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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Blessed Are The Flexible

We were all told, before we arrived in Belize, by Francis, the director of Holy Cross Anglican School, of her favorite Beatitude: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.

We're trying!

We began work at the school today. Several of us were in the classroom with the children and the teachers. We were overwhelmed by our experiences: the great need for school supplies, more experienced teachers, more helping hands. Those of us who worked on building the library and on fixing other areas of the school were also overwhelmed, for other reasons: the need for tools, the different kind of organizational structure, the Belizean pace and way of doing things.

Francis and Vernon, who run the school, are wonderful ambassadors and school tour guides. They are caring and passionate, passionate, passionate about the school and the children! The school itself is built on a swamp and reclaimed ocean. The land is filled with garbage. We learned that this is actually a form of recycling and a valuable tool for filling land. Though several acres have already been filled, Holy Cross owns several more acres that are yet to be filled. The school attendance is growing much more quickly than anticipated but workers and volunteers are doing everything possible to trying to keep up with need.

We learned today that at Holy Cross, "need" includes not only a school building and supplies, but clothing, food, medical and dental care. For some of the children, Holy Cross provides all of their basic needs.

The children are, simply, beautiful. They are sweet and loving. They are wild and crazy. They want to learn and want to play and want to hug and hold hands. They need a lot of direction and attention, as do all children. Some of them live near the school, some walk a great distance each day to attend Holy Cross. Some of them are from families with very involved parents, others come from very poor homes. Some come from abusive homes. All find a second home at Holy Cross.

Tomorrow we will head back to the school to pick up where we left off today. Or, as we are learning in Belize, maybe not. We are trying to be open to filling whatever need might arise. Blessed are the flexible!

Some Sad News

Unfortunately, this entry will be an update with sad news. Lisa Thompson got word that her mother is very ill and is now on life support at a hospital near her home town. Lisa and Denny will be leaving Belize and flying home today to be with her. We are all holding Lisa and Denny, Lisa's mother, Julia, and the rest of Lisa's family close to our hearts and thoughts and prayers. We know you are now doing the same.

Ready Or Not - Here We Go!

We arrived safely in Belize City Saturday afternoon, greeted by tropical air and many smiling faces as we stepped off of the plane. (Denny and Mark quickly learned not to take photographs in customs!) After settling into our hotel in Belize City, we met friends of Mark and Lydia's for dinner. Friend Jerry treated us to some insights on the cultural history of Belize and the importance of providing the children of Belize with educational opportunity. His words were inspiring and added to our excitement regarding our work at Holy Cross.

The following morning, warm sunshine accompanied us as we walked down the street to the nearby Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist. The Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Rev. Lloyd A. Neal, led us in a service full of spirit and song. It was beautiful and very moving to watch Lydia join Reverend Neal in performing the Eucharist.

We were able to see more of Belize, and get a bit of a feel for the people of Belize, as we drove to the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. (We all realized the Mayans must have been in very good shape. The steps were steep!)

Late Sunday afternoon had us taking a water taxi from Belize City to San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, where Francis, the director of Holy Cross Anglican School , met us at the dock and took us to our hotel.

We have been welcomed to Belize with open arms. We're now ready to open our own arms and get to work. We'll pick up hammers and nails and do just that, bright and early tomorrow morning!

Final Preparations

Sixteen members of St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Sunfish Lake, MN are making final preparations for their mission trip to Holy Cross Anglican Primary School in San Pedro, Belize. They have been preparing for this trip for months. The purpose of the trip is to help build the school. Construction of a new library and computer center have just begun and the team from St. Anne's will be working on those rooms. We leave on Saturday, February 16, and hope to make regular postings to this blog.

Holy Cross Anglican School, Belize