Belize Natural Energy - Case Study

11/30/12 – DAY 4 – BNE CASE STUDY

Belize Natural Energy Limited (BNE) is a Belizean based and owned oil and gas provider, in business since 2005. Their “mission is to positively impact the Belizean people by efficiently finding, producing, and marketing oil and gas in a healthy, safe, environmentally and socially conscious manner that fosters teamwork, creativity and professionalism.”

Our initial speaker for BNE’s presentation was employee Daniel Gutierrez. He was very knowledgeable and showed a good deal of pride in his company’s mission as well as of their role in supporting the Belizean economy. BNE is the country’s single largest taxpayer, and has contributed an excess of one-third of a billion dollars to government revenues since their inception. This aspect of the company’s existence is what Mr. Gutierrez continuously refocused discussion on, and seemed their most positive contribution to the country’s sustainability.

BNE is very advanced in their fields in terms of positive environmental standards. They abide by both cultural and environmental IFC management standards, constantly monitor air, water, and noise purity, and follow strict procedures for leakage events. However it seemed that Mr. Gutierrez was hesitant to veer far from his pro oil and gas rhetoric in answering any questions about the long-term sustainability and environmental impact of his industry. His discussion was consistently focused on what he called the “people perspective.” He believes, like many of our other presenters that economic stability for the people of Belize is the most important initiative that must be dealt with. He spoke highly of finding a balance between preservation/conservation and infrastructure development, but continuously used the term “environmentalist” in an “othered”/ oppositional manner.

While there were many moments throughout that I felt the presentation contained a bit too much bias towards the positives of drilling and oil exploration, it was very informative. As an American environmental enthusiast, it is easy to dismiss the economic needs of other peoples in the name of conservation while continuing to stop by the gas station on a multi-monthly basis, and purchasing non-fair, and/or petroleum based products. This presentation helped me to better understand the economic and social significance of companies like BNE, as well as the potentially positive outcomes of well-managed oil and gas production.

Day 3 - Leadership Training and Mayan Ruins

11/29/12 – DAY 3

I loved both of the activities today. I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the Mt. Carmel High School visit happened to be.  In past educational trips that I’ve been on, the cultural exchange aspect has been rather awkward and been towards the bottom of my list of favorite days. But this interaction was awesome, and we really got to enjoy ourselves getting to know the students. I’m looking forward to the possibility of hearing from them online and getting to continue talking. I’m very happy that we’re fostering such a wonderful relationship with them and are able to return every year.

Also a fabulous highlight was our visit to the Mayan Ruins Xunan Tunich. Our guide was rather verbose, but the view from the top of the main structure was incredible. I liked that we were so close to Guatemala, and could look just to the west across the border. It was interesting to speak with another guide as well as one of the military guards at the top of the temple. I love the constant exchange that I seem to be having with everyone here. Maybe it’s just because I’m older than I was the last time that I was in Central America, but I feel far more comfortable engaging in conversation with people here.

It was great to finish out the days travel with a Belikan at the local bar with the expat owner. I definitely bruised my hand on the punching bag, but got to enjoy a great conversation with Balbino the driver and look out at the shops and riverfront. 

Once on this island… Journal Entry

 The 3 C’s: Community, conservation, and commerce are really stressed in Long Caye, a Belizean island paradise that values sustainability and conservation. The entire staff is committed to these initiatives and visitors come to appreciate the natural beauty of the island and the surrounding barrier reef.

What is interesting is that these 3 C values were originally created by the family of Sarah Edwards, whose father purchased the island in the 70’s, in order to manage the island. Only later did they find out that the exact same values were being expressed in a book called “The Sustainability Revolution” by Andres R. Edward. His concept, the 3 E’s: ecology/environment, economy/employment, and equity/equality prove that these values truly are important to any kind of sustainable living.

I had never thought that business models could work with sustainability; that development and conservation could be a pair. However, my experience in this country has changed that. I have seen Belize Natural Energy, an oil company, stress the three E’s in its practices. This island that aims to sustain itself with rainwater also expresses their desire to build more resorts in order to bring in capital. Upon hearing that this island that is so committed to preserving the environment and not creating a human footprint isn’t planning on hiding away this reserve, but rather bring people to it, I was confused. Sarah Edwards explained that they value commerce coming in because the island needs it.

Why is that? Part of it is that the island couldn’t be up kept without fund coming in, but it also to ensure that the outside world is invested in this place – because that means they are more willing to fight for it and protect it. If they didn’t know it existed and never saw its beauty, they would have no incentive to safeguard it – or may not even know that these efforts were being made in the first place. Another reason is that observing the sustainable nature of how the island owners have been able to blend commerce and environmental protection serves as an educational tool for all visitors.

Opening up the island to the public will actually have more of an impact than simply preserving it and keeping it away from the world.

Leadership and Education: A Foreigner Coming In _ Blog

Today our leadership class came into Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School to teach the Student Council about the 5 Leadership Practices outlined by Kouzes and Posner that we have been learning about. Upon hearing about this experience these were my thoughts:

How can one expect to enter a group of leaders as an outsider and expect that people will listen?

The key is that you really can't.

What you really are doing is figuring out what students already know about leadership, and open up discussion on the topic of leadership. The students already know a lot about leadership, they live it every day as class presidents that have a lot more responsibilities than I would have ever expected of myself at their age. They have learned to lead by example as they are expected to help keep class behavior in check and inspire students to be known as a motivated class rather than a rowdy one.

What we did today was help come up with activities that would help them explore how they could actually apply leadership. The activities involved problem solving, creativity, trust, and collaboration - but most of all inspired communal leadership. In some situations they really did prove that values like collaboration were imperative to them as leaders, both in theory and in practice. Yet, in some situations a single student would step up and lead the activity while others stood by because they figured only one person could lead at a time. They didn't choose to engage as a whole to succeed in a shared vision, rather they permitted one student to be in control and thus eliminate all other possible ideas that might have helped with problem solving. There was a constant expectations for us, the older DU students, to help them out (which in most cases we avoided doing because we wanted them to work together rather than do it for them). At the end of the day, however, each team achieved success and we were all so proud of the end result. As the goal was to focus on leadership, we helped point out to students when we found discrepancies between what students said they valued in leaders versus how they actually acted when faced with various challenges that demanded leadership. When you point out the them this discrepancy, they are far more likely to adjust how they complete the activity in the future and are more aware of their self as a leader.

In all, it was a valuable experience. I learned about leadership just observing and conversing with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel students. They were bold and they were willing to try new things. I felt weird stepping in as foreigner and trying to teach students who were obviously leaders how to lead, but I feel like we all learned from each other, and as we did the activities together, we learned did learn the meanings of all of Kouzes and Posner's 5 practices: encourage the heart, inspire a shared vision, model the way, challenge the process, enable others to act. And even if our students didn't know the exact phrases for these practices, they knew the concepts and understood what they meant in their daily lives.

It was a successful day and I am so happy to have been a part of it!

Blog #1: Education in Leadership and Sustainability

Normally, leadership is a tricky subject to teach and explain and when there is a small language barrier added to the challenge, it adds a needed bit of creativity. Thankfully, the students we met today were ready to listen and already very informed in leadership through their previous education and experience. We went to Mount Carmel High School, got a tour of their unique classes and opportunities, and had a chance to share with them the five leadership practices from Kouzes and Posner's book, The Student Leadership Challenge.
During our tour, we were able to see some of the sustainability efforts they have in place. At Mount Carmel, they have a wide range of elective classes that the students can attend. Some of these are wood shop, home economics, electrical work, gardening, and computer class. These give the students an opportunity to learn skills that they can take back home and implement. In sustainability, education is a large part, and in Andres R. Edward's book, The Sustainability Revolution,  education is in addition to the three E's of sustainability. These students are learning practices of sustainability through their education. They are helping future generations by learning to use natural resources to provide for themselves in an environmentally healthy way. This is exactly what Edwards was talking about in his book. He says that "Through education, sustainability can become firmly established within the existing value structure of societies while simultaneously helping that value structure evolve toward a more viable long-term approach to systemic global problems" (23). Sustainability is a critical part of their learning structure.
For sustainability, there needs to be good leaders to rally people towards a common goal and pave the way within the family, community, or even the culture. That is what we worked on with the students today at Mount Carmel. We educated them and gave them activities to strengthen their leadership skills. I loved getting to know them and wish we had more time to really learn who they are. They were extremely friendly, responsive, intelligent, and hard-working throughout the activity. My group and I had the teams work together on an activity involving a tarp. The goal was to stand on the tarp and without touching the ground surrounding the tarp, flip the tarp completely over to be able to stand on the underside. They had to be completely silent in the process as an added challenge. The students had to use skills of modeling the way, inspiring a shard vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. All of the groups were successful and hopefully they learned something in the process. Their education as leaders is almost as important as their sustainability education, but you really need both to succeed in preserving the gift of nature in this world.

Blog #1 From Me

     I woke up in a good place today. Cabin 6 ("Toucan" Cabin) was quiet, but filled with 4 epic souls, souls which have established this cabin as the best - by far. My roommates are awesome. Anyway, a trip to Mt. Carmel school, where we toured the school and mentored leadership to the students, followed a delicious breakfast at Jaguar Creek. We ate an amazing lunch with the students while listening to Marimba music (which the student Ian taught me to play), and all enjoyed engaging with them. I was lucky enough to be called "Justin Bieber" for the entire time I was there. We then piled in the cars to visit the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich, where we walked on structures thousands of years old and stood atop the main structure, which allowed us to see for miles around, including across the Guatemalan border. We then visited Edward, one of our favorite locals, who moved to Belize 35 years ago from Los Angeles, and is really 75 years old but looks 20 years younger. Quite the character; a man you want to meet. We then drove home to Jaguar Creek, where we swam, ate dinner, and are now sitting and writing blogs.
     Our school experience was incredible on two levels: one for the class and the other for ourselves. Regarding the curriculum, the trip helped us teach leadership (in the process, learning it better ourselves) and was a hands-on experience on what our text The Sustainability Revolution calls "The Fourth E: education" (20). The Mayan ruins were (of course) fulfilling - one cannot go to Belize and miss the ancient marvels - and talking with Edward was quite enjoyable.
     Going to sleep tonight will feel great after such a packed day, but all the different activities make each day feel longer. And there is probably no better place than Belize to have a long day. A long "class" day in Belize is just not quite as rough as a normal class day back home.

Case Summary - Derric Chan

Although we have heard a lot of talk about sustaining Belize through different methods of preserving the natural resources, there have been only a few examples so far of organizations that put those words into action. Friends for Conservation and Development, presented by Derrric Chan, is a business that makes it their goal to manage and protect the natural resources in Belize. They aim to “Protect the forest that protects us” and their main focus is on the Chiquibul Forest and its three components: the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, the Chiquibul National Forest, and the Caracol Archaeological Reserve. This part of Belize is extremely important because of the diversity it harbors, the ecosystems it touches and the natural resources it provides to communities. The Chiquibul Forest supplies many communities with water, even cities like Belmopan and Belize City. Belize is second in Central America with the amount of clean, usable water it contains and this is the way it needs to stay to sustain the people for years to come.

With all of the products that can be harvested from the Chiquibul Forest, there are many challenges to preserve it. This is where Friends for Conservation and Development steps in to help. They fight against challenges that harm the well being of the forest and that includes incursion by Guatemala, fires, logging, looting, hunting, and poaching. All of these come with their own unique set of problems and solutions to keep the people from invading the forest, illegally taking the natural resources, and leaving the forest in a worse state than it was before they arrived. Friends for Conservation and Development works by sending out men to patrol areas of the forest to find illegal poacher or loggers and bring them to justice by detaining them. They try to work alongside the government of both Belize and Guatemala to stop the increasing human footprint by sending out as many guards as possible to protect the land.

Although the conservation of the land and resources is key, Friends for Conservation and Development have realized that development is the next piece of the puzzle. They work with the communities and researchers to develop a management plan so the families can live off of the resources without leaving a footprint that would negatively impact the forest. This organization is looking for ways to improve the lives of Belizean people through looking at the positive long-term effects of protecting and conserving the resources of the forest. Friends for Conservation and Development is using their skills, knowledge and finances to preserve the gift of nature for future generations. That is truly what sustainability is all about.