BLOGGING IN BELIZE

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2008-11-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Waking up in Austin is bittersweet today, I am missing Belize but happy to be home at the same time. Mostly I miss them-

as I was leaving the school, walking away for the last time, they were saying, "bye Miss Holly,bye!" over and over again - i felt as if my heart was being ripped out
and one little girl who I had become very close with said, "i will never forget you, Miss Holly, never".
I am not sure about the impact I made on these children, but I know that my life is forever changed because of them, that I am forever blessed

Saying Goodbye

2008-11-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

What better way to end it all than with a dance party?

Can it be over????

2008-11-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

The sun is setting on my time here, so hard to believe. I am going to miss this place so much but mostly, I am going to miss the people. They have impacted my life forever and have blessed my life. I am so grateful for my time here and thank God for this wonderful opportunity.

Sharing thoughts

2008-11-14T04:53:00.001-08:00

I am reading Streams in the Desert by L.B Cowman, here are two excerpts i would like to share:

"These were the potters and those that dwelt among plants and hedges; there they dwelt with the king for his work." (1 Chronicles 4; 23)

We may dwell "with the king for his work" anywhere and everywhere. We may be called to serve Him in the most unlikely places and under the most adverse conditions. It may be out in the countryside, far away from the King's many activities in the city. Or it may be "among plants and hedges" of all kinds- hindrances that surround us, blocking our way. Perhaps we will be one of " the potters", with our hands full of all types of pottery, accomplishing our daily tasks.

It makes no difference! The King who places us "there" will come and dwell with us. The hedges, or hindrances, are right for us, or He will quickly remove them. And doesn't it stand to reason that whatever seems to block our way may also provide for our protection? As for the pottery- it is exactly what He has seen fit to place in our hands and is for now "his work"

Frances Ridley Havergal

"Brightly colored sunsets and starry heavens, majestic mountains and shining seas, and fragrant fields and fresh-cut flowers are not even half as beautiful as a soul who is serving Jesus out of love through the wear and tear of an ordinary, unpoetic life. "

Fredrick William Faber

Saturday Workshop

2008-11-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Heidi and I did a writing workshop for the Standard IV class, which is preparing for a test to take to get into high-school. The weakest subject areas here are reading and writing so much practice is needed. So, we spent Saturday morning working with the kids. Here are a few pictures. It was a good time, I enjoyed working with the older students. They are real sweet and eager to learn new tricks and methods to writing. Here you can see Heidi looking at some baby rats that some girls found in the creek. They just loved these nasty little things and as you can see, one girl befriended hers and it just sat on her notebook as I taught the lesson- it took a bit getting use to but after awhile I was able to come close to her and read her work! ha! and yes the things were cute but come on, they're rats!

My Classroom

2008-11-01T09:10:00.001-07:00

So my classroom is the picnic tables outside the kitchen!

I am working with these specific kids on reading, they either can't read at all or are reading at a 1st or 2nd grade level. I can already see improvement in them and it is so exciting!

This is Jorge, he is so eager to learn and constantly loves to talk!

This is Roberto, he has a lot of difficulty reading and is a bit of a trouble maker but real sweet at the heart of it all.

They are a handful but I have been so blessed to be able to be a part of their lives.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

We had a Halloween party yesterday with a bake sale, costume contest and dance party!

It was alot of fun and it was great to see the kids laughing, dancing - way out of school mode. Here is a picture of two girls I teach! We had a great time yesterday, they both ate at least 4 cupcakes and stole my witch hat from me!

My new favorite hangout

2008-10-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Perkup!!

That's my new favorite coffee shop, well the only coffee shop in town. Here are some reasons why I love it:

1. The whole thing is painted in Teal!!

2. They have AC! ( a high commodity around here!!)

3. I can get a cappuccino.

4. They have the Internet.

5. AND they play awesome pop music like Katy Perry and the new Brittney Spears, seriously!

No Greater Love

2008-10-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

I am reading No Greater Love by Mother Teresa. She is an amazing woman, full of God's love and trust. I wanted to share a few quotes from the chapter on Love:

" God put the commandment of loving our neighbor on the same footing as the first commandment."

"Intense love does not measure, it just gives"

" It does not matter how much we give, but how much love we put into our giving."

" We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world."

We all know this woman dedicated her life and went beyond what most of us can do, but she simplifies and breaks down what it is we are suppose to do so beautifully. As I am here in the midst of this devastation, seeing homes swept away and peoples lives being forever changed by natural disaster, it is hard to grasp, hard to understand. But my call to Love, to Help, to Give only intensifies. I hear God speaking to me, pressing on my heart.

I want to Trust like Mother Teresa, I want to Love like Mother Teresa.

" In order for us to be able to love, we need to have faith because faith is love in action; and love is action in service."

Entertainment

2008-10-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Belize has random signs everywhere, they are quite humorous sometimes but I found one that I would share with you all.

This ones for you Christine:

Yes, that is on the box. That's one way to get the message across.

More Rain, More Flood

2008-10-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

This is my neighbor's house:

This is more of the flood damage among some of the towns near us:

This is the bridge we cross to get to church, it was a bit scary yesterday:

The rain continues, school has been cancelled since Friday. Please pray for the villages, towns and families affected by the floods.

Click here for more info, this is a Belize website.

And then came the flood

2008-10-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

So it has been pouring down rain here due to a tropical rainstorm that has just hovered above Belize for many days. The school has started to flood as well as many homes. Creeks have turned into rivers, and the schoolyard has turned into a lake! Today school was cancelled, leaving Heidi and I inside watching movies all day (real rough). Please keep the villages and families in your prayers as their homes continue to be in danger.

The wheels on the Bus go round and round

2008-10-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

SO, you must be wondering how I get to work everyday? Well, I ride a school bus with the other teachers and students to St. Margarets, simple right? Umm, not so much. The regular school bus holds around 60 yet everyday we stuff yes stuff 115 people on for the 1 hr bus ride.

Here are some pics of my most enjoyable bus ride and no I am not complaining, I promise :)

The last picture is of my new roommate Heidi, she is from California and will be in Belize with Pathlight until January ( and yes I looked scared as we were soaking wet and crammed in like sardines)

Work Work Work

2008-10-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

Eager to learn, here are some girls working on a math problem during recess!

I am looking forward to this week, Heidi ( the other volunteer) is coming tomorrow. I am also going to get more into the reading program with the students this week. Today is a holiday so there is no school and this weekend has been quite uneventful ( except that I did watch Texas beat OU!!!) Feel free to email me with anything interesting going on in your life!! I miss you all!!

I'm back!

2008-10-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

It was great to get back to St. Margaret's today. As the students began to see me, some came up to me and started yelling Miss Holly! Miss Holly! and then laughing and ran off real quick. I don't know if that was a good thing or not but it was real cute and I was eventually warmly welcomed back to the school by both the staff and students. I have moved to a new classroom where I will be working with older students who need help with reading. Most of the older students struggle in some form with reading and writing and since that is my speciality back home, I feel it is where I will be the best help. I am very tired tonight and turning in early. Please continue to pray for endurance and strength for all the teachers and I as our days are long! Also, please pray for my friend Connie who was hit with a tear gas bomb in Thailand, she is recovering now but is still in the hospital. Thank you so much for all your continued support, I can't do any of this without you all.

PRAYER REQUEST

2008-10-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

My friend working in Thailand has been hit by a tear gas bomb and went into surgery this morning. Please pray for her and others that were hurt, I do not know when I will get more updates so just waiting to hear is hard enough. Please keep praying

you can go to www.congraced.blogspot.com to see more

You gotta be flexible!

2008-09-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

So the latest: Pathlight would like me to come to California this upcoming week and meet some other volunteers and work on some new ESL programs to bring back to St. Margaret's. Since the program is new, we are just getting familiar with the education system in Belize and seeing how the volunteers will be best useful to the school. I will be eagerly returning to Belize the 8th of October and another volunteer, Heidi, will be joining me the 14th. I am looking forward to having someone to work with! Well, more to come later as I am learning to just be patient and see what God has in store next.

Thought you all should know

2008-09-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let everyone know that I got sick late Tuesday night and had to come back to Austin to see the Dr. and get medicine. I had an infection and had gotten medicine in Belize but it didnt work and the infection came back. I arrived here Wed, went to the Dr. Thurs and have gotten on the some new medicine and should know some test results next week. I am planning on returning to Belize when I am fully recovered. I will right more later, keep praying and thank you all so much for all your dear support.

Meet Janelle!

2008-09-14T18:00:00.001-07:00

This is the teacher I work with, Janelle.

We are both working in the Infant 1 division, which is like Kindergarten.

She and her son will be keeping me company while I am here alone,

living in the house part of the week.

Here we are in our lovely uniforms.

Here we are on the rooftop of a grocery store, which, yes, did turn into a restaurant, having a good time!

Where am I living?

2008-09-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am living in Belmopan, the capital of Belize. It is a medium size city with lots of homes and businesses.

Here is the home I am living in, it is very large with 5 bedrooms and 3 baths.

I am so lucky because they installed small air conditioning units right before I moved in and just a few days ago they installed a TV and cable!

Here is my bedroom, look closely and you can see my fan and AC- also known as my saving grace from the relentless heat!

Dance Party!

2008-09-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Friday we had a bit of a dance party in the classroom. Independence day is the 21st and we were practicing marching and waving flags and somehow it just turned into a dance fiasco with every 5 year old just dancing away- it was the cutest thing ever.

Made it through the 1st week!

2008-09-05T17:32:00.001-07:00

Well, I made it through the 1st week and have lots of mosquito bites to prove it! This week has been pretty hectic getting to know everyone as well as the city itself. The house that I am staying at has the Internet but it is very finicky so writing on the blog is harder than expected. The highlight of this week happened today after school- coloring with a girl in my class, Anlelly, who has been taken out of her home because of abuse. She finally opened up hugging me tight and calling me maestra ( teacher). I really felt God's presence during those 20 minutes, it is very hard to describe but was really amazing.

St. Margaret's School

2008-09-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

This is the school I work at, St. Margaret's. It is in a rural village outside of the city. The school is both government and church based, which means half of their funding is from the government and the other from the catholic church.

Wednesday, we had to leave school early because it was so hot and there was no water in the whole village, which means the kids didn't have enough drinking water to keep them from fainting- which one student almost did Tuesday. So, the principal ordered everyone to go home early and get stored water from their house. These are just everyday realities for the people here.

I'm here

2008-09-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

So today was the 1st day of school. I will be assisting in a kindergarten classroom, the kids are so tiny! Also, they all just speak spanish,

so this will be interesting.

Looking forward to a great week!

Pathlight

2008-08-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

I will be working for an organization called Pathlight. Their mission is to work with at-risk children and give them the opportunity in education that each child deserves.

I'm moving to Belize! ah!

2008-08-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

I will be in Belize Aug 31-Nov 23

Please keep in touch so I don't feel like I'm lost in the rain forest!

Belize Trip with Untitled

2008-08-20T10:23:00.001-07:00

My initial trip to Belize was in June with my community group, Untitled, from Riverbend Church

visit this website for more info: