Another week comes to a close

It's not that things haven't been happening around here and thus no new posts. No, it's that things have been very busy. This week saw the end - finally - of exams and the beginning of graduation preparations. Part of my job has been assembling prizes for the top students in each class. We pack a brand new backpack with school supplies and a treat or two for the #1 and #2 student in each class and for the top 3 students in Standard VI. So while I was putting away all the wonderful donations that this week's volunteers brought, I was gathering pencils, notebooks, sharpeners and crayons for the prizes. On Monday, I will let some of the St. Luke's kids put them in the bags and get them all ready.

This week's volunteer team was from All Saints Episcopal Church in Ft. Worth, Texas. They were a big group, but only half of them worked here at Holy Cross. The other half were volunteering at the PolyClinic in town. They really made progress on the new bathroom building.

The teenagers in the group did a number of activities with the children. They presented a puppet show and then let the children make their own puppets out of brown lunch bags. They did a story and game about kites with another class, and the children made their own little kites. A great blend of learning and fun as well as getting to know the children.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival tomorrow afternoon of the pilgrims from St. Luke's. I will meet them at the water taxi. We'll take their donation suitcases to the school, and then get them settled at The Tides. I know they will have a grand week.

San Pedro high school has graduation tomorrow, and last night was their prom. One of the graduates obviously travelled in style. A San Pedro limo.....

Today I walked with Standard VI to the Lion's Den in town for an exhibit by the Belize Archives Department. There were photos and displays about many aspects of the history of Belize - the chicle industry, transportation, slavery, early buildings and a little of the history of San Pedro. It was well done and included some great pictures and information. The kids worked in small groups that each had to find information about one certain area. I definitely learned a lot about several aspects of Belize, and I think the children did too. Several of the boys managed to sneak a peak at the Mexico vs South Africa World Cup game on a tiny TV nearby. The conversation was lively on the walk back to Holy Cross.

Have a great weekend!

Why My Time Here Goes So Fast

Last week zoomed by and now it's Saturday already. Not only that, but we are 5 days into June! Let me see if I can figure out why the week zipped by so quickly....

• We had a team of 32 volunteers at Holy Cross from Amarillo, Texas. They were GREAT, but there was a whole lot of them to keep busy. They were from a Baptist church. They did an "event" in Central Park with face painting, balloons and Bibles for children and adults. In addition, the youth raised $9000 within their church and purchased Bibles for every child at Holy Cross!!!!!! The Bibles didn't get here (remember shipping is a challenge) before the group left, but as soon as they do, we will distribute them. What a great gift.


• Reregistration for the 2010-2011 school year continued which meant a steady stream of parents into the office. There will be very little room at Holy Cross next year for new students other than in Infant I. Once children come, they stay. The Ministry has capped the number of children who can be in each class which really is a good thing in terms of instruction, but not in terms of the number of children being turned away.


• Letters went out to parents of children who teachers/administrators think might be better served at another school, and they came in to talk about it. Some of the ring-leader trouble-makers are on the list (if you've been here, you probably could name them) as well as kids who are beyond the 14-year-old compulsory education age and continue to fail.


• Two children - one on Wednesday, the other on Thursday - split their foreheads open and had to be rushed off the doctor for stitches. Not my finest moment....


• Francis decided all the bulletin boards in the school needed to be "refreshed". I took them all down and today she is putting up new ones. I truly dislike doing bulletin boards and have never been very good at it. Thank goodness for Hill's policy on that!!


• The PSE scores for Standard VI came back -- 30 out of 37 children passed!!! Yippee!! Twenty-five students are being recommended for scholarships to high school. A few are moving out of the San Pedro area and will also continue their education in high school. It's a very high percentage for Anglican schools and for Belize.


• Exams that were supposed to come from the Education Office in Belize City arrived 2 days late, and only 1 copy of each test was sent. We had to duplicate them for the children. It's a very slow process without a photocopy machine -- documents have to be scanned and then printed on the office computer printer. I almost wished for a ditto or mimeograph machine.


• A transformer blew out on Wednesday on the street right behind my apartment. It wasn't fully replaced until late Thursday afternoon which meant no lights, fans, AC or water. In addition, I lost whatever was in my freezer and most of what was in my fridge. Ugh.


• Friday was the Spring Fair at the school. It's a fund raiser, and, like the Valentine's fair, was fun but chaotic. The fun and games were supposed to last from 9-2 but most "booths" were out of food or prizes by noon. The money will probably go for more sand. There is a donated swing set on its way here, and the sand is needed so there's a place to put it.


• My visa had to be renewed -- for the final time -- on Friday.


• Another volunteer group of 20+ arrived yesterday, ready to work --- TODAY. This morning, we did tours, orientation and sorted their donated supplies. Enough til Monday.

I think that about covers the week. Construction continues on the new bathroom building. The latest picture is below.

I still can't explain it, but I know there will be something like 22 new toilets when it's finished.

Have a good weekend and a nice week. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival next weekend of the St. Luke's youth. It will be good for me to have a little taste of home, as well as acquainting them with Holy Cross and Belize.

A Joyous Day

Holy Cross was honored by a visit from the Rt. Rev. Philip Wright on Sunday, May 30th. Bishop Wright came to celebrate the Eucharist and to baptize and confirm members of our school community. The service was held at the Angel Nunez Auditorium at San Pedro High School. Eleven children were baptized, and nine students were confirmed and made their First Communion. This was the first confirmation class at Holy Cross. I was very blessed to lead them and help prepare them for this exciting step. We rejoice with the children and their families.

Bishop Wright presented copies of the New Testament to each family who had a child baptized. In addition he gave Study Bibles and wooden crosses to each student who was confirmed.

I am so greatful to the school staff who prepared the auditorium and helped in many ways to make the service beautiful. While we had a couple of hard rain showers during the service, the spirits of the children were not effected. Truly the Holy Spirit was in that place.

Episcopal Relief and Development Conference

Last weekend the Episcopal Relief and Development diocesan coordinators from all over the US held their annual network meeting in Belize. This is the first time they have ever met outside of the US, but they wanted to see first-hand some of the projects supported by ERD. When I first learned they would be here in Belize, I invited our Diocese of North Carolina coordinator to come to Holy Cross. He accepted that invitation by getting me an invitation to attend the conference. We were delighted to have Reid Joyner, the Diocesan Coordinator for NC, visit Holy Cross on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. He observed some classes, attended chapel services and met many of the children. We flew together to Belize City on Thursday afternoon. Our 15 minute flight was quite interesting as an attractive young woman was sitting in the co-pilot's seat (it's not unusual for someone to travel in that seat). She flirted and jabbered with him the entire flight, even showing him pictures on her digital camera! From where I was sitting, he was trying very hard to ignore her. We did arrive safely so I guess he was able to focus on the right things while we were airborne.

The conference was very well planned, and the agenda was packed. The weekend began with Eucharist at St. John's Cathedral, the oldest Anglican building in Central America. The Bishop of the Diocese of Belize celebrated, and the Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado and the ERD Board was the preacher. I love that cathedral and was so happy to worship there once again.

On Friday morning we boarded buses and left Belize City to visit some of the Anglican schools. One project of ERD is the HIV/AIDS curriculum in the Anglican schools. It's a serious problem here, and ERD is hoping to save lives through education. My group travelled first to Flower's Bank, a very small rural community. St. Stephens School has only 3 classrooms and 3 teachers. One teacher is also the principal, and another is the lay minister to the church community there. The school was bright and cheery; the children had prepared a special dance to welcome us; and we were welcomed into their classrooms to observe a lesson on HIV/AIDS. Sadly this school has only a poorly constructed outhouse and no clean drinking water. There are plans and some donations toward improving this but not until next school year.

Our next stop was All Saints School in Belize City which is a stark contrast to Flower's Bank. The school is quite large; we visited the 9 classes of Standard IV-VI. They too were having lessons on HIV/AIDS prevention. They will also be participating in ERD's school garden program. The beds are ready to be planted. Back at the hotel, there were sessions on various program aspects of ERD -- the Nets for Life campaign, Disaster Preparedness in the US, and ERD's work with disaster recovery particularly now in Haiti. We were priveleged to hear a moving presentation about the earthquake in Haiti and its aftermath, given by an Episcopal priest who is native of Haiti, was in the midst of the quake itself, and now is helping his Haitian brothers and sisters rebuild.

On Saturday, our focus was on small business owners who have been recipients of ERD's micro-loan program - the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology. We first visited Mr. Alan Jones who is a very talented woodcarver. As a side, he is also the Justice of the Peace for the Lucky Strike community.

From there, we went way down a very narrow dirt road (in a chartered bus) to the farm belonging to Ms. Julia Gonzalez, the Female Farmer of 2010 for Belize. She has a lovely greenhouse full of bell peppers as well as small fields of tomatoes, onions and melons. Her home has no electricity -- the power poles end a few hundred yards before her property and the lines don't stretch to the end of the poles. Our next stop was at Altun Ha, the Mayan ruins. Ms. Lorie Wallace runs one of the on-site gift shops. We did some souvenir shopping, sampled cashew wine (ugh), and had lunch at the foot of one of the temples. On the way back to Belize City, we stopped at Ms. Cherrymae Galvez's roadside grocery store and fast food establishment. St.Luker's -- we have passed this store many times; you would recognize it. And now I know she was able to start this business with the help of ERD. The conference concluded with a banquet Saturday night featuring entertainment by school children from the area, from tiny preschoolers to talented dancers from St. John's College. I am so greatful for this wonderful opportunity to meet ERD coordinators from 67 dioceses in the US, to learn so much about the work of ERD, to see new places, and to learn about successful business women and men.

Unexpected Visitor

Monday afternoon I came home from an errand to find this creature on my porch. He was pretty skittish and moved very quickly. It was hard to tell which of us was more frightening to the other! I was determined to get some pictures, and he (she?) was determined to get away.

From the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail, I would estimate it was about 3 feet long. When I asked what this type of iguana was called, and the answer I got was "green iguana". I did learn that if you can catch one, they make good eating. I think I will pass on that local delicacy.

I'm going to Belize City tomorrow to the Episcopal Relief and Development Coordinator's Conference. We will visit school and agricultural projects on the mainland that are supported by ERD. Our diocese of NC coordinator came to Holy Cross today to visit. I'm looking forward to seeing new places and learning about new projects in Belize. I might also see some of the school projects that St. Luke's worked on those first years we brought mission teams to Belize.

Sunday is our worship service with baptism and confirmation. Please pray for those who will be baptized or confirmed.

Slow Sunday

After a very busy week, it's nice to have a quiet Sunday. Once the rain ended on Wednesday, we had bright, sunny, HOT days for the rest of the week. On Friday, the power was turned off to most of the school as some of the main wiring had to be replaced. The only place of refuge was the computer lab where the AC was blasting.

On Friday, Holy Cross bid farewell to the team of 10 student teachers from Vancouver Island University. They had been in the classrooms working side-by-side with Holy Cross teachers for 5 weeks; it was hard to say good-bye. Each class had a gift and celebration for their volunteer. There were laughs and hugs and tears all around. As I watched a tearful goodbye in Standard IV, I couldn't help but think ahead to the end of June when I have to say goodbye to Holy Cross and all the wonderful people here. Nope, not thinking of that right now, Scarlet.....

Friday night was another faculty dinner/social at the school. It was a final opportunity to honor the student teachers and have one more dinner and some dancing. We had a delicious dinner of baked chicken, mashed potatoes and green salad. Mr. Zetina was the DJ for the dancing with plenty of punta and salsa music.

Another local color story -- yesterday as I was walking to the market, this crab was crossing the street in front of the police station. I guess he came from the lagoon which is not too far away. He was a big one -- tip to tip about the size of a dinner plate!

He was scuttling across the street, somehow being missed by bikes and golf carts. When he saw me, he scuttled faster to the side of the road where he ran into a light pole. He seemed OK although I didn't really get too close to check on him. His claws looked like they could inflict pain.

Today is a stay at home and read a good book day. It is raining again. The rain comes very suddenly and very hard; then it stops just as quickly and the sun comes out. Then the cycle starts again. I took a short walk this morning during a dry spell but could tell more rain was moving in quickly. It is very cool when it rains which is nice.

Tomorrow is a national holiday -- Commonwealth Day, aka Queen Elizabeth's birthday. Offices, many businesses and the schools will be closed. I am trying to find out if there are any "festivities" planned. Probably not out here on the island but in Belize City there might be.

What a wonderful treat -- Ms. Laura, one of the Holy Cross teachers, cooked escabeche which is a Belizean onion soup with chicken. It is very different from our French onion soup. She sent her husband over with some for my dinner! Yum. Escabeche is tangy - one ingredient is either vinegar or sour orange - and it is jalapeno hot. She sent extra jalapenos on the side in case I needed more. Not me. There were also homemade tortillas. It was excellent, and I will finish the rest for supper.

Water, water everywhere....

This morning was only the beginning of the rain! It has poured all day, in fact, the record was broken for the most rain in one day in San Pedro. So far, we have had 11" since midnight and 8 1/2 inches of that came between noon and 1:30!!!!!!! Everything is flooded. The rain had almost slacked off when I made a dash for it and walked home from school. I saw a lot of beach erosion, and some homes and business on the beach have water in them. Golf carts and bicycles couldn't move through the high water. It was easy to see where the swift run-off had come through at the height of the showers. While it isn't officially a tropical storm, it has really seemed hurricane-like in that the rain has come in bands. Just when you think it's safe to run to the cafeteria or to town to the post office, another pounding starts again (I speak from experience...).

We had so many children out of school today, and that will most likely continue tomorrow (a Belizean snow day). Many stay home if it is raining when it's time to come to school because they will get so wet on their walk. The ones who came today will not have dry uniforms or shoes to wear tomorrow. While I did get pretty soaked coming home, I knew I would have a dry place once I got here. I can't imagine what it must be like in San Mateo when it rains like this.

I will leave you with the soggy view of the school and part of my path home....

lapping at the steps the office