Wrapping up
As you can imagine, during our last weeks and days we were busy wrapping up projects and saying farewell to now dear friends. It’s been a while since we gave a very thorough update of our work in Belize, so what follows is a summary of most of the work we were involved in. Please forgive us for being repetetive in places, but we know that when you're not directly involved in this, as we are, it can be hard to remember all the details. Also, this is a pretty long entry because we felt that all was important to tell, so you may want to save it for when you have some free time . . .
The Contraras House (Tim)
You’ve seen a few pictures on previous blogs of Tim working on a house for this family. It’s basically been his main project. When we arrived, there was only a foundation poured, and block was beginning to be laid. Tim started out volunteering to help some guys from a local church (who were funding the project and are a part of the VOP Partnership) lay block so he could learn a bit about their construction techniques and learn Spanish. Once block reached roof level the church ran out of funding so The Word at Work stepped in to take over funding the project. From that time on, Tim was basically in charge of all construction. During that time, he organized two separate volunteer days where people from various churches in the community came to help complete the roof. Other than that, Tim (with lots of help from Kenny and two of the Contraras boys) built and installed windows, doors, and siding (around the roof). The family is now adding a few final touches: Mrs. Contraras planted a few flowers out front, and her husband and sons are working on an attached kitchen. They will move in very soon! Over the past three-and-a-half months, Tim really enjoyed getting to know this family, especially the boys that helped. One boy in particular was quick to pick up on anything Tim showed him, and Tim’s been encouraging him to learn more and find work in construction.
The Contraras family in front of their old house.
The Contraras family in front of their new house.
The Catholic School (Ginger)
Ginger started off following a volunteer schedule at this school that had her going around to every class once a week. It quickly became apparent that, while every teacher was getting just a little bit of help with that schedule, none of them were getting a lot of help, and so she began to focus her efforts more on specific classes. Two children in particular who had great trouble in reading became regular students of hers. Also, she ended up doing a lot of work in English composition with the Standard VI (Grade 8) class because they’re preparing for a big exam in March that determines whether or not they can continue their education and go on to high school. Most recently, however, Ginger spent most of her time helping teachers get the computer lab up and running, sorting supplies and books that came in on the shipping container, and cleaning out and organizing the school library. The library project was one that Ginger probably enjoyed most—she loved being able to turn a largely unusable space into a place stocked full of wonderful books and resources that all students and teachers will easily be able to use and benefit from. When she left, she passed this project on to Marina Amaya and a few other teachers who plan on having the Standard V class trained to maintain and manage the library so that it can stay in a usable condition. Pictures are below of the library during the great book sorting. As you can see, it’s quite a small space (shared with the Std. V classroom) that can’t hold all the books it has already. They need more space and more shelves to hold all the new books they have, but we figure that’s a good problem to have, thanks to many generous teachers and schools in the U.S.
Ginger's organized mess at the library.
The first class to use the computer lab.
The Kings Home (Tim)
When Tim wasn’t working at the Contraras house, he was usually in Belmopan at The Kings Home (a Christian orphanage) working on refurbishing their kitchen, or building cabinets for them back in the valley. While this project was not entirely finished before Tim left (Wes and Kenny will wrap up the finishing touches), Tim feels good about the amount of work he was able to put into it. Aside from pouring them a gigantic, concrete sink (with Josh Tam), Tim and Kenny built some really nice, large cabinets which will serve as their pantry, and another hanging cabinet near the stove. They also had a vent-a-hood made and installed it (a novelty in Belize). Needless to say, the cooks liked to see these guys coming!
The vent-a-hood and wall cabinet.
The pantry (still unfinished).
The Christian School (Ginger)
While Ginger started out working with all classes at the Catholic School, her work at the Christian school has always been more with the Standard VI class to help Mr. Cowo, who is the Standard VI teacher as well as the principal (the school doesn’t have enough students to have a non-teaching principal). So, she taught them lessons in the afternoon at least once a week, and the rest of her days were scattered out among the other classes. Again, she mostly worked on English composition with Std. VI, as well as grammar and a little bit of math (or, as they say, “maths”). The highlight of her time in this classroom came fairly recently when she taught the book Shiloh to the class. Over about a month-and-a-half the class read, discussed, and wrote a few compositions on the book, which is a wonderful story of a young child’s love for a dog and his fight against unfair and inhumane treatment of animals. The class surprisingly responded well to the book (though Ginger wasn’t too sure of this at the time—they told her later how much they liked it in her farewell letters), coming from a culture where animals are not treated with much concern or compassion. Ginger also really enjoyed working with a few other classes in particular: The Infant I (Kindergarten) class was a delightful place to work because the teacher took full advantage of the many resources that were donated, such as the books, and put much effort into creating little centers for play and learning around her classroom. Also, the Standard III class developed a real enjoyment for having Ginger come and read stories to them—they would beg for it—and that is always a fun thing to do! Pictures with some of these classes are included below.
Ginger reading "The Stinky Cheese Man" to Standard III.
These boys are playing at one of their learning centers.
With Standard VI, reading their new favorite.
Keep reading (it woulnd't all fit in one blog) . . .
The Contraras House (Tim)
You’ve seen a few pictures on previous blogs of Tim working on a house for this family. It’s basically been his main project. When we arrived, there was only a foundation poured, and block was beginning to be laid. Tim started out volunteering to help some guys from a local church (who were funding the project and are a part of the VOP Partnership) lay block so he could learn a bit about their construction techniques and learn Spanish. Once block reached roof level the church ran out of funding so The Word at Work stepped in to take over funding the project. From that time on, Tim was basically in charge of all construction. During that time, he organized two separate volunteer days where people from various churches in the community came to help complete the roof. Other than that, Tim (with lots of help from Kenny and two of the Contraras boys) built and installed windows, doors, and siding (around the roof). The family is now adding a few final touches: Mrs. Contraras planted a few flowers out front, and her husband and sons are working on an attached kitchen. They will move in very soon! Over the past three-and-a-half months, Tim really enjoyed getting to know this family, especially the boys that helped. One boy in particular was quick to pick up on anything Tim showed him, and Tim’s been encouraging him to learn more and find work in construction.
The Contraras family in front of their old house.
The Contraras family in front of their new house.
The Catholic School (Ginger)
Ginger started off following a volunteer schedule at this school that had her going around to every class once a week. It quickly became apparent that, while every teacher was getting just a little bit of help with that schedule, none of them were getting a lot of help, and so she began to focus her efforts more on specific classes. Two children in particular who had great trouble in reading became regular students of hers. Also, she ended up doing a lot of work in English composition with the Standard VI (Grade 8) class because they’re preparing for a big exam in March that determines whether or not they can continue their education and go on to high school. Most recently, however, Ginger spent most of her time helping teachers get the computer lab up and running, sorting supplies and books that came in on the shipping container, and cleaning out and organizing the school library. The library project was one that Ginger probably enjoyed most—she loved being able to turn a largely unusable space into a place stocked full of wonderful books and resources that all students and teachers will easily be able to use and benefit from. When she left, she passed this project on to Marina Amaya and a few other teachers who plan on having the Standard V class trained to maintain and manage the library so that it can stay in a usable condition. Pictures are below of the library during the great book sorting. As you can see, it’s quite a small space (shared with the Std. V classroom) that can’t hold all the books it has already. They need more space and more shelves to hold all the new books they have, but we figure that’s a good problem to have, thanks to many generous teachers and schools in the U.S.
Ginger's organized mess at the library.
The first class to use the computer lab.
The Kings Home (Tim)
When Tim wasn’t working at the Contraras house, he was usually in Belmopan at The Kings Home (a Christian orphanage) working on refurbishing their kitchen, or building cabinets for them back in the valley. While this project was not entirely finished before Tim left (Wes and Kenny will wrap up the finishing touches), Tim feels good about the amount of work he was able to put into it. Aside from pouring them a gigantic, concrete sink (with Josh Tam), Tim and Kenny built some really nice, large cabinets which will serve as their pantry, and another hanging cabinet near the stove. They also had a vent-a-hood made and installed it (a novelty in Belize). Needless to say, the cooks liked to see these guys coming!
The vent-a-hood and wall cabinet.
The pantry (still unfinished).
The Christian School (Ginger)
While Ginger started out working with all classes at the Catholic School, her work at the Christian school has always been more with the Standard VI class to help Mr. Cowo, who is the Standard VI teacher as well as the principal (the school doesn’t have enough students to have a non-teaching principal). So, she taught them lessons in the afternoon at least once a week, and the rest of her days were scattered out among the other classes. Again, she mostly worked on English composition with Std. VI, as well as grammar and a little bit of math (or, as they say, “maths”). The highlight of her time in this classroom came fairly recently when she taught the book Shiloh to the class. Over about a month-and-a-half the class read, discussed, and wrote a few compositions on the book, which is a wonderful story of a young child’s love for a dog and his fight against unfair and inhumane treatment of animals. The class surprisingly responded well to the book (though Ginger wasn’t too sure of this at the time—they told her later how much they liked it in her farewell letters), coming from a culture where animals are not treated with much concern or compassion. Ginger also really enjoyed working with a few other classes in particular: The Infant I (Kindergarten) class was a delightful place to work because the teacher took full advantage of the many resources that were donated, such as the books, and put much effort into creating little centers for play and learning around her classroom. Also, the Standard III class developed a real enjoyment for having Ginger come and read stories to them—they would beg for it—and that is always a fun thing to do! Pictures with some of these classes are included below.
Ginger reading "The Stinky Cheese Man" to Standard III.
These boys are playing at one of their learning centers.
With Standard VI, reading their new favorite.
Keep reading (it woulnd't all fit in one blog) . . .
posted by Tim+Ginger at 11:32 AM
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