Belize it or not!

(This post was from this past Friday, but due to lack of internet access, I haven't been able to get it up here until today!)

Today I had some disappointments. So far, this trip has felt very successful for the most part. Surprisingly so. I think I expected more difficulties and barriers, but things have been pretty smooth.

However, I was excited about trying to get to Belize prison, the Kolbe Foundation, during the trip, and found out that this wasn’t going to work out schedule-wise. The prison sounds fascinating. It was taken over by Rotarians in 2002, who run it as a faith-based non-profit. It actually focuses on rehabilitation, rather than the profit-driven business that much of the prison system has become in the U.S. But alas, I will not get to see it in action, at least this trip.

This afternoon, we went to Belmopan, where King’s Children’s Home is located. I thought I had an appointment, at least somewhat. I talked to one of the managers a couple of days ago, who said that I could stop by after lunch today. But when we arrived, she wasn’t around. The women in the kitchen said that we could just walk around and wait until she came…so we did, a bit awkwardly. In the U.S., you don’t just walk into a home like this without an appointment, a tour, rules and regulations, and all your clearances. But we found kids, or rather, they found us, and we played with them.

They took to us immediately, grabbing our hands, hugging on us, jumping on us, wanting to play games. They weren’t a bit shy; we didn’t have to prove ourselves at all. I get the feeling that they are used to volunteers coming and leaving. There were at least 5 young female Canadian volunteers at the home currently. Apparently there is a volunteer house right down the road, where people can stay for however long to help out. I was able to talk to one of them for a little while, but they were very busy with all the kids.

So we did have an enjoyable time playing with the kids. I mean, I did meet Spiderman (who knew he was in Belize?) and I got to be a shark for a while, which is always fun. Also, my white shirt is now a fashionable shade of purple thanks to one little chalk artist I was holding. But on a more serious note, I don’t feel it is very valuable for us to just come for a few hours and leave. It was obvious the kids were very needy- there are about 40 who live there now. And I was hoping to talk to someone to learn about the home- where do the children come from? What are the situations in Belize that lead them there? How was the home started? The manager never showed up, and the woman who was apparently in charge of counseling/therapy with the children was occupied while we were there. All in all, I felt the visit was pretty unsuccessful. I got a feel for the place, but didn’t learn many specifics, and don’t feel that I contributed much.

Well, I guess that it’s all part of the learning experience.

And on another note, the large amount of toothbrushes that I brought down (thanks to Christina and Prof. Hollm) have found a home. They were distributed between a Guatemalan women’s coop, Cornerstone Foundation, and Mary Opens Doors. All were happy to see them.