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.

Samra W. rolling a layer of paint onto the main room of
the medical center

Jorie M. putting her artistic talents to work on the
Western Paradise Medical Center sign

Putting the contents of the medical center back inside in
assembly-line style after our work was done for the day.
Way to go girls!

Libby T., and Mallory L. doing their part
in the main room of the medical center

Molly hammering in the final nails
in the medical center's main room

Enjoying a night out at Bird's Isle Restaurant

Wednesday night's devotion was led by
Jorie M., Aanya A., & Conoly C.

Wednesday Night Bloggers: Aanya A., Molly B., & Caroline H.

Day 4: Medical Center: Wiring & Starting on the Walls

This morning started early for Mallory, Tate, and the chaperones. They got up at 5 am and walked to the sea wall to watch the sunrise. The experience was very well worth it, and the changing colors of the sky were beautiful. Of course, once the sun had risen, Mallory and Tate went back to bed until breakfast. The delicious breakfast included eggs, toast, and biscuits.

A morning excursion to the
Caribbean Sea wall

Samra W. hand-sawing her way through
a piece of wall board, while Hannah G.
holds it in place

We took a morning excursion downtown to do some shopping. We visited shops in the mall and went to Brodie’s department and grocery store to get some snacks for the rooms.  Choices included chocolate, oreos, and peanut butter. After we finished shopping, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the day. 

One of the groups went out to the site to start working on the medical center, but the other group went to the seawall down the street to see the ocean. The weather was perfect and the ocean looked beautiful. It was something a lot of us had been longing to see after spending a long winter in landlocked Atlanta. After our trip to the seawall, we went out to Western Paradise (also known as 8-Mile) to join the other group in finishing yesterday’s work of putting up walls and getting the ground ready for the septic tank, which was delivered today. After a lot of hard work, lunch was a well-deserved break. Like yesterday, we had lunch at Terrence’s house. Our fabulous meal featured barbeque chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, and homemade tortillas. They were delicious and warm and smelled good. We are forever ruined for American cooking.  

Tate B. offering nails to girls hammering
wall boards into place

Miller L., planting a tree in front
of the medical center

After lunch, we returned to the worksite to continue putting up walls and put in the dirt around the septic tank. We were soon joined by the neighborhood kids as they got let out of school. As more and more appeared, more and more hammers were forgotten. We participated in piggy back races and played soccer. We played duck duck goose and invented games of our own. We also took a lot of pictures. The kids were fascinated by our cameras and took lots of silly pictures with us. After we worked on the medical site and played with the kids, we headed to the soccer field. There we were joined by even more kids and handed out 40 Westminster soccer jerseys to them. Then we played an intense green vs. white soccer game, where the white team, containing both of us, dominated. Coincidentally, the white team also contained a few varsity soccer players, but it was all us. Definitely all us. Also, a little girl decided to try out her hair-braiding skills on Jorie’s head. See photo below.

Piggy-back racing with the kids
of Western Paradise

Girls take time out to teach some
cheerleading moves to the kids of
Western Paradise

After playing with the kids until we were too tired to move, we returned to our hotel for showers and a nice pizza dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a bathroom and a pizza box in my life. Mallory, Caroline Daugherty, and Libby led our devotion tonight. They talked about “God-sightings”- seeing God in everything that we do here. Many of us volunteered our own God-sightings that we had seen that day. Some included the appreciativeness of the children when they received their jerseys and the big smiles on their faces and the selflessness of Addie when she gave her sunglasses and socks to a little boy. Another place where we saw God was at the sea wall. The fact that we couldn’t even see the end of the ocean served as a metaphor for the vastness of God.We are exhausted from running around all day, but we are all excited to nail down some more walls and do some painting tomorrow. We are also really excited to play with the kids again. The weather is fantastic and we are all having a great time watching this project come together and bonding as a mission team. 

Miller L., playing with Isreal,
a Western Paradise child

Terrance (left) is helping us with carpentry
at the medical center. With him are
Patty Johnson and Brian.

~ written by Tate B. and Lily M.

This is Yolanda (Terrance's wife).  She's an incredible cook and
was gracious enough to make us lunch each day we were
working at the medical center.

Lunch at Terrance and Yolanda's house. Caroline D. having
some chicken with rice and beans with Jamiley, Terrance
and Yolanda's daughter.

Libby T. hammering one of the wall boards in place

Chi Chi U. (left) and Janiah B. hammering the last wall
board in place before calling it a day on Tuesday

Nicky D., Taylor C., and Samra W. offering encouragement
to the girls hammering in the wall boards

Janiah B. offering the kids of Western Paradise Westminster
Soccer jerseys before the big soccer game!

The soccer game at Western Paradise

Piggy-back races on the basketball court in Western Paradise

Playing the parachute game!

Patty Johnson giving instructions on the Parachute Game

Nicky D. being tracked down by the kids of
Western Paradise

Tuesday Night Devotion was given by
Caroline D., Libby T., and Mallory L.

Our Tuesday Night Bloggers: Tate B., and Lily M.

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.

Western Paradise used to be called
"8-Mile" because it is the 8-mile
marker from Belize City on the
Western Highway

Unloading wood needed to build steps
to the side door of the medical clinic.

~ Written by Mallory L. and Sheridan N.

Sheridan N. posing before drilling

 

Clearing the area in front of the medical clinic

Conolly focused on the
job at hand.

Before these girls got a hold of the
truck it was an absolute mess.  Afterwards,
the inside and both large tool boxes were
immaculate!

Taking a break from a game of soccer with the kids of
Western Paradise (a.k.a. 8-Mile).

Lily making the inside of the medical center
look spotless!

Sandi Penn, Chi Chi U., and Samra W.
holding the 2x8 in place while Kip,
the boss man, cuts the frame for the
side staircase

Local boy shows Westminster soccer players how it's done!

Girls reroute wires after removing an
interior wall.

The side staircase finished!

Taylor P., Miller L., and Hannah G., getting down at dirty
carving out a ditch for the septic tank at the medical center.

Jorie playing at the soccer game

Caroline D., giving this cutie a piggy-back ride
at the soccer game.

Our Monday night bloggers:
Mallory L., and Sheridan N.

Janiah B., loving on Jamilli, a child of
Western Paradise

Sheridan N. and Taylor P. lead the
Monday night devotion