Welcome to our Belize Blog. We have a group of 20 team members that will be traveling to Belize in January on a mission trip through All Saints Catholic Church in St. Peters, Missouri. Belize is in Central America, south of Mexico and east of Guatemala. It is a very small country with a population of 250,000....it is about the size of Massachusettes!!!
We will spend our days in the Toledo District, which is in Southern Belize and the poorest area in the country. Over 70% of the families are poor living in poverty with no running water, electricity, computers, television, refrigerators, telephones, cars and often even shoes.
Our team will be constructing a church in a remote, Mayan village and we will also visit the schools in three villages and teach the children about health and hygiene and bring them a bit of US culture.
Many of our friends and families have asked about the details on the trip, here is some basic info:
English is the official language of Belize, but many locals speak Mayan. In January, the average temperature is 75 degrees. We are staying at the Pallotine Sisters' Convent and Retreat Center.
We have to get vaccinations – Hepatitis, typhoid, tetanus and we have to take anti-malaria pills. Our last two days of the trip, we do get to visit the beach for some downtime and relaxing.
And, coming as a surprise to many of us, especially those going for the first time...we get to take three pieces of luggage. So, you think GREAT – 10 days, 3 suitcases, no problem! Well, nope, that's not how it goes. The two suitcases that we will check at the airline are filled with SUPPLIES that we will bring to people in the village. So, everything team members need for 10 days will need to be packed in a carry-on suitcase and a backpack.
Quite a shock, especially for someone like me who can two suitcases for a weekend trip!!!
But, we don't need makeup and jewelry and mostly will be wearing a hat or a pony tail, so no need to pack 5 varieties of hair product…so that eliminates close to one suitcase!
This should be interesting…anyone who knows me, knows that I rarely leave the house without makeup and jewelry on! I think this is going to be a humbling experience for me in many ways.
We are bringing supplies to the children of the village. We will be taking the following, so if you'd like to donate anything, please let me know: toothpaste, toothbrushes, bar soap, combs/brushes, crayons, pencils, sugarless gum, small paperback books, tennis balls, soccer balls, fingernail clippers and other classroom educational supplies.
We are also doing a Kid-2-Kid project. School-aged child at All Saints and surrounding schools that would like to reach out to the children of Southern Belize, can write a letter and include a photograph of themselves. And these letters will be delivered to the school kids at the villages we visit, and then the Belize children will write letters back to their American friends.
More information to come.....I will keep you posted as the trip gets closer. We leave January 3, 2009.
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