Welcome to the first Belize Blog entry from the January 2010 All Saints Mission Team!
Nineteen of us will be traveling to southern Belize this weekend to teach and work in the Toledo District. The team is evenly mixed with old members (oops I mean previous team members) and new ones.
For those of you new to this blog, here's some basic information about Belize and the trip (Jaime has a much more detailed description if you go back to the earlier entries).
Belize gained its independence in September, 1981-for you history buffs, yes, it used to be British Honduras.
Belize is the only English speaking country in Central America.
We fly into Belize City in the northern part of the country and then make a five hour trip, by bus, down the ONE paved road, to the Toledo District in southern Belize. The "charter" bus is a lovely blue former school bus, but we are thrilled to be driven in such style!
We stay at a retreat center near the town of Punta Gorda (population 5000). The Pallotine sisters are our gracious hosts. They are lovely, spiritual, hard-working women and we look forward to their hospitality every year.
The Toledo District is often called the "Forgotten District." It is the smallest, poorest and most isolated district in the country.
In the remote villages where we work the people are mostly Mayan Indians who speak two different dialects, Qeqchi and Mopan.
The main occupation in the villages is farming.
The 2010 Team had a packing party on Sunday-well more like an hour and a half of confusion and camaraderie. We now have 40 bags packed (each one as close to 50 lbs as possible) with thousands of donated items, including soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, school supplies and flips flops for the 500+ students we will teach! Wow! Here's just a few of the bags waiting to be taken to Belize.
We teach hand-washing, tooth-brushing and parasite prevention to the school children. We also have some fun art and science lessons to share with them. We may also tutor or teach other subjects at the request of the principals.
We are looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Check back here during the trip for updates. Hopefully we will get to the Internet Café in Punta Gorda a couple of times to update.
By the way, it is raining in Belize right now L but it is 70 J.
-Posted by Anita Dutrow
I'm so pleased that you have made it there. I envy your 70 degree weather, even though it is raining. This morning at RCIA we prayed for all of you. I'll be anxious to hear how the teaching goes and see the library.
ReplyDeleteTake care and know that you are doing God's work.
Sue Schoonover