The storm came through in the middle of the night so most students slept through it. The impact within our building was minimal. If you were awake, you could hear the wind but nothing could be seen since it was so dark outside.
In the morning we ventured out and were able to assess the damage around us. We could see trees uprooted and as we were able to travel back to the TEC, we could see the rivers were flooded, some roads blocked by debris and a number of roofs had ripped off of homes in the rural villages. Power was out and the country as a whole was catching its breath and not quite up and running. Our thoughts immediately went to our friends in the villages where we serve. We stopped by St. Joseph's school to find the roof ripped from one of our classroom buildings. Other buildings had additional roof damage and a classroom packed with extra desks had a gallon of paint that had opened and the wind splattered blue paint all over the entire classroom. There was a power line that had fallen but none of the power had been restored throughout the area.
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| We were lucky that the direction of the wind fell in our favor. |
On Friday we returned to the school to resume our service day camp. Unsurprisingly, the attendance was low, so half of our student leaders taught the Belizean kids hoping to restore a sense of stability and normalcy to the day, while the other half worked on cleaning up and helping with minor repairs. A couple of our classrooms were still occupied as hurricane shelter rooms, so we consolidated into fewer classrooms which worked out fine considering our lower numbers at day camp.
It took a while to get Belize back up and running. Many programmatic changes needed to occur as the country slowly recovered from the storm. Belize is so rich in culture and interesting places to visit that we still were able to wrap up the final week of GLA service and excursions with all sorts of adventures. We stopped in for a personal encounter with the wildlife at the Iguana Conservation Project, enjoyed nature hikes and outdoor scavenger hunts. We visited citrus fields and the Mayan ruin site of Cahal Pech, and wrapped up the last weekend in Belize on the gorgeous island of Caye Caulker. There we enjoyed a full day snorkeling and were relieved to find the island in good shape after the storm.
| Loving the Iguana Project! |
| Did you know that oranges are green? |
The GLA session is wrapping up today. It's been a whirlwind of a summer in every way - both literally and figuratively. Stay tuned for more updates as we move into the fall season and get back to the flow of our school year programs. There is a lot on the horizon!
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| Cate and her reef buddy |
