I can honestly say I have successfully delved into the Belizean culture whole-heartedly.
Let me paint you a picture.
Paste the following link in a new window as you read along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqhsFpbCo4. Sitting in an outdoor dining room on the sand at Hamanasi in Hopkins Belize, steps from the Caribbean Sea I sit down to write the first blog post of our 2.5 month journey around Central America.

We landed in Belize City a little over 2 weeks ago, and hopped on a 14 passenger plane for a 30 minute flight along the barrier reef to a town called Dangriga. Here we drove about an hour south to Hopkins – our home for the first leg of our Global Vets trip. The doors of Hamanasi resort were wide open upon arrival into Hopkins and we immediately felt the appreciation Belizeans had towards us for volunteering our time  to help the local animal population.

After unloading our luggage into our room we immediately set out to find the Hopkins Belize Humane Society, our workplace for the next 2.5 weeks, to introduce ourselves to the clinic staff and start working. I asked Kirsty one of the managers of Hamanasi for directions to the shelter and she laughed at me! She told me to walk to the end of the driveway and look to the left. We soon realized our commute to work every day was much shorter than anticipated.

We first met Dr. Orlando Baptist, a local vet here in Belize who spends a great deal of his time working with various humane organizations across the country. The first two days at the Hopkins Belize Humane Society were spent helping Dr. Baptist and the three staff members at HBHS spay and neuter animals from the community – some feral, but the large majority of animals were owned.  The night before surgery days, clinic employees head into the village and knock on doors to educate citizens on the benefits of sterilization (local terminology for the surgery is “cut”) and offering to provide free transportation and service to anyone in the community who wishes to have their dog spayed or neutered.

While surgeries are going on inside the walls of the purple building shown above, many local pet owners show up throughout the day with their animals, each requiring a unique form of treatment such as vaccination and deworming (locals call it “worm-out”), treatments of bacterial skin infections and several mosquito and tick borne diseases which are very common in this part of the world.

Next we met Dr. Mia Canton, our mentor for the next two weeks and the remainder of our stay in Belize. On Wednesdays at HBHS, members of the community are welcome to bring their animal to Dr. Mia for treatment. Here we helped countless animals, ranging from treatments for fleas, mange and parasites on the tiniest of patients, all the way up to surgical removal of infected teeth and mammary tumor removals on the largest of our patients. Not a single animal is refused, and all free of charge. The clinic operates purely on donations, and are very appreciative of any donation that can be made to the clinic for their services.

WARNING – skip the next few lines if you have eaten recently.

I would like to introduce you to the “Beefworm” – gross name and and ever nastier description. Beefworm infestation is very common in Belize. This little bugger enters the body as an egg, and slowly eats its way from the inside of the body towards the skin, where it emerges as a larvae. This larvae matures into an adult fly where it will lay eggs and continue the life cycle. After a very successful and long day last Wednesday, I stood on the porch of the clinic and staring back at me was a white and brown female hound mix in the middle of the dirt road. I called to her and walked towards her. This game went on for about 10 minutes, slowly making progress towards her and slowly gaining her trust, until finally she gave in, rolled over and asked kindly for a belly rub 🙂 . The poor girl was covered head to toe (literally) with dark red wounds, a distribution that was completely foreign to me. Dr. Mia walked over and instantly diagnosed her with Beefworm infection. She leaned down to the dog and squeezed on the the lesions, and out popped a worm! I have an iron gut, but instantly questioned my ability to hold down lunch. Thank the lord it was several hours before the local staple – stew chicken, beans and rice – hit my stomach or it might have been on the grass beside Mia. The vets role in beefworm infection is to remove the worm before it makes too big of a hole to reduce the amount of tissue destruction that occurs, lessening the risk of subsequent infection. Laura and I sat on the grass for about half an hour popping our worm after worm from the flesh of our new friend. We gave her some meds to kill any worms we missed and off she ran… so we thought…

We walked about halfway home and I turned around to check how far she had run away from us. I was shocked to see her at our ankles, following us step for step. She followed us to our resort and sat by our feet the rest of the night, as if to say thanks for getting the worms out from my under my skin, thanks for finally ridding me of the itch beneath my skin as the worms burrow, thanks for the nice meal, thanks for caring.

The next morning as we fueled up on breakfast for the day, I was surprised to see our friend right there in front of the restaurant, as if she had been waiting for us. I made her patience worth her while and snuck her a few sausages when no one was looking. We set off to work and took her back to where we found her, then off she went down the dirt road.

okay……if you chose the “I have eaten recently, and choose not to read” you can  pick up reading right here…

Something else I learned very quickly was how to make lots and lots of friends VERY quickly. How? Carry a puppy around with you everywhere you go. Early in the week we helped spay a mother dog who had recently weaned five 8 week old puppies. The owner wanted the mother back but asked us if we could find homes for the pups. 4 were taken in the first day to people in the community and one, a little female, was left scared and alone (Sarah McLachlan plays in the background). I took her back to the resort that night, and every night after that, casually walking her by each guest as they ooooed and ahhhhed at how cute she was. Pretty soon each person at the resort took turns holding her and asking me about the procedures to get her on a plane and back to their home – my plan to find her a home was working.
Much to my surprise however, my efforts failed and she stayed with us another 2 weeks. It was amazing to see her grow and become more and more independent by the day. From once following me everywhere around the resort as guests gawked at how cute she was, to soon having to chase her as she ran away to track down things she shouldn’t be eating, like a baby bird that fell out of the nest (I have the scars to prove it – three punctures from where she bit me when I pried the slimy, stinky creature from her death-grip jaw hold).

As we pack our bags to set out for Guatemala, our second leg of our 3-leg Global Vets trip, I can’t say enough about the people of Belize and how friendly and welcoming everyone was to have us visit their country. Please, if you get the chance, you have to visit Hamanasi resort – we can’t thank the staff and management enough for all they have done for us here, allowing us a place to call home for a few weeks, and letting us explore the barrier reef on mornings where we didn’t have to be at the clinic until later in the day. This resort is incredible.

To Clara Lee Arnold, director of the Hopkins Belize Humane Society, you are an incredible inspiration and a perfect role model of selflessness and generosity. Thank you for everything you have done for us and we wish you the best as you continue to help the country of Belize in ways I’m sure you didn’t anticipate. I’ll try to make it back next June 🙂

To Dr. Baptist, Roberto, Cliff, Carol Ann, Jason, Joseph and especially Mia, thanks for making our experience an incredible one.

We leave Belize with not only amazing experience but also a sense of pride from being able to make a contribution to the Hopkins Belize Humane Society. From helping Manky the hairless lab – robbed of her coat from mange mites, to providing treatments to various other animals, and seeing and feeling the appreciation in the community for bringing health to the animals that would not be otherwise treated without HBHS.

Here’s a link to the HBHS website, please donate if you can, they do amazing work:
http://www.hopkinsbelizehumanesociety.com
To those wondering what ever happened to the little puppy. Well, yesterday, I was assisting in surgery with Mia and I heard the clinic vehicle fire up and drive away. I asked where it was going and was told they had found a home for the little puppy and were taking her to a gentleman to the south of the country to live out her life. I didn’t flinch, but inside I was a bit heartbroken because I never had the chance say goodbye to that little girl and wish her a good life. Ah well, she’ll be alright.
Next stop – Panajachel, Guatemala.

Off we go….

Dan Katz, Laura Tindal, Global Vets 2014