Barefooting in Belize!

Greetings and Peace from Belize! Our intrepid group of 20 sojourners has been hard at work serving the people of Belize, building a water purification system in the village of San Lucas, helping elementary students with language arts, music, art and religious education, teaching women how to deal with some daily health issues and honoring the elders of the community. At our first Mass in the village of Dolores, Fr Bob reminded us that the divinity of Jesus was hidden within his humanity, and so it is with us. In reality, God can be seen in each person, since we are all made in the image of God. And God has truly shown himself in the faces and the persons of the people we have encountered over the past few days. Their hospitality, kindness and openness in the face of the many daunting challenges of their daily lives have been a true blessing and grace for us. The weather has been hot ….very hot…and not without its own unique obstacles, but we are motivated by the beauty we have found in the faces of the children and the hearts of the elders. We have had the privileged to have met Mrs. Olive Woodye, who coordinates the scholarship program who talked about the pressing need for education and her insistence on holding the students to a high standard of excellence in their work. Dean Cus is our local construction manager, an extremely hardworking and patient man, directing our water project to completion. Manuel Ac has been our guide in identifying and supporting the widows and orphans in the villages. We are blessed to have been led to walk with the people of the Toledo district, at least for a little way, through their joys and struggles. There has also been a tremendous infusion of energy into our work, provided by the young people among us….those twenty somethings have brought a tremendous amount of fun into their work which has rubbed of on all of us, and have helped us bring joy into our work. God is truly good….all the time! -Chuck
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