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!