Westminster Mission Trip to Belize (2013): Day 5 - The Medical Center: Finishing the Walls & Painting

While waiting to get the day going, the
girls occupy their time with a game
of Bob-The-Weasel

Sandi Penn going over the plan for the
day, which includes putting up the
remaining walls of the medical
center and starting the painting process

Today we began with a refreshingly late start, waking up at 8:00 to a banquet of waffles, pancakes, and sausage. After finishing eating, we headed out to begin our very productive day. On the way, we were divided into groups in order to increase efficiency on the site. Each group was assigned a different room inside the medical center, in an attempt to finish putting up the walls before lunch. At first, an additional group was given the assignment to finish digging around the septic tank, but was moved inside because of the infestation of fire ants. For the following two hours, everyone maintained focus as we measured and nailed our walls into place. Despite a few hurdles along the way, we almost finished the walls by lunch. We enjoyed another delicious home-cooked meal of chicken, rice, beans, and cantaloupe juice, thanks to Yolanda’s amazing culinary expertise. We also enjoyed yet another wonderful visit with our favorite little friend, Jamelly.

Miller L. (left) and Aanya A. painting
over the graffiti on the septic tank that
will eventually be connected to the
medical center

Sheridan N., and Taylor P. making good
work of a wall in exam room #1 at
the medical center

Susie F., almost finished with her side
of exam room #1

After finishing up we headed back to the work site to finish putting up the walls we had left. A couple hours later we finally finished placing the last board in the wall, and were ready to paint. Everyone quickly distributed the paint and got to work. Some were assigned outside to paint the septic tank as well as a sign to go in front of the medical center, while others were assigned to paint the inside walls. The septic tank and sign were painted a neutral green while the indoor walls were painted a snow white. The young kids slowly trickled in as they came home from school, eager to play with us. However, we remained focused on the work at hand so we continued painting, but some of the kids were able to help us out with the job and we all still had fun. We proceeded to almost completely finish the first coat of paint. Unfortunately we ran out of paint, so we had to pause our work until tomorrow when we planned to come back prepared with more supplies. To round off the day we carried all the boxes of things back into the rooms of the medical center with help from some of the kids. We quickly shuffled into the bus, in order to have as much time as possible to shower before dinner. As we were driving away in our white buses, kids ran up asking if we were going down to play at the soccer fields. It broke our hearts to say that we were unable to play, but are excited to go out and play with them tomorrow.

Kevin Mylod helps out cutting a piece
of wall board for Miller L., Janiah B.,
and Aanya A.

Chi Chi U., and Tate B. painting the
walls in the rest room adjacent
to the main room of the medical center

Lily M. and Janiah B. getting started
on their wall inside the medical
center

Once we were all cleansed of the wonderful paint and dirt, and completely spotless, we headed to the wonderful restaurant, Bird’s Isle for a second time. The nice breeze and the view of the water resulted in a nice, relaxing dinner. It was so nice to end our busy day, out and near the shore, enjoying the beautiful scenery and chatting with one another. As we wrapped up dinner, we said goodbye to the view and headed to our humble abode for a restful evening. The nightly devotional was led by Aanya, Conoly, and Jorie, who discussed the importance of love, involving both God oneself. They took a very interesting and different approach of explaining their concept by incorporating the popular song “Let Me Love You” by Neyo (if you have not been introduced, youtube it!). After the devotional, everyone headed back to their rooms to get ready for bed and another productive day, bringing new surprises and fun memories.

~ written by Aanya A., Molly B., & Caroline H.