Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Pictures from our last weekend in Belize
Francis Wilson's favorite beatitude is "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape." We found out that our whole team was wonderfully flexible, even to the point of spontaneously changing the group plans and deciding to cross the border into Guatemala on Sunday, to spend the day at Tikal National Park. Tikal is the site of a very large Mayan city, large portions of which were excavated by archeologists in the 20th century. The largest temple there is Temple IV, where George Lucas positioned cameras to shoot part of the scenery in Star Wars. The photo below is Mark and Lydia standing near the top of one of the smaller temples, looking out over a plaza and surrounding buildings.
Our guide, Danilo, talked about a shift in how he and others are describing the Mayan civilization. He said that for many years, archeologists made conjecture about the Mayans from our western 20th century perspective. But more recent scholarship and observations are bringing a new perspective, more from the point of view of the Mayans themselves, and he talked quite a bit about what the ancient Mayans can teach us. He called himself a "cultural guide" rather than a tour guide.
Belize is home to many different kinds of butterflies. We got close to some of them at Tropical Wings, a local butterfly farm and museum. They also had a tarantula, which our guide said was harmless. Some of us let it sit on our hands - Yikes! And the beautiful jaguar came up close to us at the Belize Zoo on Friday.
Our guide, Danilo, talked about a shift in how he and others are describing the Mayan civilization. He said that for many years, archeologists made conjecture about the Mayans from our western 20th century perspective. But more recent scholarship and observations are bringing a new perspective, more from the point of view of the Mayans themselves, and he talked quite a bit about what the ancient Mayans can teach us. He called himself a "cultural guide" rather than a tour guide.
Belize is home to many different kinds of butterflies. We got close to some of them at Tropical Wings, a local butterfly farm and museum. They also had a tarantula, which our guide said was harmless. Some of us let it sit on our hands - Yikes! And the beautiful jaguar came up close to us at the Belize Zoo on Friday.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
More Of Belize
We left Belize City today and drove west to the town of San Ignacio. We stopped along the way at the Belize prison, where work programs are in place for rehabilitation and vocational training. We did not tour the prison, but did drop off a donation of books (thank you, Colleen's Aunt Iris!) and made purchases in the prison gift shop, where beautiful, hand-crafted items made by inmates are sold.
After the prison, we made another stop at the Belize Zoo, where we learned more about the delicate ecosystem of Belize and of the necessity of preserving habitat for the birds and animals that live in Belize. We learned that roughly 40% of Belize is protected or preserved land and that there is a push to protect and preserve the animals of Belize as well. None of us have ever seen a jaguar as up close and personal as we did today!
As we travel and soak up as much as we can of Belizean culture before we return home, we are still processing, and discussing often, our time at Holy Cross. It has affected each of us in different ways, but it has affected each of us deeply.
After the prison, we made another stop at the Belize Zoo, where we learned more about the delicate ecosystem of Belize and of the necessity of preserving habitat for the birds and animals that live in Belize. We learned that roughly 40% of Belize is protected or preserved land and that there is a push to protect and preserve the animals of Belize as well. None of us have ever seen a jaguar as up close and personal as we did today!
As we travel and soak up as much as we can of Belizean culture before we return home, we are still processing, and discussing often, our time at Holy Cross. It has affected each of us in different ways, but it has affected each of us deeply.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Smiles and Tears
Today was our last day working at Holy Cross. What a week. I think we have each been through the full spectrum of emotions. There have been tears of happiness, tears of frustration and many smiles and hugs.
Much progress was made on the computer center! It is actually taking the shape of a computer center now - we can almost picture little hands busy at work on the keyboards. Or, at least we can picture the floor their feet will be resting on. (Our team laid the floor.)
In other areas of the school, desks were fixed, door locks and keys were matched and labeled and the ceiling of the cafeteria was repaired. Matt dazzled the Holy Cross staff with his ability to wire the school office computers as well as creating internet access for part of the school building itself. The work crew returned to the hotel each evening a bit dirtier and more tired than the day before. (But always ready to go again each morning!)
Those in the classrooms had many emotional experiences with the children and the teachers. At the beginning of the week, several of us were asked to introduce some new teaching techniques into the classroom to aid the teachers in their work. There was some apprehension about how to go about this task, but by the end of the week today we were rewarded with heartfelt thanks from the teachers who were seeing results already in their classrooms. There were others of us who saw students blossom with hour after hour of one-on-one attention in reading and in working on English. By the end of today, Laura was able to share her gift of storytelling with each class at Holy Cross.
It was very difficult to leave the children today. There were many smiles, many hugs and many tears, on all sides. The children all drew and colored thank you cards for us that were wonderful to receive. Even more wonderful were the little arms hugging us tightly and the little voices telling us how much they would miss us.
We have promised to write letters and promised we will always keep the children of Holy Cross in our hearts. These are promises we will have no trouble honoring.
Much progress was made on the computer center! It is actually taking the shape of a computer center now - we can almost picture little hands busy at work on the keyboards. Or, at least we can picture the floor their feet will be resting on. (Our team laid the floor.)
In other areas of the school, desks were fixed, door locks and keys were matched and labeled and the ceiling of the cafeteria was repaired. Matt dazzled the Holy Cross staff with his ability to wire the school office computers as well as creating internet access for part of the school building itself. The work crew returned to the hotel each evening a bit dirtier and more tired than the day before. (But always ready to go again each morning!)
Those in the classrooms had many emotional experiences with the children and the teachers. At the beginning of the week, several of us were asked to introduce some new teaching techniques into the classroom to aid the teachers in their work. There was some apprehension about how to go about this task, but by the end of the week today we were rewarded with heartfelt thanks from the teachers who were seeing results already in their classrooms. There were others of us who saw students blossom with hour after hour of one-on-one attention in reading and in working on English. By the end of today, Laura was able to share her gift of storytelling with each class at Holy Cross.
It was very difficult to leave the children today. There were many smiles, many hugs and many tears, on all sides. The children all drew and colored thank you cards for us that were wonderful to receive. Even more wonderful were the little arms hugging us tightly and the little voices telling us how much they would miss us.
We have promised to write letters and promised we will always keep the children of Holy Cross in our hearts. These are promises we will have no trouble honoring.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A Good Day
We all saw progress in our work today!
Those working on the library started seeing some real progress in laying the floor of the library and in installing screens on the windows of the school. Jeff fixed wobbly desk legs to the delight of the children currently sitting in said desks!
Those of us tasked to assist teachers in classroom organization and structure also saw progress today and we all left the school today with big smiles.
The week so far has been both very challenging and very rewarding.
Those working on the library started seeing some real progress in laying the floor of the library and in installing screens on the windows of the school. Jeff fixed wobbly desk legs to the delight of the children currently sitting in said desks!
Those of us tasked to assist teachers in classroom organization and structure also saw progress today and we all left the school today with big smiles.
The week so far has been both very challenging and very rewarding.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Few Photos
Here are a few photos of the journey so far. This morning we had a tour of the San Mateo area where most of the students of Holy Cross come from. The living conditions are very difficult. Amazing how the children can wear such wonderful smiles when they come to school.
Ms. Colleen, working hard.
Smiling faces in the morning.
The team, ready to work.
Denny and Lisa. In our thoughts and prayers every day.
At St. John's.
Ms. Colleen, working hard.
Smiling faces in the morning.
The team, ready to work.
Denny and Lisa. In our thoughts and prayers every day.
At St. John's.
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