Tuesday

Today was a very busy day! When we woke up in the morning the sun was shining brightly and it was out all day! We were so extremely thankful for that. Because the sun was out we were able to get so many projects accomplished. It was definitely hot and humid, but that’s normal in Belize! :)

We started out the day with one group putting screens on houses. We piled into the back of a pick up truck and headed out to put nylon screen on people’s windows. We were able to screen about 7-10 houses throughout the day! The people whose houses we screened were so grateful that they now have screens. Apparently the mosquitoes will be really bad in a few weeks because it’s the rainy season. So, putting screens on windows is a really necessary service. Unfortunately we ran out of time and screen to help all of the villagers. In fact, as we were leaving the village for the night one person chased down our van to request that we put screens on her house. She wanted them because she has a baby that she wants to protect from the bugs. Sadly, we had to turn her away. There are enough people in the village who need screens that we probably could have had a full time screening team the entire time we were here. We’re thankful to have helped those we could, but sad that we weren’t able to help everyone.

Another group finished painting at the two schools in Cristo Rey. Two other groups (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) had to represent our team at the school’s graduation ceremonies. The morning ceremony was for the preschool and the afternoon ceremony was for Standard Six, which is like 8th grade. They were honored that we could attend.

In the afternoon some team members worked on finishing the chicken wire fence project and fixing a table at the Tortilla Factory. However, the biggest project at the Tortilla Factory was to make an awning for their counter, where their customers stand to buy tortillas. The awning looks awesome and Flora, the manager, loves it! She was thrilled that we were able to help the business!

Around 4:00 we started the last day of the Kid’s Camp. We had so many more kids attend today than we did yesterday. I’m sure that all of the kids from Monday told their friends and siblings about the camp and then they all came on Tuesday, which is great! It was a little crazy and we didn’t have quite enough materials for everyone, but we were able to manage and I think that the kid’s had a great time. In the craft time the kids made a picture frame with a picture of themselves inside...it was an awesome activity and the kids adored having a picture of themselves. One particularly cool moment was at the end of the camp time. The kids were in the group gathering place singing songs and I could hear them from far away. They were singing at the top of their lungs the song “Beautiful One.” It was awesome to hear them singing their little hearts out.

After the camp we spent some time gathering our belongings and dividing up the supplies that we had brought for the different schools. It was kind of a surreal feeling to leave Cristo Rey, because we won’t return there on Wednesday. We had a great time with the kids and the people in this village!

For dinner we invited Gayla and Molly, two Peace Corps volunteers who have been an amazing blessing to us this week, back to our hotel to have dinner with them. We enjoyed talking with them and learning more about Belize and village/town life. They will both be in Belize until May 2012 and there is still so much work to be done by them! We are grateful for their “insider information” this week!

We look forward to what God has planned for us and for the villagers that we’ve met. Tomorrow we’ll spend time sight seeing and then end the day with a final trip to San Pedro village.