St.Luke's in Belize

Friday--Valentine's Fair

2012-02-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

It has been mass chaos around here this morning as they had their annual Valentine's Fair Fundraiser. It's open to the community and there are all sorts of games, music, dancing, movies and just general festivity. Quite a number of our group got involved doing tattoos and games. Others worked on organizing the medical records for next week and finishing up the drawers.

We're heading out early....right after lunch as things have died around here...kids gone and nothing to be accomplished. Team 1 members need to do some last minute spending of Belize $$ and packing.

Team 2 is on the way and should arrive on the 4:30 water taxi about 6:00 then we'll all head to dinner at the Blue Water Grill and celebrate Clara's birthday.

Team 1 will head to Belize City on the 9:30 water taxi tomorrow morning after a wonderful week of work and fun at Holy Cross. The Team did a great job of adjusting and being flexible!! A great time was had by all!

Pictures for Fri-Sun and catchup on last weekend will appear next week as we can't connect to the internet at the hotel.

Thanks for remembering us in your prayers and following our time here.

See you Monday!

Pictures will follow on Monday unless

Thursday at Holy Cross

2012-02-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

Everyday starts out beautiful around here!
We all got to school and wisely took the group
so we wouldn't end up without one!
Handsome group don't you think!
Johnny Cakes and papaya to die for!
Lots of activity today. We started out with children's chapel.

Deacon Jan did the oldest groups' sermon.

Robert and Wayne finished up the new
shelves in the Sewing Center.

which were rapidly filled.

Doug, Robert, Wayne and Denise began
making the drawer plans a reality.

Clara took up a paintbrush...

and Linda took the high spots.

Mr. Bob did more Math...

Anna returned to tutoring...

Denise also...

Joanne kept the books coming...

Holly tutored too..lots of learning going on.

Denise is experiencing it all!

It was getting mighty hot after lunch
so the painters headed inside...
Clara helpped the kitchen ladies..

and Linda too...

Jan headed to the library...

along with Clara, Linda and Camille to catalogue

and shelve the books we brought down.

Into the computerized card catalog.

Mr. Bob returned to finalizing the data sheets
for heights and weights.

Holly and Anna made heart
beanbags for their game for
the Valentine's Fair tomorrow.

We all headed home after a very good day of work....had some refreshment, showers and Evening Service and reflections time. And since it's Thursday that means Caliente's and the Chicken Drop!

Would you like to buy some jewelry? They
start them out young around here!
Dinner on the deck for a good view.

Our own sweet Anna dropped the chicken

on the second go round. I will not go into
details about the game...check the
"Feb 2011-Thurs Big birthday" entry for details.

Another great day! Valentines Fair tomorrow...chaos!

Wednesday at Holy Cross

2012-02-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

We started Wednesday with clouds...
but it didn't stop the early morning crew from watching the skies.

After another great breakfast of eggs with ham, pureed black beans and fry jacks we all headed different directions.

Mr. Bob worked on data entry...
Jean finally got some blog published!!!
Wayne crunched height and weight numbers...

Holly tutored one on one...
Jan and Camille worked on last minute details of their workshop...

Denise continued work on the ground prep for the playground equipmentand the heights and weight team finished all the classes---what a crew!! And Mr. John keep the volunteer machine oiled and running smoothly.

It was fish day at lunch and afterward folks switched out some jobs....

Robert, Doug and Wayne redid nails on a railing. A prior volunteer group had drilled the entire length of the nails and consequently there was nothing holding them in....so our guys added one more nail to each board on the railing. The wood is incredibly hard and frequently the drills end up smoking before you get finished. Then the next problem is to get the nails all the way in without bending....not an easy task!

Anna scrubbed wall in preparation for paint tomorrow...

Holly continued tutoring...
Jean continued on the blog...

Mr. Bob became the percentage king of Standard VI girls...

Doug worked on plans for shelving in the Sewing Center while Joanne worked with the ladies (see separate blog regarding the Sewing Group)...

and after the walls were scrubbed, Anna did a little more tutoring...the girl's unstoppable!
The students got out early today so a lot of the work wrapped up early too.

Wayne enjoyed a little R&R before joining others heading back to Ruby's with various stops for refreshments.

Bob and Holly heading over the bridge...

and all the teachers came to the computer room for the Jan and Camille Workshop!

Jan started them off with some small group planning activities...

Then one where they had a different role in the group taped to their head. The trick was they didn't know what that role was but everyone else did. Illustrated very well how awkward group situations can be.

Then it was Camille's turn and she started with some morning board work. The question was..."use five 8's to make nine (you can only use 5)". Paired discussion to solve the question...try this on your own. The answer will be somewhere in the blog later. Then continued with manipulative materials for math work of all grades (they each had bags so they could do the work handson)....that was really fun!! Then on to centers and things to do when kids got finished early. She had lots of handout ideas and resources that are available right here in the school! It was a great workshop--hopefully they know how lucky they are to have those two highly skilled teachers sharing their knowledge.

Jan headed off for a home visit and Jean and Camille headed back to Ruby's. After a little R&R and shower time we had Night Prayers from the New Zealand Prayer Book and then headed north for dinner...

Tapas and Sangria at the Red Ginger....yummy! Then off to Dande's for ice cream a Cele's bar for the Duke Carolina game! Very good days' work!!!

Tuesday at Holy Cross

2012-02-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

We've got one beautiful beginning to our Tuesday!
and one yummy breakfast at Holy Cross to get us going!

After breakfast we headed our separate ways to do our various jobs for the day. There was a good variety of things to do so many of us did lots of things!

Linda did heights...

Clara manned the scale for weights

and Joyce did the recording. Great team!!
Jan, Denise, and Joanne unpacked the bags with all the goodies. Miss Grace, Holy Cross Principal and Jan go through the new books we brought down in those suitcases.

Camille did observations in the classroom in preparation for the
teaching workshop she and Jan are doing on Wednesday.

Joanne had a wonderful backpack bag pattern that she taught the ladies in the Sewing Group.
They looked great with the new Disney fabric we brought down.

It's amazing how much fun you can have with one square foot of Lightening McQueen fabric!! This is one of the sons of the Sewing Group ladies and he was having a grand time!
Meanwhile in the computer room, Mr. Bob and Jean
worked on the height and weight data sheets.

For the outside folks there was painting...

Anna jumped on that with great enthusiasm...

and Wayne too!

Doug worked on roof repairs...
along with Robert...some tricky ladder work!

Denise was a jack of all trades sealing leaks in the morning....
and sealing teeth in the afternoon with the dentists from NC.
And Miss Jan got to put on her Deacon hat
when she got to talk to this guy about night sightings.

After a really good day of work we headed back to Ruby's with various stops here and there. We had reflections and then it was an "on your own" dinner night so most headed to Wild Mangoes next door and managed to get in...had the fastest service ever. One really good day!

Monday at Holy Cross

2012-02-06T21:30:00.001-08:00

A beautiful beginning to our work week~

and we are ready to go....it's 7:00 and time to head out.

It's been raining a lot...puddles everywhere.

We arrived and breakfast was ready to go.

After breakfast Lydia, the volunteer coordinator for Holy Cross came to give us an orientation. She started with a brief talk and two videos-one done by our very own Sandra Jacobi about the history and people involved in Holy Cross. After our talk we headed for a tour of San Mateo, the housing area where many Holy Cross students live.

The London Bridges (walkways) are still evident...
and water everywhere...
but things are changing...because of the road.

Several years ago Kim Shakelford, a Professor in Social Work at Old Miss, brought students down to visit. They went into San Mateo and learned about the social issues present there. They got tremendously motivated and felt they needed to do more. They organized a community meeting and invited the residents to come. A good number came to the meeting and they discussed what was needed to improve the community. From that initial meeting the group has organized in the San Mateo Empowerment Committee and last year worked together to begin a road into San Mateo which eventually will allow electricity, sewer, and water to come into the community. It has been a great success. Once their road was started, the community finally got their act together and began a road that would meet the SMEC road. It's given hope to the community and improvements have been made in the housing and other areas.

But the conditions haven't stopped happy children!

This is Lionel's families new house.

This guy is employed by the Empowerment Committee
to bring sand from across the lagoon for road construction. They meet each Sunday to build.

We headed back down the road to Holy Cross and started our workday.
Clara, Joyce, Holly and Linda started the heights and weights.

The new preschoolers weren't real sure about taking their shoes off and participating.

New playground beginning...great swingsets.

Sand....needed to be moved in preparation for climbing toys.

but Mr. Freddy has a new dump truck...

saved a lot of work....

until it got stuck in the mud....

good ole Doug saved the day--nice gentle tap on the gas works every time.

This is the new water garden for the sewage system.

Lunchtime for the older students.

Then it's our turn...spaghetti.

After lunch time for tutoring...Anna did reading today.

Denise worked on math

and Doug had a great first time tutoring experience with two Math students...unfortunately no picture. Good day of work for all.

There are changes around Holy Cross. This drawing of Mr. John is now on the wall outside the computer room and the dining room and porch are all in the same area.

Lots of great distractions around here.

A little rest before heading back to Ruby's.

After showers we gather for Evening Prayer and Reflections.

Lionel and Tiffany joined us for Evening Prayer and a little jewelry business.

It was a wonderful start to our week.

Heading Home

2011-02-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

Clouds and drizzle this morning...no last beautiful sunrise from Ruby's deck! We had breakfast at Estele's one last time and came home and headed for the water taxi in the rain.

Then the long wait in the Belize airport..

Good bye Belize!

We walked miles in the Miami airport to go through customs and recheck our bags and then headed home on our final leg...arriving around 11:00 pm. The end of another wonderful St. Luke's Mission Trip to Belize! Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support that made this such a successful trip.

Check back one more time for favorite pictures and some reflections on the trip.

Friday - Valentine's Fair

2011-02-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

Cloudy and cool this morning as we prepare for our last day at Holy Cross.Bob collecting clothing and shoe donations to take to school.Starfish sighting on the way to school.

Homemade Valentine Cupcakes for the Valentine's Fair

Evidence of Valentine's Day everywhere!

The calm before the chaos!

On the last day we always present the cooks with a small token of our appreciation.

Teachers and students began arriving soon after we did to set up for the big party. The Valentine's Fair is actually a fundraiser for Holy Cross. There are games, a party room for dancing, lots of food to purchase, face painting, tattoos and general milling around and visiting. Most of the games are $.25 BZ (12 cents US), but a lot of kids don't have the money so some adults were going around passing out coins to some of the kids so they could play the games too. All in all they made over $1000 US for the day, and the kids had a blast! Here are a few pictures of the craziness.

As you can see, some of our group participated in the fair as helpers, applying tattoos, doing face painting and general crowd control. But there was still work to be done for many of us. Before the Fair got rolling we had time to get some fun things going.

When we arrived at school on Monday morning, one of the girls came up to Peter and asked where the lady with the big camera was (Sandra). When he told her she didn't come this year there were tears. Well, Friday morning, that little girl, Peter and John managed to SKYPE with Sandra so the little girl did get to see her after all. It was so fun to watch her reaction!

Ah, the wonders of modern technology!

But not all is high tech around here! Things get used until they literally fall apart!

Joyce did some rechecks of blood sugar levels for some of the adults. Good news!

Scott and Bob finished up the second coat in the Sewing Room!

Jean finished up the last of the data entries for the medical records and Kathy joined her in getting the medical files reorganized and reports printed out. It was a busy, noisy day but lots of fun going on all around us while we finished up projects. Lynn, Jim and Beth spent much of the day in San Mateo finishing up baby visits. As most of us headed out, Scott and Bob were taking down the tents after a successful day!

We gathered for our last reflections and evening service before heading to the Blue Water Grill for dinner. It's been a marvelous week. Just before we left, Estrilla, the librarian from school who was pregnant last year, stopped by with her baby, Carlos.

After a wonderful dinner and lots of laughter, we headed back to Ruby's to find our stone artisans waiting for us as promised. After purchases we headed inside for a little talk, packing and then to bed.

Thursday-Big Birthday Day!

2011-02-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ah, not such a splashy sunrise this morning, but this beautiful oriole (Altamira oriole) came to visit us and sing Miss Clara a Happy Birthday song instead!
Then off for our walk along the beach to school. Today the Standard IV, V and VI teachers had teacher workshops so no school for those classes today. We've got the last of the vision and physicals for Infant I and then a few students who have been absent to pick up. Should be a nice morning! The students also have Chapel this morning so hopefully a few of us can attend that.

Standard II-III Chapel

Lots going on around school besides Vision and Physicals! Bob, Scott, John and Mr. Jason did a fine job on the second coat in the sewing room.

Pipes!!

Mr. Jason..all around jack of all trades and assistant to Mr. Freddy.

The cooks cutting up the chickens for tomorrow's barbecue at the Valentine's Fair.

Jean still crunching those numbers for Heights & Weights.

All the while Peter, Joyce, Clara and Ginny were wrapping up the physicals and vision tests for the little ones and Kathy was turning chaos into organization in the library. The poor snack lady was all over looking for us!

Hot dogs for lunch today - for little and big folks.

Guess who doesn't like hot dogs...the great kitchen crew provided PB&J for Ginny!

and a Birthday Day Cake for Clara from the kitchen staff. Mr. Freddy also has a birthday today! Miss Rosalea (r) is Freddy's wife and in charge of the feeding program. She does a wonderful job on a very tight budget to provide delicious and nutritions food for the students.

Our work continued after lunch. The meds saw teachers and the kitchen staff for their physicals this afternoon.

and the guys began putting up the tents for the Valentine's Fair tomorrow.

Helps to have a short featherweight around sometimes.

and Joyce joined in the drumming club after school.

Meanwhile, Jim, Lynn and Beth spent the morning at Dr. Gonzalez's Office. He's an OB/GYN on the Island and also handles general medical issues too. A different experience yet again.

Sorting through meds we brought down.

Dr. Daniel Gonzalez with patient while Jim looks on.

We all headed home, had showers and met at 5:30 for Compline. Lionel and Brittany stopped by to drop off some jewelry they had made and we got to celebrate his birthday also

Clara's in good birthday company!

Had some very unusual sky activity just as we completed our reflections.

We then headed to Caliente for the famous Chicken Drop. They've moved it to Thursday night so it doesn't conflict with the Wed. night service at the Adventist Church. We have a few newbies along so figured they needed to be initiated. We had deck seating so it was great.

We had great dinner conversation sharing stories of our day while we waited for our dinner and Chicken Drop #1.

There was a great band for entertainment...

and before we knew it, it was time for Chicken Drop #1.

The chicken is in hand...

the anticipation builds....

and the winner is #32!

You have to be there.... Somehow a dog got involved in the first drop....ask a team member for details. It's one of those things you should do once...

And how did they know it was Clara's birthday???

All in one blow!

While we enjoyed our wonderful rum cake we watched Coconut Man climb up the tree to get coconuts
and then some headed for ice cream and others headed back for some star gazing on the deck, lots of laughter and then a good night's sleep.

Wednesday

2011-02-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

BEAUTIFUL sunrise this morning! It's going to be another hot day on the porch, but have lots to get finished up. This is the last full day with all the classes so need to focus! Today we're going to pretty much do images.... Enjoy!

Sunrise

Walk to school

Dr. Jim and student

Lydia and Jonathan with Dr. Jim

Lynn with happy patient

Joyce checking those ears.

Dr. Peter and student

More eye checks

Talking to Mr. John while waiting to see the Dr.

Finishing up the first coat of paint in the sewing room.

Scott doing more post and rail repairs

Little ones lunch time - Beans and Rice with beef today.

Lydia (vol coordinator) in office

Dr. Jim, Lynn and Beth worked in the Polyclinic this morning. It's a Health Department Clinic for the San Pedro area.

When they finished up their work at the Clinic, they went through San Mateo on the way back to school and visited a few folks.

Jim's patients...note the Holy Cross School T-shirts and Crosses. Each student has a cross that goes with their uniform. They are supposed to wear it every day.

We got almost everything done today! We will have some one Infant I visions to complete and try to catch up with some of the kids who have been absent. Now it's just compiling the data and cleaning up the files before we go! We headed home and it was a dine where you please night so some folks went to the Mango Grill, others to the Jambel Jerk Pit and the meds went to the Reef. Great day!!

Tuesday

2011-02-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Got some rain last night and it's cloudy this morning so hopefully it will be much cooler on the porch today! The setup today was much easier and the medical folks got going soon after classes began. Today they worked on wrapping up the referred children and began the vision and medical screening on the new to the school Infant I classes. Our goal is to have a baseline and medical screening for all children in either 2010 or 2011. Ginny and Clara continued vision tests, Kathy kept her running for students, Jean worked on the blog and then on the medical files, John floated and covered lots of jobs and made sure everyone was happy in their work and the Dr.s and Nurses screened students. Busy day!

Beth doing Infant I screening.

Lynn doing a blood pressure check on that tiny arm.

Joyce with Infant I student

Lynn doing check. Note the pharmacy. We were able to bring a good supply of meds with us due to a grant that Lynn wrote. Some will stay in the school, some to the polyclinic and some to Dr. Gonzalez, a private practitioner in town. Jim managed to get it all into the country without a customs fee. They let him pass. During this conversation, Bob was encouraging every else to move on past customs.

Meanwhile, Bob and Scott continued putting the hasps and locks on the storage cupboards in the Computer room. Bob got quite handy with the grinder to smooth out the points of the screws.

The sparks were flying--and where is your ear protection??

Not far away Miss Tasher (l), Assistant Principal and Miss Grace, Principal were sorting through the Team 2 donations for any prizes or giveaways for the Valentine Fair on Friday, for the big packet they give to the graduates in June and for special recognitions. They found a good pile and were most grateful for our donations.

Once Scott and Bob completed the locks they moved on to rail repairs. The wood used here is Sapadillo and it's hard as a rock. When they were drilling up and down to make a starter hole for a nail, the drill bit just unscrewed itself. Tough stuff!!

Got a lot done at school today. As jobs got completed folks headed back to Ruby's with various stops along the way. John joined Dr. Jim, Kim, Lynn and Beth on their home visits in San Mateo.

Beth holding a little one while Jim listens closely.

Hammocks work great for beds in limited space.

On the way into San Mateo, they ran into this stone artisan and his wife. He was cutting down slate with a machete and then with small tools carved wonderful turtles, crocodiles and flower pendants as well as beautiful Mayan God reliefs. The wife said that he does the designs and that both of them did the detail work with small hand tools.

We gathered at 6 for a short reflection and Evening Prayer time and then headed to Elvi's for dinner. Then a well earned night's sleep.

Thanks to you all for your continuing prayers and support by following our blog. You are in our daily prayers.

Monday for Team 2

2011-02-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

Seven o'clock sharp and we're off to San Mateo...some by taxi because of medical supplies that need to be delivered and the rest by beach. It's a beautiful day.

First sighting of Holy Cross for Beth, Lynn and Kathy

Each Monday we do a new Group Orientation. While a lot of the history etc. is familiar to many in this group, the new bathrooms and the trip to San Mateo are always the highlight. These are a few images from Team 2's visit.

A little San Mateo history before we begin our walk.

Once you get past the squalor, there's a lot of beauty in San Mateo.

Mike escorting Clara back to Holy Cross School

Ginny, Clara and Jean decided to pass on the London Bridge experience and instead took this wider bridge and the city road to see where the Empowerment Project Road was going to come through. There had been a lot of progress in this past week!

There actually is now a path between the two roads that the other group took back, rather than return along the bridges. This is the base that the city road is being built on. Not much longer and it will be one big road.

Dr. Jim greeting Maggie. Last year he did a new baby visit to her house.

This bike is going to get much more mileage with a road!

Time to get to work. It took about an hour to get the "clinic" set up on the porch. Last week's team had asked for referrals from the teachers and done interviews with the students they suggested so the medical folks had a little head start. Today we worked on seeing as many as possible and did vision tests for the Infant 1 students in one class.

Joyce and Kathy organizing medical records.

Beth checking ears.

Lynn doing an adult checkup.

Ginny doing an eye check. The little guys point to the direction of the open E with their hands.

Joyce doing a checkup

Lunch Break-yummy chicken, slaw and plantains!

The educating goes on.

Meanwhile, Scott, John & Bob are creating blocks to hold the
hasps on the cupboards in the computer room.

A face to love!

and another....

After school Dr. Jim, Kim Shackleford, Lynn and Beth headed back into San Mateo for some New Baby visits this afternoon.

Beth gets assistance from 2 helpers in our walk through San Mateo.

Andier is not so sure about big Dr. Jim.

Zayna was complaining of stomach pain, the most likely cause being intestinal parasites.

Beth gives Dion a warm hello.

Dr. Jim has a look at former premie, Dion who is now up to 7 lbs 3 oz at 47 days of age;

he is Destiny's newest brother.

Dr. Jim and Kim Shackleford, an Associate Professor of Social Work at University of Mississippi who has made miracles happen at Holy Cross and in San Mateo. She has been to Belize for five years; did a 9 month sabbatical at Holy Cross where she learned the good, the bad and the ugly of home and community life of the students going to Holy Cross. She brings two student groups down every year and each year attends a Conference in Belize City so she can overlap with our St. Luke's Medical Team so our folks can get a handle on the social and psychological implications of the student's health issues. She and her students are the driving force behind the San Mateo Empowerment Project. A true blessing to all down here.

The road home.

Everyone assembled again for a short reflection time and then headed for dinner - Waramunga's for Pupusas. We watched as our dinner was being made and was it ever good!! Then, one more trip to DandE's for ice cream (they're closed Tuesdays) and home to bed.

Sunday

2011-02-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

We got the news that Team 1 arrived home safely..even a little early. We were all up pretty early this morning. Scott, Kathy, Joyce, Clara and Beth had signed up for a trip to Lamanai; Bob, Ginny, Jean, John and Lynn were going to relax; Peter was going to rent a bike and head up north and Jim was going to fish.

After we said farewell to the adventurers, most of the rest of us headed to Estel's for breakfast. What to have? Here's the menu..

Too many choices...and if you want something else, they'll fix it too.

Following a nice leisurely breakfast, the rest of us just had a nice relaxing day. Lynn did alot of adventuring around San Pedro, Jim fished off the cement pier until it got too hot (no catch today...maybe next time) and Peter got his bike and had a wonderful ride up north. The rest of us just grabbed a book and had a great time.

Bob reading and Ginny working Suduko puzzles.

Lynn joined Jean and John for lunch and a little computer time and the rest of the day was just relaxing and waiting for the adventurer's to return.
Here's the Lamanai story...(this same story for Jim and Lynn on Saturday)..
They took the boat around the island and across the river to a mainland town called Bomba. They make a lot of handcrafts here and have a market where you can shop. They caught a bus from here and had a bumpy ride to the Tower Hill toll Bridge on the New River where they caught the tour boat to Lamanai. The ride up the New River is wonderful because there is a tremendous amount of wildlife and activity along the way.

Pretty good sized Croc
A spider monkey at the Spider Monkey Sanctuary along the way.
They're pretty tame...will even climb on the boat.

Lots of birds both in the trees and in the shallows.

Native fishermen out with their nets
and Mennonite fishermen with their poles.

There is a fairly good sized Mennonite community along the New River. They are tremendous farmers and chicken producers and provide most of the eggs and chicken consumed in Belize. Most came from Switzerland, Germany and Russia beginning in 1958 and there are about 10,000 currently. They wear very traditional dress with women in long skirts with aprons and hats and the men in blue pants, blue check shirts and straw hats.

Bats in the tree.

Then on to Lamanai, a large Mayan ruin that dates back to 1500 BC. It's the best archeological site in Belize and one of the best in Mexico/Central America. After a delicious lunch the tour guides shared the history and information on the different building still standing. Then it was time to climb the big Temple, for those who chose to do so.

There are a lot of steps up, but the view is beautiful...you can basically see forever.

Beth gives a thumbs up from the top

and those who chose to watch or had been up prior years.

The going up is easier than the coming down!

Storage Rooms at the base of the Temple

The Mask Temple, one of the best preserved Mayan Ruins.

There are alot of Howler Monkeys and Spider Monkeys in the trees in and around Lamanai.

They are well named as they make alot of racket. You always know when they are around. After a delightful visit it was back on the tour boat, the bus and onto the San Pedro boat. A little liquid refreshment made the bumps easier to handle.
Once they got back we all headed to the Red Ginger for Tapas and Sangria. After lots of great conversation and wonderful food, we dropped by DandE's for ice cream and then headed home to a welcome nights sleep.

Saturday, Feb 5 - Team 1 departs, Team 2 R&R

2011-02-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

Both teams met for breakfast at Estel's on the beach. We did a hand off of the activities from Team 1 to Team 2.

After many hugs and well wishes, Team 1 bid farewell and headed to the Water Taxi. They'll meet up with tour driver Philip on the mainland for a quick spin around Belize City before heading to the airport and back to the USA. Safe travels to all.

Team 2 split up into three groups. Jean and John hung out in San Pedro since they had done the tour north and been to Lamanai multiple times. As we were wandering through town on the way back from sending the National Park group off, we walked by the Roman Catholic Church in town and the sun was glowing through this stained glass window...stunning.

Jim and Lynn headed to Laminai for the day. Jim and Lynn reported that they had a great trip and that this was the best tour operator that Jim has had. They went down the river, saw the spider monkey sanctuary and had a terrific lunch. At Laminai they had an excellent guide and climbed some of the ruins. They reported that this is the last year that tourists will be able to climb the ruins. Starting next year, the temples will be off-limits to the climbers. (For more info & pictures on Lamanai, see tomorrow's blog.)

The rest of the group took a boat tour of the north end of Ambergris Caye.

L to R: Beth, Bob, Ginny, Kathy, Scott, Clara, Joyce, Peter

After navigating through the channel under the bridge by the school, our captain, Vince, took us past the houses of San Mateo and into the back lagoon. From there we had a very rough ride up the western side of the island. We now all know what the business end of a pile driver feels like.

We arrived at the museum run by the wildlife service. We learned about the Mayan channel cut through the island, the various fish and wildlife and got a lesson in cooking beans from the resident ranger. Beth, friend to every living animal, found yet one more dog to love and tried to get acquainted with an iguana.

One of the Museum displays on the three types of mangrove trees.

We continued our journey North until we got to the channel through the red mangroves. It's not even 10 yards wide, narrower in some places. Mexico is on the North and Belize on the South bank. Several of us even reached out and touched Mexico.

Mexico on the left, Belize on the right.

We were not successful in our search for manatees, but did find a very large termite nest.

Next it was time for snorkeling. We came out of the East end of the channel and approached the reef to anchor. Joyce and Clara stayed on the boat to guard the rum punch while the rest of us jumped in and started to swim about. With the help of our guide Franz, we immediately spotted a sea turtle. The coral in this area of the reef is quite different from other spots we've been to. Lots of soft coral, fan coral, staghorn, elkhorn and brain coral. We saw many fish varieties as well - barracudas, parrot fish, jacks, groupers, snapper, sergeant majors, angel fish and others. Kathy and Beth were snorkeling for the first time, quickly picking up the skills and participating equally with the rest of us.

Not a Rookie

Time for lunch. Our boat continued down the East side of the island to a point just above Rocky Point. We brought the boat as close to the shore as possible and then waded the rest of the way to the beach. It was quite mucky , almost like quicksand, and Ginny promptly wound up sitting in the muck. She claims Bob was walking too fast, Bob said he slipped. The consensus of the group was that Bob was the guilty party.

Belizian Mud Bath

Vince prepared a delicious lunch of grilled fish with peppers and onions, tortillas and beans. All cooked over a drift wood fire out of sight of any other human beings along this isolated stretch of beach. If there is paradise, this must be pretty close. For entertainment, the group had a competition of making sculptures of out debris we found along the beach. There is a lot of creativity and latent humor among us.

Beach Sculpture: Clara with a big heart on a Mission Trip

We all waded back to the boat. Chivalry is still alive as the women got on board and the men got the boat unstuck from the mud.

We made another snorkel stop. All the same swimmers. Clara and Joyce still guarding the rum punch. The highlight of this stop was seeing several very large Stingrays. Then we all got on board for our ride back to San Pedro.

Scott and Kathy

Tonight we had evening prayers and reflected on our day. Then it was dinner at Caramba's, ice cream at DandE's and off to bed.

Thanks to Bob and Scott for the great text and pictures!

Team 1 Reflections-Ted

2011-02-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

In my mind, we came to Belize for a purpose: to help make Holy Cross, in a variety of ways, the best school it can be.

So, how about visualizing a very large rock-dirt pile, some 40 feet by 12 feet by 4 feet (high) . . . and then visualize that pile flattened, with the rocks (large and small) placed in a stone wall perimeter around an 1/8 of an acre of land.

That area exists in the back of the school bathrooms, next to a lagoon of clear, turquoise water.

Well, I was part of a few St Luke rock "movers-and-shakers" who spent some 3 days involved in making this resistant pile disappear--using picks, shovels, rakes, hands, wheel barrels, and of course a fair bit of determination.

And how, you ask, did this endeavor (which sounds like something one would do in a different type of institution), have anything to do with The Purpose?

Bottom line: we were helping to build a Water Garden that will be the final filter to affluent leaving the school bathrooms. Already there is a new system in place to "process" the waste, but the final step (Water Garden) will allow the school to reuse the treated water in some operations, and also allow for this "clean" water to enter the lagoon with no environmental degradation. Hey, isn't that really neat :0)

Of course I much enjoyed tutoring kids and working in classrooms. The kids are enthusiastic and full of spirit. No doubt they are getting a good start in their early education.

Ted Triebel

Can if really be Friday?

2011-02-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

It's been such a busy and varied week that it's flown by and here it is Friday already! Team 2 is on the plane and heading down this way and Team 1 has their work cut out for them wrapping up the final minor changes to the height/weight information and finishing up the medical interviews with identified children with health issues.

But first we uphold a Friday tradition with presentation of tips to the kitchen staff. They do such a great job with our breakfasts and lunches not to mention the other 475 lunches they prepare every day.
Then off to our assigned tasks for the day. It's casual Friday today so no uniforms for the kids.
Ted and Jim finished up the boys medical interviews on the porch and Jan did hers at the picnic table. They finished up shortly after lunch. When they completed them Jean pulled the medical records for all of them so they're ready to go on Monday morning with visits with Dr. Jim, Dr. Peter, Nurse Joyce, Lynn and Beth.

We had an early lunch today so the porch would be free for a fundraiser. We got a chance to see the older kids at lunch.

The first Friday of each month the school holds a "Cheap Sale". It's equivalent to a garage sale at home. Any donations that the school can't use from local people and businesses as well as ones brought by volunteers and visitors are sold. It's quite an event.

The security guard moving the sorted clothes to the porch for the sale.

PTA Moms putting out sale items.

Pretty popular place!

They made over 500BZ which would be equivalent to $250US. Not a bad day and lots of kids will have new clothes, shoes and books to read. It's as much a community service as fundraiser for the school--sort of a Belize version of the Spring Fling :-).

John did one more walk around the school before the kids left so you can see why we are here...

You want to hug them all...and they hug you right back. Unfortunately, for many of them, that's the only hug they'll get this week...but it's one they'll remember for a long time and they'll be right there with huge smiles next year saying "You were here last year."

And these ladies are very much the reason we're here, the ones who have made this school become a reality and keep it going and improving despite the huge obstacles they face everyday.

Miss Grace, the principal, is an educator of 41 years and a marvelous role model for the teachers and loving, caring guide for the students.

And Francis Wilson, in the back, writing last minute notes before she heads to Virginia tomorrow for their Diocesan Convention. She and her husband Vernon are the two that got this all started. And Linda, in the front who is the office manager and keeps things moving around here.

At 4:00 or so all the interviews were done, the printer was spitting out the Heights and Weights report complete with BMI's for every year for which we have records, the kids were gone and all was quiet as we headed back to Ruby's for the last time. It's been a most fulfilling and gratifying week for each of us. Watch for some reflections later in the week.

Meanwhile, there was last minute shopping and packing to do and the last relaxing afternoon on the deck with a Belikin.

Team 2 arrived safe and sound with their luggage and the suitcases with donations which were taken to Holy Cross by Mr. Victor for unpacking on Monday. The parade that we had arranged for the Team 2 arrival went by with drums just in time...never mind they were carrying a sign for the Belize Cancer Society...it was a great greeting for all.
We got everybody settled in and headed for the Blue Water Grill for dinner and some relaxation and exchanging of information. It's always a fun time at the change out dinner.

One more great day in Belize for St. Luke's!

Day 4 - Thursday

2011-02-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! This is the view just before the sun rose today. To the left are the Searious tour boats we sometimes take for our snorkel and Lamanai adventures. The big dive boat left at 5:00.

A lot of Frigate birds this year.

Nice sunrise.Our favorite palm tree by the steps.

We're off to work again. It's Thursday so we have Chapel today. They have three separate ones in the dining hall. The Infant I and II and Standard I classes were first.

Deacon Jan did the sermon today.

The altar with a beautiful cross.

This is one of the paintings on the wall that has particular interest to us. It was drawn by Duke students several years ago and if Adam looks familiar to you, you're right...it's Mr. John...even down to the whisker pulling.

Lots going on around Holy Cross today. We got rain last night and the water garden truly turned into one-at least the water part. Pass on that today.

Visitors dropped by with goodies they had brought from the states. These ladies were two policewomen loaded with a couple of pumps for the soccer balls and lots of wonderful goodies.

Here are just some pictures of the activities for the day.

Sorting for Valentines Fair.

"Sparky" Hooker repairing security light.
John trying to complete the heights and weights for kids absent earlier in the week.
Our favorite kitchen ladies preparing snacks for the kids.
Our turn for snacks.
"Sparky" and Mr. Freddie reading the security light manual.
Geography lesson.

Ted team taught today. He taught Math half the class while the teacher taught Geography.

Meanwhile Mr. Bob and Jean worked on medical records and updating heights, weights and now BMIs (Body Mass Index). Busy day and lots accomplished.

On the way home the Hookers and Willards stopped for their laundry they had dropped off in the morning. We had our usual relax and shower time and then headed for Carambas for dinner. On the way we stopped off to see if Carvin' Marvin, one of our favorite local woodcarvers, had finished a product for Bob. He had some beautiful sea creatures and kitchen articles. Delightful fellow!
And, one of our favorite ways to end the day...at our favorite ice cream shop. Handmade premium Ice Cream Custard...the rum raisin and double chocolate are to die for!
We headed back and had reflections and then headed to bed. Super day!

Day 3 - Wednesday

2011-02-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

In honor of Johnny Cakes...we miss you and Ruby's cafe misses you!
We're wondering if we need to change your moniker to Stew & Q though?

This was breakfast Wednesday. Black beans appear in all forms...today whole beans in sauce, yesterday was a mash to go with the tortillas. The papaya has been to die for and the eggs generally have some sort of meat sliced into them. The volunteer food at school is delicious and seemingly endless as most of the time if the platter is empty there is more available. It's a great deal for 5 breakfasts and full lunches we pay $20 a week.

Another hot morning for the guys, but good progress is being made. Dan was again here to assist. They worked for several hours and then came in out of the sun...just too hot and there were lots of other things that needed to be done.
John and Jan hit the deck with their scale and ruler to finish up the heights and weights. They accomplished that feat early in the afternoon. We've only got the few students who were absent to complete! Great cooperation from the teachers and the students.

The classes are smaller this year as dictated by the powers that be so only 450 kids are attending right now. The atmosphere is very conducive to learning, and the teaching staff is becoming much more professional with a few teachers who have finished Bachelor's degrees and others taking online courses toward a degree. There are some wonderful role models now for the younger teachers. And as always, Miss Grace, the Principal and Miss Tasher, the Assistant Principal, keep right on top of things. Miss Grace is an "in your face" strong disciplinarian but always ends that brief talk with a hug.

Miss James with her Standard III students. She's one with a
Bachelor's Degree and wants to start on a Master's Degree.

St. Luke's folks are not the only volunteers here this week. The Dentists are working all week. They have three volunteer dentists and Mark, a dentist who lives here that organizes the groups that come down, plus volunteer assistants. They wanted Holly back...another one we miss this year.

Pulling teeth...a few tears.

A happy camper now that is over. They each get a new toothbrush, toothpaste and
floss and then get to go to the goodie box and pick out what they would like.

There is a whole other side of life at Holy Cross. Most days the school gets visitors interested in the school. Lydia has taken over the role of tour guide in many cases, but when Francis is here and the group is one that has had contact with her, she generally does the talk.

This particular group is from the University of Gainesville in Georgia. The gal in the dress has brought student teachers down here for the past four years. This visit she brought other staff members who would like to get more involved in Holy Cross. Francis did the initial talk, and then John got tapped to do the San Mateo tour.

The TV station also visited today for a taping about the Computer Room. They also caught Jim and Ted working in the water garden so they were on the local news last night (though we didn't see them). At some point today or tomorrow the Head of the Anglican Schools will be visiting. Today we unpacked four huge bags of shoes, school supplies and books that a tourist dropped off this morning.

Another great lunch--fish today, then off to afternoon chores. Mr. Bob again did math tutoring, this time one on one. Mr. Ted did the same trying to work with conversion of mixed numbers to fractions. The basic math skills need practice but Jan said the Country dictates what will be taught each week, and it allows little time for the drills needed to cultivate those skills and very few of the students get that at home. Another of those "what can you do?" problems.

Mr. Jones had his class in the library this afternoon to do some research. Right now the classes are not visiting the library every week but hopefully that will begin again soon. They are short two teachers so it's making it difficult for the use of the computer room and the library as everyone is involved in the classroom. The head office is the one who hires teachers, and it's in the works but is taking a long time.

Our Mr. Bob is everywhere - being a man of many skills! After tutoring he headed for the computer room to work on entering heights and weights so we have all the info together for the medical team next week.
Joanne was at another computer filling in gaps in info from prior years, and Mr. Ted working on ideas for teaching fractions. What a great group we have with us!
Deacon Jan joined Bob after she finished teaching her religion classes. They crunched a lot of numbers.

After wrapping up our various tasks we headed home. As we were leaving the soccer teams were doing their warm ups for practice. They will begin playing other teams in a couple of weeks. Mr. Freddie is still coaching the team, and our uniforms have been passed down to the younger players.
We headed for the beach and dropped by Reef Adventures to make reservations for the Saturday Trip to the National Park and Marine Reserve for Team 2. This sweet lady was nearby waiting for the fishing boats to return and clean their catch.
After various errands we all arrived back at Ruby's for the cleanup and refreshment time before showers and reflection time. We then headed to Elvi's for dinner and then on to ice cream. The boys headed back to the TV bar next door for the Duke game. They came home much happier tonight!

Yet another great day in Belize!

Day Two at Holy Cross

2011-02-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

Ah, the traffic going to work! Bicycles, golf carts, foot traffic, dogs. We occasionally even see what has made these tracks. It's going to be a really hot day today. Few clouds and a brilliant sun, but there is the wonderful breeze for those doing the work on the water garden.

The guys began the day out in the garden so they could get work done before it got too hot. There's absolutely no shade available out there so they worked for several hours until there were other tasks to be done. Good job guys! There is another gentleman that lives here that drops in and helps out also.

Heights and weights began today. We started with the iddy biddy ones in Infant I and finished five classes in the morning and four in the afternoon. We took the equipment (a scale and ruler) to the hall outside the classroom and had the teacher send the kids out two or three at a time in alpha order. Figuring out those names sometimes is tricky...they don't sound like they look!

Bob and Jim made a great team!

While they were taking measurements, Joanne and Jean were working on setting up and updating the medical records for the kids and beginning prep work for next weeks medical team. Jan was working on her Jesus is Baptized religion class for this afternoon and generally filling in on odd jobs they kept giving her in the office.

Lunchtime! Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread on the menu today. Yum as usual! The dentists from NC are here this week again so it's been fun getting reacquainted with them once again.

The afternoon brought more heights and weights, this time with Joanne and John doing the measuring while Bob, Ted and Jim headed to the library and porch to do some math tutoring.

Bob and his girls.

Ted with a one on one in multiplication.

Jim doing examples.

Meanwhile, Jean and Joanne kept working on those files and Jan taught her classes. Busy afternoon. Once the kids left the guys gathered in the garden shade (it finally gets there mid afternoon, but not the area they work) and got the full story on how the water garden will work. After everyone finished up their tasks for the day we headed back to Ruby to get cleaned up and have a little liquid refreshment.

As we were gathering together to go to dinner three folks came upstairs with two bicycles and some sidesaddles for the bikes. It turned out one of the guys was just being a gracious soul helping them out but the couple were really interesting. They were from Vancouver and had begun their cycling trip in White Horse in Yukon territory, come down the Alaska Highway and then down the US west coast, took three months going through Mexico and had taken a boat from Chetumal on the Yucatan to here. They'll stay here for a few days and then maybe Caye Caulker and through Belize city and then west to Guatemala. They are heading for Patagonia, Argentina and as far south as you can go in South America. Will be interesting to hear more of this story!

Jason and Julie - the bikers.

Then as we headed downstairs we ran into Lionel and his sister, Brittany. He looked so grown up! He's doing well in high school and says the math there is easier than at Holy Cross. His toughest subject is Social Studies, which we had heard from other kids going there. Brittany was collecting for the Holy Cross Girls Football (soccer) Team so of course we pulled out our wallets. Speaking of girls football, the high school team won their Regional Competition and will be heading west of San Agnacio for the National Competition soon! Several of our Holy Cross girls are on the team including Jan's Isolene.

A quiet night at Calient's for dinner and then home for some reflection time and our now seemingly set bedtime of one side or the other of 9 pm. Another great day at Holy Cross!

Day 1at Holy Cross School

2011-01-31T23:15:00.000-08:00

Woke up to clouds this morning, but it cleared up soon after. Had a delightful walk down the beach to Holy Cross. All was quiet when we arrived. We wandered around a little to see the changes and then met Lydia, the new volunteer Coordinator with her son Jonathan in tow. Francis came in soon after that and we presented the Feeding program money to her. She was delighted as they are in dire need. The breakfast program will run through this week and then will be cancelled due to lack of funds and they will be charging for snacks. The PTA has decided that the parents who can should pay $10 BZ ($5 US) for lunch. They began collecting that today and over 200 families paid today so maybe that will help keep that intact.

John, Francis, Jonathan, Lydia, and Jan

We had breakfast and then Mr. Freddie took us through the new state of the art composting bathrooms. Amazing! The bathrooms are beautiful and then we went downstairs to see the workings. The waste comes through the pipes to the round centrifugal separator where the liquid waste goes in one pipe and the solid waste drops to the black composter below. It is divided into four sections and it takes three months to fill one section and then it is rotated. At the end of the year the compost from the first section is ready to use in the garden.

They are trying to minimize the amount of water they use as it's very expensive. They have placed timers on the urinals so they flush every 4 hours instead of each use. When the system is complete they will actually reuse the gray water and totally eliminate town water at all. Mr. Freddy's tool room has been moved down here also with shelves all around the room. It's neat as a pin!

The building and the breezeway where the tools used to be stored is now becoming a sewing center as part of the Empowerment Project in San Mateo. Eight sewing machines had been donated by someone in the states. After months in customs they have finally arrived at the school. Once they get enough money to complete the room, there are ladies in San Mateo who will have a job making uniforms for Holy Cross and other schools in the community to purchase. The blessings keep on coming!
We then headed into San Mateo to go see the new road. There are actually two roads at the moment, the original Empowerment Project road coming from the Lagoon and the road from the bridge that is being built by the town. After the people began to build their own road, the powers that be were more or less shamed into helping in some way. We came to the town road first. It is being built on a foundation of trash. No food but lots of plastic bottles, leftover construction materials and seaweed etc that comes onto shore. Then they put some sand and gravel over the top. But, it is better than the "London Bridges" that are there now. The down side of this road is that with the trash have come the rats. They are looking at ways to address that issue early before they get out of control.

John on a "London Bridge".

As we were walking with Lydia we ran into Maggie, one of the ladies who will work in the Sewing Project. She has five children, two in high school, 2 at Holy Cross and a little one at home. One of those in high school is Lionel who used to sell us his jewelry.

This is Maggie's house. Fairly typical for a lot of San Mateo houses though we did see quite a lot of improvement in the housing. After a few more "London Bridges" we came to the Empowerment Project road. Now this is a real road. They are bringing huge rocks from the lagoon and using them as the foundation for the road and then filling with gravel and sand. A much better road that will last much longer.

We walked all the way down to the lagoon and then back across the "London Bridges" to school. We saw lots of new paint, building materials and a general air of confidence and hope as we would chat with folks along the way.
Time for job assignments! Due to a few physical limitations the heavy construction was out of the question, so the guys worked on prep for the water garden membrane. It has to be a totally smooth and level surface, no roots, small trees, rocks etc to break the membrane. It was HOT in the sun, but a great sea breeze that made it much more pleasant.
The ladies worked on putting the donations away (thank you very much!), distributing vitamins that were in 55 pound bags into canisters for each classroom and then began with the prep work for heights and weights and the medical work next week. We accomplished quite good work!
Just before we left Jan's friend Isolene came by after she finished her day in High School. Jan is providing the scholarship for her to go to High School and it's a wonderful relationship.

We headed home about 3:45 and cooled off a bit and had showers. There are two Scots here that we met over the weekend with whom we've had great conversations. They were in Cozamel for a wedding and went down to Tikal in Guatemala and worked their way back here, going through San Ignacio. Delightful guys.
For dinner we split as the guys wanted to watch the girls Duke basketball game. Guess they needed some hope after the Sunday guys game. John and his ladies went back to the Blue Water Grill and had a delightful dinner. The guys didn't fare so well...dinner was good, but the entertainment not what they hoped for.

Today was a great start to the week!

We're safe and sound in Belize!

2011-01-30T12:44:00.001-08:00

Team one met EARLY Friday morning at RDU and hopped on our plane after a long wait. We got there early enough to avoid the crowds! Good thing, as the plane had been overbooked. Had a good trip to Miami where we spent hours waiting for our connection. The Miami airport has these great fish and sealife sculptures in the airport!
Had lunch and got on board the plane for Belize. This one was only 1/3 full so we got to move around and get some legroom to catch a few winks before we arrived.
A safe arrival and down the ranp we came to go pick up our luggage and go through customs. Our friend Philip was there to pick us up and we headed for the water taxi across town. The traffic was the usual Friday afternoon congested snarl, but we made it in plenty of time. They had eliminated the 3:30 taxi water so we got to wait an hour longer. The 4:30 was crammed, but we arrived safely in San Pedro.
Mr. Victor (our favorite taxi driver) arrived to pick up the suitcases filled with donations to Holy Cross and the rest of us headed for Ruby's Hotel to get settled in. This was the first time we had arrived in the dark. The town is pretty quiet and tourism is way down. As one of the locals said while we were waiting for Mr. Victor, "When America goes down, we go down." Then we taught him the word economy. Went to the Blue Water Grill for a nice dinner and headed to bed early.

Saturday morning

We all felt right at home getting up for the sunrise on our favorite balcony in Belize! It didn't disappoint us.
John headed down to Reef Adventures to arrange a trip for us up the coast to the northern tip of Ambergris Caye to the Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve. It is a World Heritage Site because of its many unique natural characteristics. We headed for Estelle's for breakfast and were happy to be back in the land of Fry Jacks and Fruit Bowls!

John was successful in booking a tour for us so after breakfast we went back and got ready for snorkeling and adventuring. We boarded the boat and headed for the first of three snorkel sites. Belize has the second largest Barrier Reef in the world and the snorkeling is fabulous. There are lots of wonderful corals and sea life here.

After about 20 minutes of snorkeling we headed for Rocky Point where the Barrier Reef meets the shoreline.
Then we headed outside of the reef and ran into some medium swells. Fun ride! Meanwhile, the cook on the boat was preparing lunch.

We stopped and picked up one of the Rangers at the park and he guided us to the Office. It was low tide so we slowly made our way across the lagoon to the Headquarters.
Did a tour of the very nice Museum and then it was almost time for lunch! They brought out the rum punch to help us with the wait. The foil packages came off the grill and wow! Yummy hog snapper with vegetables! Compliments to the chef!
After a leisurely lunch we headed back to the boat passing this cute Carolina girl...
Back through the lagoon again, but the tide was coming in, so not quite so slow and then into the Canal that separates Mexico and Belize. It was dug by the Mayans through the dense mangrove forest to shorten their trade routes. Quite an impressive feat. We dropped the Ranger off at his research boat and headed for snorkel spot #2. This was our crew. The young boy is a student at Holy Cross who works on Sat and half of Sun and then goes home and does his homework. After about 15 minutes at stop 2, we headed back outside the reef. We were going with the swells here so easy ride, especially when the bottlenose dolphins decided to escort us! Very exciting. On to Snorkel Spot number #3. They were all great. Not everyone snorkeled. It was delightful just enjoying the sunshine and wonderful air in the boat!

Then back to shore and an hour or so to cleanup and rest and off to dinner at Carambas and a little ice cream to finish off the day. Super trip! Everybody had a wonderful time!

Sunday Morning

Back to Estelle's for breakfast...
and then back to our favorite deck for Morning Prayer and then a day of leisure to unpack, nap, wander the town and just relax before we begin work at Holy Cross bright and early tomorrow.

Belize Team 2011 About Ready for Takeoff!

2011-01-27T16:11:00.001-08:00

The excitement is mounting! After Commissioning at the Annual Meeting, the Belize Team members began packing their bags, continued planning for the medical mission and dreamed of warm weather! The following folks will be heading to Belize this year....

Team 1 (Jan 28-Feb 5) -Bob Moore, Jan Lamb, Ted Triebel, Jim Hooker, Joanne Hooker, Jean Willard and John Willard.

Team 2 (Feb 4-Feb 12) - Joyce Avery, Kathy Arnold, Bob and Ginny Atwell, Scott Chapman, Beth Haynes, Peter Jacobi, Clara Murray, Lynn Patterson, Jim Short, Jean Willard and John Willard.

Thursday afternoon found Johnson Hall jumping as team members sorted and packed donated items for the teachers, students and community near Holy Cross Anglican School. Thanks to everyone who made the donations that filled the dozen suitcases!

Items were sorted by category and then packed. There were lots of nice surprises and the teachers and students will be delighted with the new supplies and books as well as all the medical supplies on their way!

Why won't this lock??

Pushed down on that suitcase a little too hard...
a little less pressure and it worked great!!

Every suitcase got weighed - 45# maximum.
No Friday morning surprises!

Team 1 takes off Friday morning at 7:00 am. We'll fly to Miami and then onto Belize. We'll be picked up by our friend Phillip and he will take us to the water taxi where we will board the boat and take a nice 90 minute ride to Ambergris Caye and Ruby's Hotel.

We hope you will follow our adventures on this blog! We'll add things as often as possible to keep you up with our adventures! This is your trip too!

Sally: The Last Days

2010-06-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

The youth trip to Belize definitely ended on a spectacular note. Friday was special in that we got to do a little less manual labor and a little more hanging out in classrooms. I particularly enjoyed it when a class spontaneously asked us to sing some songs for them, and then they sang for us in return. It was also fun to see all the Standard VI kids getting excited about graduation; I even got to sign one girl's uniform. We also spent some time on Friday meditating on the beach, afterwards going out for some lobster burritos. Saturday was also a great day, despite getting off to a bumpy start on our malfunctioning water taxi. The best part of this day for me was definitely getting to go to the youth group meeting of a church in Belize City. It was really interesting to observe the similarities and differences between their meetings and ours. They were very welcoming, and many emails and Facebook names were exchanged before we left. The Sunday morning worship at the Cathedral was definitely memorable for me. It seemed much shorter than its 2+ hour length, just because there was so much to absorb: the time they took to honor the fathers for Father's Day, the countless plaques from the 1800s lining the walls, the different ways in which they said the prayers. The travel home went very smoothly, and as much as I loved Belize, I was surprised by how nice it felt to land in Miami and feel back at home. This trip was all that I had hoped for and more. I think we all learned a lot about our group and ourselves. The people of San Pedro, San Mateo, and Holy Cross were incredibly generous, welcoming, and inspiring. I really hope I will have a chance to go back someday.

Elizabeth: The Last Days

2010-06-25T21:04:00.001-07:00

From Friday forward was such a whirlwind experience and I can't believe it's already over! Friday was full of little children running around and saying goodbye to us. It is so nice to be appreciated like that. Saturday started with a bang...literally. Well I guess it was more of a bump than a bang, but our water taxi hit something in the water, probably a rock, and so we were slightly delayed coming into Belize City. Once we got there, we made the hike to the Diocesan House. It was a nice house, with only so many fans, but we survived. Later that afternoon, we met up with a Belize youth group. That was really interesting. Just talking to them and participating in their normal weekly meeting was really cool. We brought back some neat ideas. Sunday at the cathedral was interesting as well. We left early ONLY two hours into the service. During the service, we were called up to hold hands in a circle in the middle of the church with the bishop and the church sang the traveler's song. That was so sweet. I wish my birthday was during that week because they sung Happy Birthday to some folks. It was also really cute that all or most of the elderly ladies in the church wore fancy or elegant church hats. Coming back to the United States was so comforting and relieving. Even though I wasn't even in our home state, it was nice to feel at home in the Miami airport (after customs, of course.) I am so glad that I was able to go through this experience and I am especially glad that I got to experience this with the group I was with. I am so grateful to everyone on this trip because it was fantastic and each person made it great. =)

Belize youth pilgrims are home: watch for trip reflection posts this week

2010-06-21T13:12:00.001-07:00

The Belize youth pilgrims had a smooth journey home and arrived at RDU airport shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night. We were tired but truly invigorated by all that we experienced. Thanks be to God!

So much happened on the last three days of our pilgrimage. Friday was a wonderful day at the school followed by some reflection time on the beach. Saturday we arrived back in Belize City (after a slight engine malfunction on the water taxi) and got to join with a Belize youth group from All Saints Anglican Church for their meeting that afternoon. We celebrated with dinner at the Bird's Isle restaurant (where we had lunch the very first day). That evening, each pilgrim received a wooden cross made from pine timbers salvaged from St. John's Cathedral in Belize City. Sunday morning we went to church at St. John's and got a blessing from Bishop Wright before boarding the airplane for home.

I have invited the youth pilgrims to make individual posts summarizing their thoughts and experiences of the final days and the trip as a whole. I hope you will continue to visit the blog over the next week or so to check out what they have to say.

Peace,
Joe+

Keith: Last days In Belize.
We went to a youth group meeting in Belize City at All Saints Church. It was fun meeting with kids our age in a different country. That night we went to that Restaurant by the sea, which was really good (double beef bacon cheese burger). Sunday we woke up early to go to Belize Cathedral. Unfortunately we didn't get that memo that the church was starting an hour later. We went back later and had a good time at the service, which was really different. Flew home after that and got to Miami. Had dinner there. Then it was time to come back to RDU and go home.

Wednesday and Thursday: Holy Cross, Snorkeling, and more...

2010-06-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Abby: Wednesday I started out the day with waking up at 5 to the sunrise which was incredible and completely worth it. The rest of my day at the school was spent reading to a group of kids with Elizabeth and painting while singing songs like I Just Can't Wait To Be King and Hey Jude, loudly and way off key with Elizabeth and Sally:) Even though painting is always fun, the snorkeling was definitely the best part of my day. I will admit that swimming with stingrays and hugging a shark were completely terrifying experiences but at the same time it was so cool. Today has been spent singing songs to the children, stacking and picking up roof pieces, and being hug-attacked by multiple kids at once...which is the part of Holy Cross I think I am going to miss the most.

Sally: We started out Wednesday with our second delicious trip to "Casa Pan Dulce" on the way to school. My job for most of the morning was painting the outside wall of a building. After lunch, we headed off to snorkeling, which was just incredible. Our guides led us through an unbelievable journey through the coral reef, and let us get up close and personal with sharks, sting rays, and sea turtles! So far today, we have participated in the three chapel services for the different age groups. We taught the kids a few songs and learned some new ones from them as well. I've spent the rest of this morning working on a fencing project with Harris and Amy, with occasional breaks for never-ending high fives and hugs from the kids!

Jessica: I started out Wednesday in the best way possible: viewing a beautifal sunrise. It involved getting up a little earlier but I'm so glad that I did. When we got to the school, me and Naomi spent the morning preparing backpacks that will be given to the kids and decorating them, which we had a lot of fun with. Later we went snorkeling, which was absolutley amazing. I held a shark and touched a stingray, two things I never thought I would do. Today, we got to sing songs for the kids and later I got some adorable pictures with them. :)

Naomi: Wednesday morning I got up and watch the sun come up. Joe and Amy had the youth walk to school by ourselves, which was a challenge, but we did morning prayer and went to the bakery, and still got to the school a little early. At the school, I prepared backpack prizes with Jessica, which was fairly easy, but at the same time a bit tedious and time-consuming. Then I went outside to paint one of the front walls of the school. After lunch, which was amazing as usual, we went snorkeling. It was a great experience, and I got some amazing pictures of the beautiful sea-life. At the second snorkeling spot, I held a shark, which was terrifying and totally awesome. It had rough skin, which I was not expecting at all. The stingray was a bit velvety, almost slimy, and that was really cool, although we didn't actually get to hold it, just touch it. Overall, it was a great day, and I'm gonna miss Belize- the work AND the tourism- A LOT.

Joe: It has been a blessing to watch these young men and women embrace this opportunity. They work hard, they play hard, they even pray hard. On Wednesday, I watched them step outside their comfort zones: getting in the classrooms with children (actually they seemed quite comfortable doing that), getting into the ocean with nurse sharks and rays (which felt almost as chaotic at times as the classrooms...I guess a "school" of fish is crazy just like a school of children). On the way to the site, we remembered those who had asked for our prayers and those who helped us get here...thank you! It has also been a blessing to work with my co-leader, Amy, who has also jumped in with both feet and is really gifted. She led us in a wonderful exercise the night before snorkeling in which we opened our senses and hearts to experience the Holy in God's natural world. It really helped me as I dove under the water and swam with the sea turtles. Today we heard the sound of the Holy Spirit in the singing of children's voices at chapel services. I was impressed by how they prayed and sang and shared a bit when I spoke about God's creation of human beings in God's image, and the responsibility of humans to take care of God's gifts and creation. I'm looking forward to spending some more time tonight with Mr. Kenny, our local cook who has not only showed us how to cook but also shared with us some of the values of his culture: not worrying so much about the material and always being willing to share of your abundance with your neighbor. Thanks, Mr. Kenny.

Keith: Wendsday morning we got up without the assitance of Joe and Amy (I guess we're big kids now) We did everything, suprisingly, that we would normally do if Joe had been there. We walked to school and stopped by the bakery, which wasn't as good today because the bread was kind of hard. We got to the school and did the norm: scrubbing, painting, working with the kids. The kids really made me happy when we walked in and they were like Hello Mr. Keith!! You've come back!!, etc.. We left earlier today at 1:00 p.m. so that we could get ready for snorkeling. As you probally don't know, I'm not a swimmer....at all, So the whole snorkeling thing was kind of strange for me, but I did get in the water and I'm really glad that I did because it was something I will never forget. The coral reef is like God's underwater Jungle with huge flying sting rays and eels, barracudas, and all other stuff you see in the aquarium. Really fun! Thursday Morning we came and worked on the bathroom (I swear God must have forgotten to turn the a.c on this morning) It Was HOT!! Also when I was working with the kids one of them asked me for my autograph. It was really a WOW moment and it caught me off guard. Made me feel really special and appreciated. Coolest kids.

Harris: Okay so Wednesday the leaders let us get up and ready in the morning by ourselves. No wake-up call and no telling us when to leave, but we were able to get to the school EARLY and still stop by "Casa Pan Dulce" (the best bakery EVER!) At school I scrubbed some walls and I got to take some of the Infant classes to the library to read. At about 1:00 we left the school and we got to go snorkeling, which was the coolest thing. We got to see turtles, sharks and stingrays. We also saw an abundance of so called "Horse-eye fish", and apparently one thought my hand looked appetizing around the chum bucket. Now I have a good story and am going to have a killer scar! So the next day (today) we came to the school and we had chapel. Joe told us we now knew what it was like to be clergy members, because we did the same service three times. It was still all fun and I later got to go to the Infant classes. There is one class that I have become particularly fond of, and am really going to miss them. OH! and don't forget to watch the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup game tomorrow! I know I'm watching it (at 5:00 in the morning!!!) GO USA!!!!!

Maggie: Good afternoon everyone! Well, Wednesday morning brought more scrubbing. I believe as a collective amount, I may have scrubbed half of the school by now. It wasn't all that difficult once we found out we could use rags to get the dirt off instead of brushes. (Which only took a total of two and a half days to figure out.) Once that was all finished I moved on to pulling out random nails in a railing leading up to the office of the school. That proved to be a bit more difficult seeing as the nails were jammed in the infamous "hardwood" and the entire area was being hit by direct sun. Once that task was complete I held a ladder for Naomi as she painted. After that was another delicious lunch served by the lovely cooks at the school. Okay, skipping ahead.....SNORKELING! We got to the sight and everyone was eager to jump right in. We had a very knowlegable guide, Herman. He showed us many beautiful things as we swam for about thrity minutes. As some of the parents know, those of you who have been to Belize with me before, I have a waterproof bag that I can seal my camera in to take underwater pictures. Unfortunatley, more than half of the trip was over before I realized there was a hole in the bag. Needless to say my camera is now out of commission. Mom, I am sorry you had to find out about this over the blog, but I have money for a new camera :) Our second stop was to shark and ray alley where I got to hold a rather large shark. It was pretty dang amazing. Once back at the hotel Elizabeth and I got to follow Mr. Kenny around Belize and shop for food. (amazing experience) When we got back home and Mr. Kenny prepared his Marinade, Elizabeth and I wrote down the recipe, for any of you who would like to know it! Okay, I will make this next bit short...today was EXTREMLY HOT! And of all the days, Abby, Jessica, Elizabeth and I got to scour the basement of the soon to be finished bathroom. What a task that was! I won't say anymore about that because I am tempted to rant about how hot it was. I also got to help with kids. Okay, sorry that was so long. (and possibly boring) Talk to you all tomorrow!

Elizabeth: Good morning!! On Wednesday, we all went to Casa Pan Dulce, as you've probably heard 9 times by now. Then when we got to school, I got to play with the kids after breakfast but before school started. That was so much fun! I played tennis ball catch with these 4 Infant I boys, and they were all so cute. Then another little boy, Levon, came up to me and said, "A pretty shell for a pretty girl," and handed me a really pretty, small white shell. It made me feel really appreciated. I painted for the first half of the morning with Abby and Sally and we made that so much fun by singing songs and goofing off. Later that morning I read to some kids from Standard I and also Ms. Spain's Infant I class. Snorkeling was FANTASTIQUE. I'll go on and on if I start talking about it, plus you've already heard about it by now. Well I will say that I did get to hold the nurse shark. Moving on to Thursday: Maggie, Keith, and I got to take some awesome pictures with Ms. Elsie's Infant II class. Maggie, Jessica, Abby, and I cleaned out the basement of the almost finished bathroom house. (It's a big basement.) That was quite the experience!! Chapel was also a lot of fun and the kids were so cute when they prayed. They really liked us teaching the Pharaoh, Pharaoh song. Shopping with Mr. Kenny was amazing! Okay jumping ahead to this morning, we met up with this little girl who had a kitten in her bookbag. She wanted to take it to school! We were all scared for the kitten's life. It was quite an ordeal, but very funny. Until next time, bye bye!

Amy: Everything about this trip has been a blessing. I have enjoyed getting to know and working with our youth group "pilgrims" so much. They have a talent for embracing each experience and finding the fun in everything, whether that be playing with kids at the school or scrubbing walls. (Even on our way to Lamanai, squished and huddled together under a tarp in the pounding rain, I heard no complaints.... but a lot of laughter!) It has also been a joy interacting with the children and staff at Holy Cross. I have spent some time giving math tests, reading, attempting to teach juggling, and especially enjoyed the chapel services yesterday - hearing the Holy Cross children sing, and watching the smiles and giggles as our group led them in an exuberant rendition of "Pharoah, Pharoah". I've gotten to try new things and stretch myself as a group leader, and have learned so much from working with Joe. And the beauty of this place sinks into mind, heart, and body... the sunrises, the breeze, the coral reef, the faces of the people all around.

Day 2: Holy Cross :)

2010-06-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth: Today was full of hard work. On the bright side, I was able to read with some pretty awesome Standard I kids which was a lot of fun. I also scrubbed a wall all morning. Maggie and I helped Joe drill holes in a window. I also enjoying playing with the kids in time-out.

Maggie: This morning I woke up to my first breath-taking sunrise! (I couldn't bring my self to wake up early until today) All of this morning I scrubbed a very dirty wall. I felt very accomplished to see all the dirt wash off with the water! I got to read with some very cute kids, and I used a power drill with Elizabeth to drill a window into the wall!

Naomi: Jessica, Keith and I started painting today. Jessica and I painted a wall on the outer office building of the school. At first, it wasn't too hard, but then as we got further along the wall, we got to the swamp, which made painting hard. It was fun.

Jessica: I did a little of everything today, which was great. I got to scrub the walls with everyone, work with the kids a little, and Naomi and I began painting. Working with the kids is my favorite part of working here.

Keith: Today I was scrubbing and I fell through and off the ladder. Worked with the kids and played soccer with the kids which was pretty fun. Then I read to the kids the same stories we read yesterday :(. Then I painted the area by the air condition. Paint dosent come off =/

Abby: Throughout the day I scrubbed buildings, read to kids, gave a 5 year old boy his exam, and folded pamphlets. But the one thing that made my day was the little girl coloring this morning who looked up at me and said "I like the way you smile". It was adorable:)

Sally: Today I gave a math exam to a 5-year-old girl, scrubbed walls, and read stories with some Standard I girls. Highlight was when Elizabeth and I were invited to play "Telephone" with some kids who, we later found out, were supposed to be serving out a time-out sentence. Oops!

Harris: I started out today by waking up to the sunrise. Then we went to the bakery and came to the school. I scrubbed walls and read with the Infant I and Infant II classes. I have made myself quite a few new friends. And I found a conch shell!!!

Joe and Amy and Jan Lamb: Reminding us to drink water, wear sunscreen, and look for holy surprises, and do your best.

Tonight we head to Jan Lamb's house for supper. Tomorrow, another day at Holy Cross and snorkeling in the afternoon and a cooking lesson with Mr. Kenny...Belize style!

Good Marning Visitars....

2010-06-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Day Two: LAMANAI (or so we thought until we found out the correct pronunciation is Lama'nayeen)

Monday morning began early with a short morning prayer and then boarding the boat headed straight to Bomba (our first stop, a wood carving village.) Within twenty minutes of our 3 hour journey, rain began to fall. At first it was quite refreshing, but then as it increased intensity it hurt more and more. We were forced to hide under a very large blue tarp. Once we got to Bomba we had breakfast and took a bus to another leg of our trip. We finally made it to Lamanai after yet another boat ride through the mangroves and rain. After lunch, we explored the museum and took a hike through the jungle with our ever so knowledgeable guide, Eddie. We tasted allspice, which has natural Novocaine in it. The first temple was the jaguar temple and that was breath-taking. We were able to climb that one and then we moved on to more impressive sights. The next temple was the Stela 9 temple. There, Eddie gave us some natural bug repellent from a berry. The next temple was the BIG one. It looked tall from the bottom, but from the top it felt like you were on top of the world. It was a very spiritual experience and even though there were many people around you felt like you were the only one there. We could see for miles and the people below looked like little ants. Our tour guide put it best, "Climbing up is physical, but climbing down is psychological." The final temple we went to was the mask temple. This temple has a sealed grave on the inside and the mask, which were two faces, on the outside represented immortality.

Day Three: THE SCHOOL

This was our first day to see the school and it was exciting to see what we had heard about for so long. It was also nice for some of our veterans in the group to see familiar faces at the school. Jan Lamb gave us a tour through the school, where we stopped in a few classrooms. We were greeted very warmly with all the students standing up and saying, "Good marning visitars! Welcome to Standard V." After our tour through the school, Jan took us through the nearby under privileged neighborhood, San Mateo. To see this neighborhood was very humbling. Due to light rain, the outside work was limited. Some of us got to work with the kids either playing games or administering exams. Others were able to put the prizes together for the top three of every class. Others were able to go food shopping with Mr. Kenny, a professional chef who cooked for us that night. After lunch some of us scrubbed the outside walls of the office to prepare for painting. Some of us graded exams and organized the library. Finally our first day at Holy Cross came to an end. We retired back to our house and practiced a bit of relaxation (playing cards, exploring the town, and swimming in the pool and ocean.) We found a baby sting ray and a cool conch shell. Mr. Kenny proved to be an amazing chef and mango smoothie maker. Some of us helped with the smoothie making. For dinner we had snapper, sautèed vegetables, and rice and beans. We had a worship service that night and then we went to bed soon after that.

This morning on our way to school we stopped by the REALLY good bakery called Casa Pan Dulce. There was a multitude of pastries all for a reasonably low price. We also included pictures of this morning's sunrise. You should also note that the pictures are in reverse order. We had some trouble uploading this morning...

Until next time, forever yours,
-Maggie and Elizabeth

Youth Pilgrims Have Arrived in San Pedro!

2010-06-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks be to God for smooth travel, beautiful weather, and graceful guides. After a smooth check-in at RDU and a farewell to parents, we arrived on time in Miami and Belize City. At the airport, we were met by Mr. "Sonny," older brother of our beloved Mr. Phillip. Mr. Sonny guided us to a wonderful place, "The Birdsnest" for lunch and showed us around Belize City. While waiting for the water taxi, some of our soccer fans got to watch some of the U.S./U.K. World Cup match. The best part of the day was coming to the dock and seeing Jan Lamb with a "welcome St. Luke's" sign. We toted our luggage (including the heavy school supply suitcases...getting us ready for some hard work this week) down the beach to our great house at The Tides and then took the school stuff on to Holy Cross. Now it's on to dinner and some group orientation tonight before waking early tomorrow to head to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us and helped us get here. We have stopped at each step in the journey and said a big "thank you" for all the little blessings along the way. Keep us in your prayers as we arrive here in spirit as well as body and as we continue to look for signs of the Holy Spirit. -Joe

More Team Memories of Belize 2010

2010-02-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

Some Team Memories

Below are some favorite pictures sent by team members from or 2010 Mission Trip.

The Palace Theatre now greets you as you come across the bridge. It is as yet unopened. Mr. Gordo's house (Freddy's Dad) is in the forefront. We used to eat our meals there in the early days. Had to watch your step getting to the tables, but the view was stunning.

Ah, and there to the left is Holy Cross Anglican School.

The kids keep us coming back year after year!

All dressed up for the Valentine's Fair! What a day!

Kids patiently (?) waiting for their vision screening.

Dr. Peter examining the cooks in the kitchen. Their first encounter was when the scales came out! Most had not been on one for years.

Pam Spatola's skills in Spanish were invaluable this year, particularly with the adults and the very young students, most of whom spoke very little English.

Cleaning up the endless pots, pans and dishes from lunch!

Mr. Freddy sharing the story of the Mahogany tree ( in white planter) planted by the children with Mr. John.

Miss Rosalia, Freddy's wife and head of the kitchen, and her crew of five produce wonders every day. They feed over 525 students, all staff and any volunteers who are around a wonderful nutritious lunch as well as a liquid breakfast supplement along with a carbohydrate of some kind for the students who qualify and then a nutritious fruit snack mid morning. The Anglican schools are the only schools in Belize that have feeding programs. All other students are released for the lunch break to go to their homes. For many Holy Cross students, this is the only food they consume during the day.

The jacks come out before school while the students are waiting to go to their classrooms. Note the bagels for breakfast and the glass of liquid supplement on the table behind...part of the feeding program for those in need. The boys play marbles in the sand beside the school until school begins.

Ah our fearless leader waiting for more sand on the deck. Note all that new land beyond the deck....tons of sand into the swamp made that possible.....all shoveled off the deck into a wheelbarrow and then moved to the edge. There's lots more land behind the tool shed to the right. Some sore shoulders from this activity!

The view from the deck at Ruby's provided us a good vantage point to watch the Guatemalan women who came each day to sell their wonderful weavings. Some had small children with them and some sold with their husband, particularly on the weekends when the men were not working on construction jobs.

Destiny's Mother's House. We met Destiny four year's ago when we first came to Holy Cross. and have followed her history since then. It's been a sad tale from the beginning of illness, neglect and unheaval. This is where Dr. Jim, Sandra and Kim (a visiting Social Worker) made the video on the blog. Note the board pathway leading to the house.

Dr. Jim examines Destiny two days after his home visit and treatment. She came to the school to be seen at the clinic on the porch.

More Memories

2010-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

More pictures from the 2010 Mission Trip

The morning checkin by email!

Standard VI students traditionally make and sell cupcakes at the Valentine's Fair. Then to increase their profits, they sell raffle tickets for special ones they make.

Most evenings we met at 6:00 for a short service of Compline, or other evening prayer and then reflections on the day. A wonderful way to share the little things that happened during the day.

Standard III students practicing their keyboarding skills in the computer lab.

What a great commute to work!!

David the welder working on his security fence. This fence is going nowhere!

Administering Communion to each other on our first Sunday with Team 1. We celebrated with the Minnesota group that was visiting for the weekend after working in Punto Gordo.

Amy tutoring one of her students in the library.

Home Again.

2010-02-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got up bright and early, grabbed some food from the little Ruby's shop and headed for the 8:00 water taxi. The sun was out for one more beautiful day as we headed for the airport. Philip was at the dock to meet us and took us to the Cathedral so the "newbies" could see it. Fortunately, the cleaning crew was there polishing the wood so it was open. After a brief stop we headed to the airport and home. The trip back was uneventful and we arrived safely at about 10:45 pm.

It was a very successful trip. Being able to break Jan in a little was a real plus for us! While we had alot of fun, we also got alot accomplished. New construction, new land created, new books cataloged in the library and hours of tutoring one on one combined with a huge effort medically that saw heights and weights done on almost 500 students, vision tests on almost 300, medical screenings on over 200 and acute care on many dozens of students, teachers, staff and outside community folks. Special thanks to Marie for a great coordinating job to make all that medical stuff happen! We completed data entry and reorganized the medical records for the whole school. But the best part was the time and love we were able to share with those wonderful kids and each other. That, plus just a whole lot of fun, good food and drink, wonderful reflections with stories and happenings of the day and sunrise on the deck at Ruby's will bring us back next year for more!

Our thanks to all of you who bought those Beans and Rice dinners, purchased poinsettias, gave generous donations of money and supplies and said prayers for us while we were there. We were able to deliver over 1200 pounds of school and medical supplies through your gifts!

Reservations are made for 2011....maybe next year will be the year YOU are in our pictures!

Watch for one more blog with a selection of favorite pictures from team members. Meanwhile, keep up with what's happening in Belize by visitiing Deacon Jan's blog at www.janinbelize.blogspot.com.

Valentines Fair!

2010-02-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Team 2 took our Team picture in the quiet before the Valentine's Fair started in full force! What a crazy day! It was really fun though and they were raking in the dough for Holy Cross! Each teacher had a booth of somekind where they sold things to the students as well as community members who came to visit. Lots of games, food and music! Chaos reigned!
This was the Valentine's bulletin board on the porch. The older classes were given hearts and asked to complete the sentence "I like Holy Cross because....." There were some wonderful, heartwarming answers.
This table by Miss Laura and Standard V was the one that sold out first. Each of those little gold and silver packages contained a surprise. They went like hotcakes.
Peter, Sandra, Joyce, Marie and Pam had a great time face painting all morning. There were dragons, rainbows, snakes, hearts, dolphins (was that really a dolphin??) and other creatures wandering the arms and faces of the happy kids!

A local tour guide came to give the children a ride in the bicycle rickshaw. The kids loved it.

While everyone else was having fun, the sand men were still creating new land......
the painters were finishing the exterior of the classroom using the newly completed catwalk

and others were painting the interior of the just constructed pantry! The data entry folks were working hard to get the last of the information onto the spreadsheet and the files neatly organized and in the file cabinet. The chaos ended at noon and we had a quiet lunch and began to wrap things up. We headed home at various time during the afternoon, some with a stop of Deacon Jan's on the way back to Ruby's. We had our final Reflections on the deck as the sun was disappearing and then headed to the Sunset Grill for dinner. What a great week!

Almost got it all done!

2010-02-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

Crazy busy day today! Got alot done! Between Chapels and Computer and Library Schedules, we didn't get all of the vision tests done, but the Duke kids will finish the couple of classes in March! Saw lots of kids though! Destiny came to visit today for Dr. Jim to do a recheck on her after his treatment yesterday. The boys from Minnesota finished cleaning and painted the wall behind the library.
The drumming club met after school. They're getting pretty good! It's a program Miss Kim started before she left. It's a great behavior motivator! Check out the short video at the bottom of this entry.
Jim H wired the pantry on the porch behind the kitchen. Bob and others worked on enclosing it so probably work on shelves tomorrow.
Lionel came to visit with his jewelry and several of us bought some. He does such a nice job and is such a great kid, it's hard not to support him. Had a pick your choice dinner tonight and many ended up at the Wild Mango! Peter's trivia game was quite a hit. Ask him about it when you see him. All in all a very successful day! Tomorrow is the Valentine's Fair so should be a CRAZY day! Jean and crew will be working hard to finish data entry and filing for the medical records, some of the guys will paint walls and Peter, Marie, Jan, Joyce will be painting faces :-)

Visiting Destiny in her home

2010-02-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

We saw Destiny on Tuesday in her home. She is 9 years old, weighs 40 lbs, and obviously has Cystic Fibrosis but has never received treatment. Destiny's temperature was 101.6 and had pneumonia in both lungs. Her mom did not want to take her to the hospital. I gave her antibiotics and Ibuprofen, and by Thursday she was much better when we saw her again. There is no way to test for Cystic Fibrosis in all of Belize. I left several more rounds of antibiotics for Destiny with a careworker; this won't be Destiny's last pneumonia.

Happy Birthday to You!

2010-02-10T05:57:00.000-08:00

Birthday's galore today! We started the day out with a Birthday Bun for Mr. Freddy, the Facilities Manager (Chief Construction Officer!) that we've worked with every since we came to Holy Cross. Then the cooks made a cake for Clara for lunch and then we again celebrated her birthday with a cake and singing at the Chicken Drop at Caliente's. Great fun!

Joanne had the little ones enthralled with a story before school started. Began with one and had a crowd before long.

The sand men kept up their good work creating new land by the computer room. This space will be used for a vocational training center for carpentry--ever expanding!
We ran four eye stations today as well as the Dr./Nurse screenings--even the construction guys got involved! Got through all of the little Infant I kids. They had never had eye screenings before so it was a slow process, but fun.
The catwalk deck is completed and Jim Hooker is working on the railings. There is a group of dentists and spouses here from Minnesota. One of the spouses is Alan, a really great guy. He has been working with the construction guys. He's a farmer and runs a landscape business. He's taken a great interest in the septic system they are considering installing and spent alot of time studying it yesterday. He'll be a wonderful consultant as he's installed other very similar systems. Another of God's blessings for Holy Cross! He and John have been working together cleaning and painting the wall behind the library...in the swamp. Interesting scaffolding but can't get to a place to take a picture without my hip boots!

Dr. Jim went with Sandra and Kim into town to visit some folks. They took some short videos. We're going to try to install some of them so keep checking back. They show some of the reality these Holy Cross students are living in!

All in all it was a VERY productive day and great night at the Chicken Drop. We ate on the lower deck this time and found it much better! Nice breeze, great company, and another great rum cake with a candle!

Can It Get Any Hotter or More Humid???

2010-02-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

THE 2009 RECORDS HAVE BEEN FOUND! Kim found them when she went digging..in the top draw of the desk in the office! Hurray! And even better news is that the Holy Cross soccer team beat St. Peters 5-0! See the comment for more details!

The wind yesterday blew every ounce of breeze out of here and it was still, humid and HOT from the beginning of the day! The medical team got going early and we saw alot of kids today. Had four eye stations going so most everyone did eyes at some point! Got almost all the heights and weights finished up and lots of screenings. Bob and Jim have the deck surface completed - HOT! and John cleaned the mildew off the back wall of the library-ugh! Ron worked on smoothing new door pulls and everyone else was pretty out straight baking on the porch with kids!

Soccer game today at 2:00. Bob, Ron and Kathy headed down about 1:50 to be our contingent. The 6th graders were selling raffle tickets for free cupcakes at the Valentine's Fair on Friday as well as for soccer jersey's so they're learning the art of fundraising early!

Despite the heat we got alot done! Looking forward to a cooler day tomorrow!

The internet has been running very slow to non-existant for the last couple of days. Pictures tomorrow, if it's better. Right now it would take ages to put them up!

All is well in Belize! Elvi's for dinner tonight!

What a great day of work!!

2010-02-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today was an awesome day of work! We were almost blown to school today! It stayed cloudy for a good part of the day and the breeze kept up so it was a great day to work! The medical team got the clinic running and had kids in there by about 10:30. Joanne is working the check in desk, Pam is the runner to get the kids, Clara and Ginny and Kathy and various others did vision screenings, Nurse Joyce, Dr. Peter and Dr. Jim did Medical evaluations, Marie treated acute cases, Jean unpacked all the suitcases and worked on the medical records and everyone kicked in as needed. The construction crew of Bob and Jim continued work on the deck built last week-- now they're adding a railing. Ron and John moved sand to create new land next to the computer room--ALOT of SAND! The sun came out in the afternoon so it got hot. Headed home about 3 as the kids were long gone and everyone was pretty tired. Met at 6 and headed to the Jerk Pit for dinner. Great start!!

Free Sunday

2010-02-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

St. Luke's folks were all over San Pedro today...walking, biking, golf carting. It was a totally free day until 5:00. Dr. Jim went to the school to meet with Kim, a social worker here from Univ of Mississippi he worked with last year; Dr. Peter and Sandra biked to up north of the bridge; Clara Joyce, Ron and Kathy rented a golf cart and headed north and south; Bob and Ginny shopped; Jean and John walked up north and everyone relaxed for the rest of the day. We gathered at 5 and headed to Jan's place for a Super Bowl Party! It was quite the success! Great time had by all. Home early enough to be rested for tomorrow! Be sure to check out the blog entry on Saturday by Team 2. It follow's John H-C's return home entry!

Adios from Team-O Primo

2010-02-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed our time in San Pedro. Attached is a picture of 2 motley crews: Team-O Primo and the Holy Cross Anglican School soccer team. Good Luck to the Team 2 Crew!

Team 2 - On Their Own!

2010-02-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a great day for Team 2 (and a few holdovers from Team 1). After good-byes to Team 1 members returning today, all but Jean, Joanne, Jan, Ron and Kathy headed for the for John's favorite sail boat for a day of sailing, snorkeling and relaxing. Turns out the Captain of the boat found it stuck on the reef and he got it off and has repaired it and now takes groups out for day and multiple day trips. One of his kids or grandkids goes to Holy Cross so he gave them a really great rate.

Nothing like a day of sailing to bring you all together!

They had a tremendous lunch and snorkeled in the Coral Gardens area, a new one for all. They caught a baracuda--but that wasn't lunch! All had a grand time.

Ron and Kathy headed out at 7:00 for the day trip to Lamanai. They had a super time and saw monkeys etc while there. Came back weary after their boat, bus, and more boat rides, but very enthused and happy. The rum punch on the way back might have had something to do with it!

Jean, Joanne and Jan headed for Caye Caulker for a trip down memory lane and a visit to the Sandbox! Caye Caulker was where we had out first Belize adventure in 2002 building houses for an Episcopal Relief and Development Project. First stop was the fruit with yogurt and granola breakfast at the Sandbox. Has not changed at all, except the staff. None of the familiar faces. Daisy's looks just the same...even with the same coat of paint on it! Our houses look great..they're holding up very well. The one by the gas company had a swing set beside it and looked great. No foul odors so the septic must be working well also!! The shopping is about the same. Mr. Chocolate was there this time and we had a good conversation about the Manatee Conservation Area. Walked down to the split and it looks just the same. They're finally finishing up the hotel building that was boarded up all those years ago. Back to the Sandbox for conch fritters and then the water taxi home.

Great day had by all. Carumbas for dinner and the first of many birthday celebrations for Clara.

Week One nears an end

2010-02-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of work at the School for Week One. It is also the hottest day we have had. Since the children are away, we've done some painting in the "lunch porch" along with some outside painting. Our maintenance deck over the swamp continues to grow; we returned this morning to find the pros had extended the framing around the side of the building and were headed around another corner. We are suspicious that the old "bait and switch" is being used to have us build the Holy Cross Fishing Pier. Craig and Wayne extended the decking as far as prudence would allow, plus 3 additional boards. Fortunately, we heard no splahes.

Holly, wielding the circular saw, and David did various repairs around the school. Jean and Hope have been continuing to work on the student records in the library. We are confident that we will have done all that we can in advance of the Medical Team.

Holy Cross' soccer team plays the catholic school this afternoon at 3 and we plan to knock off early to watch the rivalry and cheer as only St. Luke's Mission Team members with a Bit o' Belikin in the belly can ("We don't care if you have the Pope, when you play Holy Cross, you've got no hope"). The internet is having a little trouble uploading pictures right now, but if I get a chance later, I'll post some pictures of the team at work, a picture of one of the students who walked hand in hand with Van to school one day has been added to a previous post.

We are looking forward to the arrival of the Week 2 Crew; from among their ranks will come the next blogger.

If it's Thursday, it must be more tutoring and building

2010-02-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Team-O Primo has settled into our routine: measuring and weighing the children, measuring and cutting the wood, measuring and sugar-coating our words (well, OK, not the last one). Tomorrow is a teacher work-day (they do them everywhere), so we need to finish up all the children-related activities. Thursday is also chapel, and if we have figured out how to work the "Flip" correctly, this blog should include a short video clip of the younger children in chapel.

Wednesday was a busy day, with great progress made on the children's medical record spreadsheets and updating them with this year's heights and weights.

Dirt is now apparently, well, dirt-cheap, so truck-loads of it have been showing up. Regrettably, there are plenty of shovels, so instead of a couple of workers and many supervisors, all of the dues-paying members of the Society of Strong Backs and Weak Minds have been able to reclaim some more swamp for the school.

After many design consultations, the maintenance walkway on the back side of the school was 90% completed and Wayne and Craig began applying the decking (drill hole, pound nail, drill hole, pound nail).

Holly continued to work with the dental team; she is amazed by the courage of the children, some of whom have extensive work done. Jan Lamb and Amy Duggins took the water taxi to Belize City to meet with the Bishop, Jan to report on her work and Amy to prepare the way for the St. Lukes youth group that arrives in June.

Since it was Wednesday, and we are Episcopalians steeped in ritual, we made the annual trek to Caliente for the Chicken Drop. No St. Lukers chose to play a starring role in the production this year, as Maggie Young did last year, but a raucous time was had by all. So far, our health has been generally good with only Mr. Bob suffering some ill effects one day (his new motto: No Lobster for the Bobster!).

The children continue to delight. I'll try to post some pictures in subsequent posts.

Photos from Belize

2010-02-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

This will be a short post, with some pictures. In no particular order, you see:

1. Holly Hodges on the wooden boards where she leads children to the dental office. New meaning to "walk the plank."

2. Randy painting poles that are used to mark the school's boundary, while balancing on joists. Fortunately we do not have to take them into the swamp in the canoe and sink them to bedrock.

3. David standing by his welding success, which he has termed "The Gates of Hell" due to the difficulty involved. Although perhaps less artistic than Rodin's sculpture of the same name, based on what the Pentacostal preachers here in Belize say, David's gates are more successful at keeping people out.

4. Hope and Craig walking hand-in-hand to work in the morning and, in the distance, John and Jean doing likewise. The couple that slaves together, stays together. No one else would let me photograph them holding hands as, technically, they are not here with their spouses.

Getting to Work

2010-02-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

It's day 2 at the School. Jan Lamb is serving as the back-up Francis (since Vernon and Francis are back in the States), greeting visitors, searching desperately for someone else to take charge of the bulletin boards, and generally keeping things on an even keel. A dental team is also here this week, so Holly Hodges is serving as the Angel of Dental Visitation, collecting the Appointed Ones from their classrooms and leading them to the Chair. Other work includes Hope, Amy, Bob and Jean unloading and storing the supplies we brought, applying color-coded labels to the spines of books in the library to make filing (and the correction of mis-filing) easier, providing 1-on-1 tutoring and, for Randy, painting poles that are being used to mark the boundaries of the school property.

We've also begun sorting the medical records for the students from last year, so that we can start the height and weight measurements for new and returning students and have the records sorted by classroom for next week's medical team.

Those with strong backs and weak minds have been relegated to moving sand, welding (Oh my God, they've given men from St. Luke's welding torches!!), moving lumber from across the road and, unfortunately, taking apart the beginnings of a maintenance walk-way that a group last week started but apparently did not do as instructed (I thought the February workers weren't supposed to be punished for the sins of the January workers; isn't that in Matthew or Mark, somewhere?). John Willard drew the short straw and had to crouch underneath a classroom in a nice layer of muck to cut off screws. John H-C stuck to taking apart the pieces of the walkway reachable from an upright and locked position, making mamby-pamby excuses about bad knees, the risk posed to a 6-footer if he has to contort his back, and general sissy-ness.

Craig, Van, David (the welder) and Wayne have been extending a porch off the back of the building that houses the kitchen. Mr. Bob kept his streak alive as the Most Famous Celebrity From St. Luke's by being hailed on the beach by a student who had graduated from Holy Cross last year and is now attending the high school on the island.

On Sunday, we had a joint worship service at Ruby's led by a group from St. Anne's Episcopal Church, located near St. Paul, MN. Jan Lamb served as deacon; pictures accompanying this post are from the service. Monday evening we read Compline before heading to dinner.

The hard work continues to be rewarded with wonderful meals. Last night was lobster burritos at Waraguma, home of the best papusas on the island (as Jan Lamb can tell you, papusas are Salvadoran corn meal pancakes typically filled with meat and cheese).

Jan Lamb's apartment continues to be a popular destination due to her refrigerator and internet connection. We trust that the constant parade of different men to her apartment isn't raising eyebrows with the neighbors.

Internet access has been a bit spotty, but we'll update this blog as time and the Belize telephone monopoly allow, and as the Spirit moves us. Comments are welcome. All posts are the sole responsibility of the blogger and are not to be construed as official or sanctioned views of St. Luke's, the Belize Mission Teams or the blogger's ordained spouse, who is too far away to keep him in line.

Team-O Primo Arrives

2010-01-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

The first wave of St. Lukers arrived safely on Ambergris Caye today and were met by Jan Lamb who was nursing a Belikin at the Tackle Box. After settling into Ruby's and resting up, the group went out for a nice seafood dinner (see photo), then walked Jan back to her apartment so we could check the progress of the winter weather back in North Carolina. Plans for tomorrow include some folks visiting the Mayan ruins at Lamanii. Holly Hodges arrives from Texas tomorrow, completing Team-O Primo's line up.

Team Two prepares to leave

2009-02-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

Team 2 closed out a great week at Holy Cross with the Valentine's festival today. There were games, food, music and lots of children. After our final delicious lunch prepared by Ms. Rosalea and her crew, we said our farewells and headed back to Ruby's. Some folks shopped;others napped. We soaked in the last of the tropical sun. Dinner was at the Sunset Grill -- a lovely way to end a great week. We will catch the morning water taxi after breakfast to begin the journey back to Durham, to family and homes. We are so thankful to John and Jean for all the pre-trip organization, to Terrie and Debbie for the preparations that made our medical screenings smooth, to Peter for being the Team 2 leader, and to each member of this team for working together, playing together and praying together. Thank you too to everyone at St. Luke's and beyond who came with us in spirit. We are already talking about our next trip to San Pedro and Holy Cross.

Farewell from San Pedro ..... and Ruby's.

Another busy day....

2009-02-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night found most of the team watching the Duke - UNC game. Barbara and Wilbur were the lone -- but very happy -- Carolina fans. It was a friendly rivalry with lots of cheers and laughing. Some of the group just went home happier than others did.

The final day of our medical screenings was a busy one. Dr. Peter, Dr. Jim and Nurse Joyce began the day at the Polyclinic seeing both well and sick babies. They joined the rest of the team at the school for more screening. Joanne took the height and weight of 3 more classes of children; Barbara and Clara did even more vision checks today with a few new referrals. Deacon Jan conducted 2 Chapel services and assisted the older students with their service. How wonderful to hear the children singing and praying together. As Sandra continued to videotape as many aspects of Holy Cross life as possible, she had a private tour of San Mateo. Wilbur worked with Jason on the shelves for the computer lab, and they are almost finished. There will be even more great storage when these shelves are finished.

We had more time with individual children today, meeting new friends, renewing old friendships in a day filled with hugs and bright smiles. Students worked today on preparations for their booths at the Valentine's Festival, including Standard VI's traditional cupcake sale. The festival will include health screenings for adults and will give us a new view of the school and community.

More Screenings Today

2009-02-11T13:59:00.000-08:00

We did even more screenings today. We have seen all the children in 9 classes along with more sick or hurt children. Then we saw children of teachers and the teachers themselves. Jim has gone to San Mateo again today to make home visits for mothers and babies. As we worked with the older children, we reconnected today with more who we have met on past trips. The smiles when they recognize our faces or remember our names are so wonderful.

Our doctors will be at the Polyclinic tomorrow so our screenings will take on a different flavor. It promises to be another day of adventure at Holy Cross!

At Clara's birthday dinner celebration last night at Wild Mangos, we were treated to a visit from Terrie and Van. They are enjoying their vacation but wanted to get the scoop on the school.

No pictues tonight and a short post since we'll have an early dinner so that we can watch the Duke/Carolina game. We have a big screen TV reserved on the condition that we buy plenty of Belikin. No problem, mon. It will be interesting as we are a "mixed" group.

Peace.

Medical Screenings

2009-02-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Team 2 has been very busy Monday and Tuesday with our medical screenings. We have seen all the children from Infant 1, Standard VI and are partially finished with Infant 2. There have also been numerous children with ear infections, cuts, asthma, fever, skin problems and a broken arm. They have been treated by Dr. Peter and Dr. Jim or sent to the Polyclinic. Joyce, Clara and Barbara staffed the vision screening stations, and Joanne was the registrar par excellence. After school today, the teachers were screened for blood pressure and diabetes as well as having an opportunity to ask Dr. Peter questions. Marie will be teaching the health class later in the week for the girls in Standard VI. And, many pairs of feet went home today in new shoes. Everyone who left the porch and the screening left with a smile. We will start again tomorrow right after breakfast. Team 1, we think you would be proud of us.

In addition to the medical work, new team members took a tour of San Mateo with Francis this morning before she left for a fundr raising tour of the US. Vernon, too, has gone stateside for a few days. We will miss them but are glad we could spend a little time with them and hearing the vision for Holy Cross. Sandra has been working of a new video for the school, and you can see her filming as Francis gave the background before the tour. Sandra has been in and out of the classrooms and documenting all phases of school life. We are hoping she'll invite us to sit at her table at the Emmies.

Clara celebrated her 80th birthday in true Belizen style today with much singing, cards made by the children and a special cake at lunch today. Tonight we will continue the team's celebration of this big day for her.

We love the messages and emails from NC and all around. Keep in touch while we are gone and know that we miss you and love you.

Sunday in San Pedro

2009-02-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

We began our day with Morning Prayer in the "chapel" on the deck at Ruby's. Pictured are the members of Team 2 during the coffee hour following our worship service. We moved on to a delicious breakfast, and then huddled to plan strategy and logisitics for our screenings at Holy Cross. After lunch most of the group walked or taxied to Holy Cross for a tour of the school and an orientation from Francis.

For those of us who last saw the computer lab/library building as pilings and a few floor joists, seeing the finished rooms was an exciting experience. There were gasps and a few tears as we walked in to this incredible facility built my many loving hands. There will be one of the regular dental clinic at the school, and the dentist we met today is from Cape Carteret, NC and the same church as the Larsons!

We know our week will be busy and filled with challenges -- some we have anticipated, others that will pop up each day -- but we think we are ready. We so appreciate all the work that Team 1 did to pave the way for us this week. We'll do our best to make you proud.

The weather is amazing -- there was a rain shower last night but yesterday and today have been lovely. It's cooler than some of us are used to in San Pedro, and that is a welcomed gift. Our day begins early tomorrow when Mr. Victor brings his taxi to collect our bags of shoes and supplies. We'll be thinking of everyone back home as we begin the adventure that God has planned for us tomorrow at Holy Cross.

Team One Winds Up Work; Team Next Arrives

2009-02-06T18:31:00.001-08:00

Team One made its last trip to Holy Cross this morning, managing to stop at the bakery on the way to console ourselves with fresh-from-the-oven sweetness.

We finished with a burst of building, measuring, cataloging and preparing. Plus Rector Anne walked the narrow, over-the-lagoon boards of the San Mateo neighborhood to bless a house and visit with a family.

The library is well-along to accepting its first students able to check out a book. A new table has been constructed and painted on the porch next to Resurrection Hall. And numerous children have been measured and weighed (see picture of Nurse Terrie and Debbie. Terrie: "here's ANOTHER one who is shorter than me; hooray!). All accomplished while dodging rain showers that seemed to sweep through every 15 minutes, only to be replaced by sunshine, before the cycle repeated.

When Team Two arrived, all 22 of us sat down to a feast at Elvi's (note to Willard's: all within spending limits!)

And now the blog transfers from John to Jan. You will rapidly be able to tell which one was educated as an engineer and which one is an English teacher.

Team Two has arrived safely in San Pedro. We were surprised by rain in Belize City, but are already enjoying unusualy cool weather. Team One greeted and welcomed us; we had a great dinner together. Our very early morning -- most of us were up by 3:00 am -- is taking its toll. We will turn in early and then get our orientation from Team One tomorrow. We are anxious to get to work on all the tasks they have planned for us.

Things Coming Together

2009-02-05T15:30:00.001-08:00

Today seemed much less hectic. Anne conducted 3 chapel services for the students; one of the pictures shows Anne presenting "treasure" to match our time and talents to Francis and Miss Grace after chapel for the older children. The children at chapel were receptive, the music wonderful and the "sermon" short and sweet. Its a tradition in Belize to recognize those with birthdays at services, so this week's included Terrie Blaylock and Vernon (of Francis-and-Vernon fame). We will be going out shortly for a nice dinner in honor of Terrie's 54th.

Much progress was made on the library; it will be quite an impressive resource for the students. Bob and Wayne made great headway on the school's computerized record keeping. The "hewers of wood" (a phrase from the Belizian national anthem) finished up the new railing on the walkway leading to the library that will be used by the kids lining up to visit the medical team next week and began work on a temporary shed to shelter a workspace to be used to construct new shelves and cabinets for the computer room.

After breakfast, Vernon took several of the team on a visit through San Mateo, the neighborhood where many of the students live; it is an eye-opening and heart-rending walk. Those who have managed to spend some time with the children, whether reading, tending to bumps and bruises, or just joking around before or after school are always warmed by the experience.

Looking forward to greeting Team 2 tomorrow.

Top Priorities and Chicken Drops

2009-02-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

Team One continued several activities at the school, from reading with individual students, to cataloging in the library, to hammers and nails and fetching of large, heavy wooden pallets from a nearby construction site (apparently in return for hauling bags of cement to the construction site), to varnishing chairs, to working feverishly to prepare for the medical team, to continuing to sort out several, unrelated databases of student information (see picture of Mr. Bob working with the school's computer teacher). Plus another career hour presentation. Plus ... well, you get the idea. This has led to some back and forth about what is the top-most of the top priorities. We are stressing prep for the medical team, but there are certainly a lot of things that need doing and we are trying to balance task-oriented stuff with some time with the students as well.

After a full day (but thankfully, another relatively cool one for Belize), we made the traditional Wednesday night foray to Caliente and its famous Chicken Drop (google it if you want; I'm not going into the details here). Suffice to say that, with the full consent of both her mom and rector, Maggie Young was one of the chicken handlers (see visual proof). Perhaps a future EYC fund-raiser?

2009-02-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Day 2 was another full day and, as is so often the case, not necessarily filled with the things you think it will be. Some of the day was relatively straightforward: the parts involving buildings and library books and school supplies and other inanimate objects. The outside crew continued to work on rebuilding railings, applied some magic stuff to the roof of the computer center to try to seal seams and moving mahogany plywood (they use mahogany for plywood in Belize!) in preparation for some cabinets to be built for the computer room. One picture attached shows Bob Atwell and Wayne doing some roofing work -- two cats on a hot tin roof. A second picture is Barb Harris and Holly Hodges in the library -- the two emissaries from St. Luke's feeder cities.

Ah, but the part involving people: how complex. Two very young students have both lost parents recently, to treatable illness on the one hand and violence on the other. Anne is set to do some counseling, not only with the students, but with their teachers who are so emotionally invested in seeing the children succeed. Others associated with the school have been victimized by fraud and extortion, with threats and police involvement and the perpetrator reportedly sited in town. Physical and sexual abuse is apparently all too frequent, and much effort is made to help the children understand it and feel comfortable going to a teacher to report it. And with over 500 students, the parade of bumps, bruises, and other ailments is constant, keeping Terrie and others busy fashioning treatments.

Our suitcases of supplies were picked up and delivered to Holy Cross this morning; Francis felt like it was Christmas. Work continues on setting up the library and setting up a way to track children who receive medical attention, dental services, or social interventions. Anne taught a religious class to Standard 6 and we all engaged Standard 5 in a career hour, hopefully improving in our delivery and relevance as we do this each day. We ended the day watching a video prepared on the drug trade in Belize City and a significantly happier video on the holiday boat parade, where the Holy Cross boat took home 3 trophies. Third picture is Debbie and friend in the computer room; more to come later ...

Work at the School Begins

2009-02-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

After another relaxing day on Sunday, Team One began work today at Holy Cross. The new computer lab and library are fabulous; the computer lab, with about 30 machines and a projector that can display lessons at the front of the room, is said to be the best at any school in Belize, if not Central America. All those who worked hard to fund it, build it and equip it can know that there time, talents and treasure have reaped large rewards.

Team members engaged in many different tasks, including setting up the library so that books can be checked out and catalogued in a systematic way, working on computer databases for the school, sorting school uniforms by size, seeing children needing some nursing attention, rebuilding a railing and beginning to add a soffit to a roof (roosting pidgeons not pleased), and having a "career hour" with Standard Six students.

After another rainy night, the day turned out to steadily get warmer so that those working outside could savor some of that Belizian sun. After a good day of work, Wayne found a new restaurant (Warugamu) where one (well, actually, all 12 of us) could dine on lobster wrapped in fresh tortillas and still stay under the spending limit.

2009 Belize Mission Trips Begin

2009-01-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

Team One 2009 has arrived safely in San Pedro. Arrival went smoothly in a Belize sort of way. Only one bag left behind in Phil's bus, but it is due to arrive by water taxi this afternoon. Barb Harris and Holly Hodges were able to sync up seamlessly from the Team One feeder cities of Philadelphia and Dallas (Holly being clever enough to arrive on the plane that continued on to Belize, so she knew her luggage would make it). Unlike years past, we were able to catch the 1:30 water taxi so, although a smaller boat than usual, had the advantage of not having to fight 136 school children for seats (if they would just attend Holy Cross Anglican School, they wouldn't have to make this trip)!

We thus arrived in San Pedro in plenty of time to relax before heading out to our first team dinner at Jambel (jerk fish = very good!). Caution to Team Next: water taxi no longer docks at the Tackle Box, but farther up the beach, so you will need to use taxis to shuttle your luggage. We've all settled into Ruby's just fine. We had a short time of reflection before dinner, then topped the evening off with a little ice cream and an early bed time as all had been up since before 4 in the morning. Terrie and Van met with the school's social worker, Kim, and she is eager for help with the children on a variety of real-life issues and dilemmas they face every day. There will be plenty to do!

Awoke Saturday to rain and cool weather so people are reading, wandering the town and "resting up" for the work ahead. Provided I do this right, you will see a photo of some of our group reading and chatting on Ruby's covered deck. If you would like to contact a team member, you can send an email to johnhc@mindspring.com as I will check this address each time I update the blog.

We will have a worship service and more relaxation time tomorrow before beginning work at the school on Monday. Include us and, more importantly, the children of Holy Cross in your prayers!

Pictures of Team One and Team Next

2008-02-29T04:44:00.000-08:00

Photos from Team One's trip home

2008-02-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

Now that both teams are home safely, here are a couple of interesting photos from Team One's trip home a week ago. The first (or possibly the second -- the blog seems to have its own ideas about where to position photos) shows our own Father Joe Hensley with the Rt. Reverend Philip Wright, Bishop of Belize. Team One attended a very impressive two-and-a-half hour service at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist in Belize City prior to catching the plane to Miami. One of the many elements of this service was Joe's birthday blessing for Bishop Wright and for several members of the congregation, including one lady who was celebrating her 98th birthday. There were also several baptisms and a special blessing for everyone planning to travel (which obviously included us on Team One).

The second photo comes from the Miami airport. After we had cleared customs and gone to wait for the flight home, this incredibly frenetic insect suddenly showed up at our gate. For well over an hour, he entertained children and adults waiting for their flights, the airline people at the gate, and anyone else who happened to be walking by. The only thing that stopped him was an announcement that our flight would be departing from a different gate in another concourse.

Our Work is Done

2008-02-14T13:50:00.001-08:00

We finished our work at Holy Cross today and bid farewell to our new friends - the children and teachers. It was hard to leave and we had many, many hugs - and some tears - before we started the walk back to our hotel. We were able to move along with several things Team 1 began as well as a few of our own projects. We think we managed to throw a number of starfish back into the sea and make a bit of a difference.
The Valentine's Fair at the school was great fun and raised a lot of money. There were games and prizes, food and a giant inflated slide. The entire Jacobi family did face-painting on MANY little faces.
We had a lovely dinner tonight and are bringing our time here in San Pedro to a close. Tomorrow we return to Belize City and then home on Sunday. Be ready -- we have taken loads of pictures and will be eager to share our stories.
Thank you from Team Next for the prayers and support from everyone at home. We have missed you but have known you were with us in spirit. We'll see you soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Today was a very festive day at Holy Cross. Standard VI was in charge of cupcakes for the school. They baked, frosted, decorated and delivered over 400 cupcakes to children, teachers and volunteers. Earlier in the week, Maggie, Anne, and Jan helped each class decorate Valentine's bags which Joanne helped fill with treats. Everyone left this afternoon with a treat. And congratulations to Holy Cross's first football team who won their game this afternoon -- dressed in new uniforms.

The work is going well. Scott and Jim have just about finished the new bathroom -- all that's left is to install the toilet and sink. John W. , Peter, Nina and John C. have got the flooring just about done on a huge section of the new library/computer room. One of the Standard I teachers has been sick all week and Joyce has been their substitute. Clara has worked with an Infant I class: Sandra is in Standard II; and Jan has been all around. Pam and Jean have the dental clinic painted and ready for patients while Joanne unpacked, sorted and put away all the school supplies both teams brought. Anne, Peggy and Maggie have painted an amazing mural in Resurrection Hall around Miss Laura's office. And, in their spare time, Maggie and Peggy have had music with each class. Jan assisted with the older children's chapel this morning along with Deacon Tess, visiting from Canada. It has been very hot and we are pretty worn out at the end of each day. But, we get up the next morning, ready to go again.

Tonight we will celebrate Valentine's at Wild Mango's restaurant. A real treat!! Tomorrow there is a Valentine's fair at the school. We don't really know what to expect but will do what we can. There will be no classes but the construction will continue. Our week is rapidly drawing to an end. We have made many new friends at Holy Cross and will be sad to leave.

Something is not working in the transfer of pictures--- Team 1 wins the prize for best blog. We will try again tomorrow but will have terrific ones to bring home and share.

Tuesday

2008-02-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

First day of work!

2008-02-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day we got to work at the school. When two seperate groups went around to the classes a lot of the younger kids seemed to be very interested in my braces. One younger girl came up to me and said "You have rubbers bands on your teeth?" And the older kids (I say older when they were probaly aroung seven or eight) liked my red hair. Today Jan, my mom and I worked with six classes at different times on Valentine treat bags for Thursday. There is going to be a Valentines day party on Thursday and a fair on Friday. Mrs. Grace also told all the students that if they didn't do their homework that they didn't get to go to the fair. That would stink! It was very confusing for me when we passed out candy for each of the kids in the classes because each kid got three pink candycorns. Well some kids thought they could be sneaky and tell me "I no got any!" I would just look at them right in the eye and even if I didn't remember if I had given them some candy or not, I would find out becaus if they had taken some already they would smile really big. But if they hadn't gotten any they would look really sad and innocent. But at one point all the kids in one class swarmed around me and were yelling that they hadn't gotten any and were pulling at the bag of candy. Fourtunatly my mom came over and broke up the mob of angry and hungry children. It was also very sad when the children would try to sneak out of the classroom with a small sheet of stickers. And you have to know that these kids don't have a lot and every chance they got they would try to steal from eachother or from the school. (only stickers and markers though) Also, Pam painted the dental suite. It is a toothpaste blue (very appropriate) with a wavy texture. The guys started on the floor frame for the library and computer lab. My mom, Anne, John, Joanne, and I put up a parachute on the ceiling for color. Anne was dragged into a classroom and was left to teach the standard one class this afternoon. Clara also helped in the classroom. Nina helped with the floor framing and dishwashing. Sandra worked in the classroom and on dishwashing. With 400 students it is a lot of dishes to clean. Once the cooking ladies are done cooking and washing dishes, they are already started on another meal. They never get a moments rest! I don't know how they do it! All in all it was an excellent first day. Everyone is very tired and so am I!! OH! And we saw somthing you don't get tp see!!! Rain! There were actually PUDDLES! Seeing rain these days is like seeing and elephant walking down the street. So I think that was onw of the most exciting things. Well my fingers are hurting now so I think I will go. BlessingS to all and I will talk again soon. Bye!

Team Next Has Arrived

2008-02-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Team Next (we are not #2) arrived safely in San Pedro yesterday afternoon. John met us at the water taxi and helped us lug our suitcases to Ruby's. We had just about settled in when the rest of Team 1 returned from their final day of work at Holy Cross. All 33 of us had a great dinner with lively conversation. We shared Compline before ending a very long day -- Team Next had been on the move since about 3:00 AM.
Today has been leisurely -- some went to Lamanai; others snorkeled; many shopped; everyone relaxed. Team Next is adjusting to the heat, sand and ocean breeze while Team One packs and gets ready to head home. It has been great to "overlap" so we could share information and fun.
Team Next is eager to see what our tasks at the school will be. We anticipate continuing the work begun last week but there are some equipment issues that must be resolved first. We are also looking forward to being in the classrooms with the children.
Stay tuned -- we will keep you up to date as week 2 of the St. Luke's mission adventure continues -- pictures too!

2008-02-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

Today was Team One's last workday. Francis greeted us at breakfast and took us for a walk through San Mateo, the swamp neighborhood where many of the children who attend school live (see accompanying picture). The story of San Mateo is too long for a blog, but ask any Belize Team member to share it with you. The children were still out of school due to the election holiday yesterday, so a lot of painting was undertaken, including a bright white to liven up the long porch off the cafeteria and various and sundry painting of doors, windows and random unpainted wood. Several more floor beams and joists were added and the stair masters and mistresses finished up the railing on the new set of stairs. Team One returned to be greeted by the arrival of Team Next, and all gathered on Ruby's upper deck. Jaritzy and her brother Jobe showed up with a huge card they had made for the departing St. Lukers, and to greet members of Team Next that they had met last year. Then all 31 members of both teams attended dinner together and held a compline service. Other pictures with this blog post include the stair masters and mistresses astride their creation, and the assembled members of Team One, along with the work grew of Freddy, Mr. G., and Fredo. Also shown is Holly presenting a huge rice pot to the kitchen women who fed us and 450 students each day, but lamented that they had only one pot for rice, so had to cook in batches. Not included (figured 4 pictures is plenty) is a picture of the members of the Mud Squad standing triumphantly upon the floor beams and girders atop the 24 piles they managed to sink to bedrock while simultaneously hiding the holes for the 21 piles still to go. Pray for a Bobcat mechanic and a skilled driver who won't sink it into the lagoon. The next blog will come from an intrepid member of Team Next.

2008-02-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

Today is election day in Belize, which the citizens take very seriously, often traveling long distances to the places they are registered (shades of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem). As a consequence the school is closed both today and tomorrow, which is sad since we can't see the kids, but does mean we can work on things we couldn't with children around (like lots of painting). Holly, David, Bob and Gareth have been building a new set of stairs to serve as another exit in case of fire. Work continues on the floor joists for the library; we got 24 piles in, but progress was slow as we had to replace a pump and the bedrock has gotten too deep in places for us to place piles. Will have to wait for the pros to come up with a solution.

Yesterday was fun at the school as we had both ash wednesday services (ask Joe about the Banana Lady sermon) with the imposition of ashes, plus the school held a goodbye ceremony for us, involving lots of thank you cards, hugs and one class shouting out in unison, "We love you, Mr. Bob." Some of us enjoyed watching the Duke-UNC game last night; others, not so much.

Team Next joins us tomorrow and we are eager to share our stories and turn over the hard work!