peace Corps today. Expand your horizons, push your limits, and create positive impact as a volunteer. You never know how serving as a Peace Corps volunteer could change your life.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Belize Government.
