Westminster Mission Trip to Belize (2013): Day 3 - The School and The Medical Center

Pastor Ernest Betson giving Janiah a
good-morning hug!

Unity Presbyterian Primary School

Our trip to Belize continues to wow us with all the incredible things we get to do in one day. Today we ate breakfast at 7am before loading into the vans and departing for Unity Presbyterian Primary School, which is run by the pastor and first lady of the church we attended last night. The school was painted primarily teal and red, with various bible verses and phrases painted in white across the walls. When we pulled up, we saw a sea of red shirts and pleated, plaid, and navy colored dresses standing on the steps of the church and heard the beautiful harmony of children singing as they participated in their morning assembly. Just as we were smiling at them, we were greeted by the pastor, Ernest Betson, with warm hugs and his signature, “I love you; you’re special.”

Devotion before school starts at Unity Presbyterian Primary School

After exploring a few rooms and conversing among ourselves, school began, and we dispersed ourselves in pairs throughout the classrooms. The lessons, grades, and ages varied among classrooms. Some of our team members taught young children how to count to six, while others helped on an 8^th grade math worksheet about finance and interest.

Although spending only 3 hours with these precious children, the good-byes proved to be painful and heartbreaking.

Mallory L., and Addie C. leading
children in a song

Pastor Betson gives every student a
hug before they head off to class
in the morning...not a bad way
to start the day!

We loaded into the vans and arrived at our work-site. Let’s just say we were ready for some food. A generous family, friends of our host missionaries, opened their home to the entire team, and provided a delicious authentic lunch, consisting of plantains, rice+beans, and chicken, before picking up a hammer and joining us on the worksite.

Molly B. and Hanna G., playing a
game with the older students

Aanya A., helping students with fractions

Our worksite consists of a small wooden building, which will hopefully serve as an effective medical center for the small 8-mile community in the near future. We began work by splitting up into four groups, and working on tasks such as cleaning up trash, building wooden stairs, wiring the building’s electricity system, and digging a large ditch behind the building for the septic tank. We were accompanied by all of our leaders and a few community helpers as we worked to the beat of awesome tunes from Caroline’s iPod. Not only did we do tons of work over four hours, but we formed stronger bonds between teammates as well.

Taylor P. and Miller L. playing Duck-Duck-Goose
with the 4 year-olds

Nicki D. helping administer a
religion quiz

Around 4:30pm, some teammates walked a short way to a basketball court and a dirt soccer field, centrally located between many community houses. Many other teammates stayed behind to finish up the day’s work. Immediately, children emerged from different houses to join us in a fun game of soccer.

We had the privilege to interact with many different kids over the course of the day, and they all proved to be joyful and full of energy.

Caroline H., rerouting wires for electrical
outlets at the medical clinic.

We came home to yet another delicious meal and much needed showers. After dinner, we gathered in the lobby for an inspiring, well-planned devotional by Sheridan and Taylor. Through Sheridan’s personal story about her ACL tear, and Taylor’s personal story about her “swim-off” state qualifying race, we learned that God has a plan for us, even in our trials and that He and our friends/teammates can help us through our struggles. No matter how tough the situation is, in the end, it will help and benefit us in someway. On that great note, we rested our weary heads.