Service Belize

It just dawned on me that we may have gotten a little carried away with our itinerary that we barely talked about the rhyme and reason for this trip.  Of course exploration and chasing adventure is a huge part of it, but the main reason we're drawn to Belize is to serve.  Here's a quick 411 on what we're doing:

Diane will be serving in two places: Mercy Kitchen in the morning and YWCA in the afternoon.  As you might have guessed, Mercy Kitchen is a soup kitchen that caters to the elderly and homeless of Belize City.   Not only will she learn how to cook some awesome dishes (and possibly share some samples with all you awesome followers when she gets back to Seattle) but she also gets to help with the daily activities and entertainment of the elderly visitors.  Right after lunch, she will walk over to the nearby YWCA, where she will help tutor, play games, and apparently drink tequila (according to her last post) with at-risk young women.  

Bev will be serving in two places as well: St. Joseph Mercy Clinic in the morning and the YWCA in the afternoon.  In conjunction with the Mercy Kitchen, the St Joseph Mercy Clinic is the only geriatric clinic in all of Belize City.  The nurse-extraordinaire that she is, Bev will start her days by helping out with the palliative care, routine check ups, and health education of the impoverished elderly.  Right after lunch, she will also move on to the YWCA to drink some tequila (jk!) with the girls. 

Last but not least, I will be spending most of my days at Saint Martin de Porres Elementary, a Jesuit run school in the poorest projects of Belize City.  I'm a little nervous about how this will all play out, but so far I've heard that I will be doing everything from helping with homework, doing arts and crafts with the kids, creating and teaching my own lesson plan (yikes) and might even have to teach sex ed.  GASP!  Yes, you read that right!  I've been dreaming about the birds and the bees ever since I was "warned" about that.  If only I could find a copy of that horrible "Miracle of Birth" video that I suffered through in 9th grade.  

Oh and if you haven't figured it out, the names of the service places are links to their websites.  I couldn't find a website for the school, but found this really cute video about them instead.  ENJOY!