Tuesday

In Santa Elena today Ray, Shannon and Jack finally got the bolts they needed to put together the first picnic table. They borrowed tools from the local men and are working with one drill. They discovered that 2 x 4s in Belize are actually 2X4 inches, the men here seemed pretty surprised that in the U.S. ours are not.
In the school, the principal/intermediate grade teacher was absent for the second day which meant a whole class of students was basically unsupervised all day. Our team stepped right up to help keep the children occupied. Kristen had all the kids paint on a long canvas banner that will hang in the school. Dawn made chickens with the little ones and the kids loved their "shaky eggs" (especially the candy treat inside!)

In Santa Cruz Roy and Holly finished hanging two more doors and were able to start painting. Shannon and Anita worked on STEM lessons. The kids loved making kaleidoscopes and building bridges with Solo cups and Popsicle sticks. There was a contest to see whose bridge could hold the most small elephants. Bubbles, the puppet, made another appearance to help Abbe teach about health and water. At the last period of the day, all of the older kids ran down the road to the soccer field for their PE time. It was easily 90+ degrees and high humidity, we were all sweating like crazy just thinking about them running around in the sun!
Margie and Holly presented a class on puberty and adolescence to the Standard 4-6 girls (our 6th-8th grade). This went really great. The girls wrote questions down on notecards so they could ask them without being embarrassed. They were very interested in the diagrams, especially the uterus, created by our team artist, Kristen, that she fashioned out of a paper plate!

In Pueblo Viejo, Tessa had the kids doing a lot of acting like animals and exercise type activities. She asked the girls to teach her two of their favorite songs and in return taught them two songs. We heard the concert was amazing!
Chris was asked to work with the women who cook in the school feeding program. She didn't get much information before we left, and then Monday found out that the principal was expecting a formal presentation (no pressure there!). She put together lots of good info on food requirements and hygiene in the kitchen. She then worked with the ladies and baked sugar cookies and a large breakfast scramble. The ladies were very appreciate and asked if she could come back and stay for a month.

Ann, Alli, and Margie met with the family of our little friend, Amaya. She was born with no external ears and we are working with a doctor in SanAntonio, TX to have corrective surgery performed. This doctor is an expert on this complicated surgery and takes two pro bono cases a year. They made a video of Amaya and her home to send to the doctor. Our Dr. Margie, was able to explain some medical aspects to Amaya's parents. Amaya is an amazing eight year old. She made fast friends with a member of our January team, Christy, and thought Christy would be here this trip. She had hung a sign on her bedroom door that said, "Welcome Ann and Christy!" Alli was happy to step in and ate lunch at the little table Amaya had set, complete with fresh flowers. Please add your prayers that this all falls into place for her.

Quote of the day comes from Chris. After finding out that she was expected to give a presentation at the last minute, she got to school and the principal asked: Do you need a projector?