June 2018

We worked with 119 students at the village of Sunday wood today. The little ones worked with abc's with ink dabblers and formed letters with  play dough we made prior to coming to Belize. It was so much fun! We read stories about Cat and Pup, and put on a little dramatic play, too. 

Shelly Roy

"In our STEM activities today the younger kids learned to make towers from staking apples and play dough. As they built, they used their problem solving skills to figure out that towers were more stable with a wider foundation. The older student built bridges from solo cups and popsicles sticks and had a competition to see which bridge could hold the most toys animals.  The oldest kids were given a few supplies and were challenged to make a catapult to fling a cotton ball, fruit loop, and a marble. From this lesson I learned that showing the kids a specific example limits their creativity to make the project. Next time I will simply explain what a catapult is so they can problem solve together to build one of their own."

Mackenzie Poelker

Sunday Wood

In San Lucas today, we worked on building a new school room.  We had a great day and got a lot of accomplished.  It rained most of the day and very hard at times so the whole crew was soaked but we didn't let that stop us!  The exterior siding is complete and we're ready to build windows and doors tomorrow.  We enjoyed working right alongside of the men of the  village and laughed a lot.

Bill Cloyd

In Otaxa today we gathered the entire school in the church to enjoy a sing a long. We talked about getting to know each other with songs like "Getting to know you" and "The more we are together the happier we'll be". We share songs of faith like "Big house" which talks about the many rooms God has waiting for us and praise songs like "Make a joyful noise to our God". The students loved hearing the guitar and enjoyed playing all the percussion instruments we shared with them. We also played music in Corazon in the classrooms in the afternoon. The students we so welcoming! 

Sharing our faith through music was awesome!

Judy Krenn

Today in Conhejo Creek, it was a day of art and religion!!  Faith spread across the rooms when the Standard I and II kiddos traced their hands onto a paper plate, colored it green and blue, and then wrote, "God created the earth and God created ME!".  It was so cute!!  Next, Standard III and IV learned about Jesus, and how He died on the cross to save us from our sins.  They cut out cardboard crosses and then glued cloths pins onto them, to form a crucifix.  While they were cutting, they also learned about The Holy Triduum.  Last, but not least, Standard V and VI began the class by praying the Our Father, and I said, "Wow, that was perfect,  because you're going to do an Our Father project!".  On index cards, each boy and girl received a word from the prayer and they were asked to draw and be creative with the word.  I'm telling you, there are some artists in that class!!  After they were finished, I taped the index cards to the wall, and on display is a beautiful artwork depicting Jesus' words that He gave us as a way to talk to God.  While they were drawing, I found out that two of the students had competed in a Religion Jeopardy and won!!  So I quizzed them and yep…they did great!!  Can't wait until we go back tomorrow!!  

Kathy and Mary

We were in Conhejo Creek today teaching art. In infant I and II we did weaving fish. The little kids loved making their colorful fish and having their pictures taken by us! Shannon's name was a hit in this classroom as they chanted "sheena" as she was leaving the classroom. In Standard I & II we painted pigs and did the pigs song. The kids thought the pig song was so funny, they even sang the song the whole time they painted their pigs- which was quite awhile! With the Standard III & IV we made fish cds! While coloring the CDs, one of the girls who was fascinated by my red nails (Taylor) colored her nails orange with a marker and said, "look miss, they're like yours miss," As I taught, I walked around with the example fish and made the fish give the kids "fish kisses." They thought the fish kisses were absolutely hilarious and started calling me "fish kiss miss." When the kids finished making their fish they came up and gave me lots of "fish kisses" of their own. With Standard V & VI we made CD radial designs! The older kids took awhile to get into the activities but were very interested in hearing about how different America is. The kids thought it was hilarious how we spoil our dogs and they were simply amazed that kicking a dog in America could get you arrested! They also thought it was funny that we are nineteen and we're not married yet. They said that most girls get married right at eighteen and have children soon after. 

Shanon and Taylor

On Sunday we attended Mass in Otoxha and then stuck around to watch the Grand Football Marathon fundraiser for St. Mark's School. We enjoyed watching teams from several communities compete while eating popped corn grown by close friends. After stopping in San Lucas to check out our construction project for the week , Bill's van drove to the Mayan ruins at Nim Li Punit and our van stopped at several villages visiting friends before  returning to Nazareth to prepare for Monday. We have been assigned the task of naming a friend's one-week old son! I suspect that our current list of 12 names will grow before we visit the family again on Friday. 

Monday was a very productive.   We delivered much-needed medication to health posts in Otoxha and Corazon Creek.  After months of planning, Tammy held workshops, teaching women how to make washable feminine pads.  The community centers in both Otoxha and Corazon Creek were packed!!  Judy played her guitar and sang with students. Manuel and I met with four widows who will be assisted by the Binny Fund, which will help provide them with food, clothing and other essentials.  Afterwards, Sarah and Maria, both in their eighties, assisted each other down a steep hill. They walk together on this journey. Fr. Vo joined us for dinner, shared stories about his experiences as a pastor of thirty-eight villages, presented our new volunteers with solidarity rings, and gave us a blessing.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

-Ann