Wherever You Lead: Parties, the Zoo, and River Fun

Making funny faces with Lindy, Rebecca, and Gigi (whose eyelids are flipped up especially for this picture.)

Rebecca and her kids: JR, Gigi, Raina, and Nathan.

Rachael and her kids: Vincent, Marcus, Lindy, Alex, and Anna.

Life has been pretty great, here in Belize. Several weeks ago we had a party for everyone who had completed their homework throughout the month of February. We had over about 20 or so students who had diligently shown us their homework every day after school and who had worked hard on all their tasks. We decided as their reward for the month we would have them come over to our house for an evening of banana splits and a movie. I am proud to say that all of my students that I tutored finished all of their work and were able to enjoy their reward. My four boys from Standard 5 (which is equivalent to Grade 7 in the states) and my one boy from Infant 2 (which is Grade 2). All the kids enjoyed their ice cream and the movie we set up on our laptop computer for everyone to huddle in close to watch.

The past two weeks we have been on Easter break, which is like our Spring Break. Some kids went out to be with their families for the vacation, while most stayed at KCH and have spent the time playing sports, watching movies, unwillingly reading with their tutors, or just relaxing. It has been a terrific time to get to know our kids better. We have been able to spend time with them more as a friend than as an authority or scholastic figure.

Amy and her kids: Alexia, Senaida, and Jesse.

My boys and I: Keith, Wanige (being bashful), Dion, Calvin, and Joel.

Wanige and I at the zoo. A typical case of me trying to get him to smile.

A small boa and myself.

My school, Walla Walla University, sent out a group of about 20 students down to Belize on a mission trip to help work on the new building and to spend time with the kids. It was really great to see some old friends and meet some new ones as we played with the kids together and went on excursions with them. One day, they decided to take a group of kids to the zoo. Each adult, or college student, grabbed a kid and headed out to explore the wonders of the Belize zoo. I was lucky enough to be chosen by two of my boys from my Standard, so I was able to spend the day having fun with Calvin and Wanige. We explored the place, stopping at each animals' cage to see who lived there, and especially at the bird cages as Wanige charmed each bird in there. He would walk up to the cage and stick a piece of grass in, then within about a minute, almost every bird would be right up to the edge of the cage by him. He could even walk to the other end of the cage and all of the birds would follow him.

It has also been getting increasingly hotter as we have been here, so many days they just take the kids to the river to cool off. We have gone several times during break, and each time we go it is so fun to see as spirits are lifted as the kids cool off and swim and play. The day after Easter we went down to a different river and had a big barbecue there. There was chicken, beans, tortillas, cole slaw, chips, and rice pudding. We spent the whole day swimming, playing with the kids in the water, and just enjoying each others company. It was a really fun time to just spend time with each other and appreciate the beautiful nature that surrounds us here in Belize.