After spending two college Spring
Breaks at home on the couch, I decided that I needed to push myself out of my
comfort zone and use college as an opportunity to experience new things. Last
Spring, I learned about an opportunity to complete a ten-day course called “Educational
Leadership in Service- Learning: Belize” through the College of Education and
Human Sciences at SDSU. This Spring, I completed that course over my Spring
Break with eleven other SDSU students and twelve Brookings community members. I
never expected this trip to have such an impact on my life that I would shed a
tear when I had to part ways with these amazing people who became like family over
the course of this trip. Not only the people that I served with impacted me so
greatly, but also the children, adolescents, and adults whom I met and worked
with while in Belize. It has been eleven days since we have returned and I am
still trying to process this life changing experience.
I had two goals for this trip. The
first was to learn about educational system and culture of Belize. The second was
learn to be humble, optimistic, and appreciative. On just about every day of
this trip, I became closer and closer to fulfilling these goals. We started our
journey in Corozal, Belize and worked with children aged 2-14 that came from
households with drug addict parents (see picture below). A retired principal in Belize puts on a
vacation bible school program every Sunday for these children so that they are
reminded that someone cares about them. I could see on their faces that these
children were so appreciative for someone to give them attention and they
jumped for joy when we handed each of them a new t-shirt. It was so fulfilling
to spend time with these kids but so heartbreaking to watch them walk back to their
dilapidated homes at the end of the day. We have so much and they have next to
nothing.
Next, we traveled to Succotz,
Belize which is a smaller town near the Guatemala border. The SDSU students
spent their time at the Nazarene primary school and high school, while the
community members helped repair a building owned by a local church. I thought
most of my time would be spent working with the high school students in their classes,
but we actually worked side-by-side with them while building a fence for the
school’s sheep. I found the interaction I had with the students in this setting
just as fulfilling as working with them in the classroom. They taught us how to
use machetes and how to efficiently dig post holes by hand and we taught them how
to communicate while working with a group to accomplish a task. I did get to
spend some time in the classroom both teaching students how to sew and in a
math class! Actually, myself and two other students got to teach a lesson on
area and perimeter to a ninth grade math class. Students in Belize are only
required to attend school until they are fourteen so these students chose to go
to high school and were so eager to learn!
There are no public schools in
Belize; there are only Christian schools that have a small tuition fee per
semester. Students can earn scholarships based on need as well. At the
beginning of each week, the high school students gather around the flag pole
and have a ceremony where they pray, sing the national anthem, recite a pledge
(my favorite line from this was “I am the hope of Belize”), and sing Christian
songs. At the primary school, the teachers have devotions at the beginning of
the week to pray. We got to observe both of these traditions. My faith is
important to me so it was really cool to see that their faith is present in
every aspect of their lives. These teachers were so dedicated to making sure that
their students were set on the best track possible to live a good life in
Belize. The principal was so passionate about introducing new skills to her
students such as sewing, agriculture, cooking, and more. These students and
teachers were truly inspiring!
This blog post only scratches the
surface of the things I experienced while in Belize. I could easily write ten
pages about it. I didn’t even get to the food, sight-seeing, laughs, interactions
with locals, bus rides, and so much more! If you are an SDSU student or a
Brookings community member and have the slightest interest in participating in
something like this, go on this trip next year! It exceeded my expectations and
I feel more humbled, optimistic, and appreciative as a result of this trip. I will
forever cherish the memories and relationships I made while serving in Belize. Some
of the Belizeans that I met have even added me on Facebook so it will be neat to
stay in touch!
-Stephanie Schmidt-
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