Greeting earthlings!
Today we finished up our work at the school- we cemented the
corn holes and painted the se saws and the corn holes. Since we finished early,
we got to play with the kids and help them in the classrooms. After eating
lunch, we went back and put a second coat of paint on the corn holes and se
saws. We were talking to the principal and he referred to our project as “the beginning
of a big project”. Right before we were about to leave, one of the kids got
hurt, I’ll leave Tomiko to go into details. Working with the kids is a lot of
fun, but we all feel bad because a lot of the kids have trouble with reading
and basic math skills. Regardless, it has been a great experience for us to get
to work with these amazing children.
-Chupacabra
Hey peeps!
Today was super fun and exciting! We had an awesome time
playing with the children and finishing up our projects. Unfortunately towards
the end of the day while I was playing with a few of the younger kids, one
little boy got hit by a stick and cracked his head open. It was very sad, but
he was very strong and is all better now! After returning to our hotel and
resting for a bit, we met up with the former chief of the village, Ernesto
Saqui, the coach of the Maya Center’s women’s team, Carlos, the principal of
the local school, Liberato Saqui, and female leader, Arora Gonzales. We
discussed the history of the village, environmental issues that have begun to
emerge, and new solutions that can improve the future of Belize. Afterwards a
group of Mayan dancers performed for us, and in return Abbie showed off her
ballet skillage and Yaritza and Jamie beautifully sang a cover of Adele’s “Rolling
in the Deep.” We celebrated the end of our time in this community with more
dancing and ice cream. Overall, this day was extremely fun and I am sad that we
are leaving this village. However, more adventures are to come as we continue
to venture into the great wild beyond! -Tokyo
Photo of our group with Carlos, the girls' soccer team Coach. This may be the first Mayan girls team in Belize for all we know, so we decided to sponsor them. We'll be fundraising to provide uniforms, coaching supplies, and hopefully a lawnmower....the machete takes too long!
Liberato Saqui (school principal) and Mrs. Conti (aka Pamster) going over new math supplies to help with fractions and decimals - thank you to all the Pegasus teachers who donated supplies to the school, they loved them!
Ernesto Saqui, the village chief for over 26 years and owner of the Maya Center where we stayed. Holding a Calabash fruit from his tree. Calabash is used by the Mayans to make bowls, collanders, and water carrying vessels.
4 comments:
The pictures are worth a thousand words in these blogs!
To all,
It is clear that you are learning, solving problems, enjoying culture, and becoming enlightened young people. Your words are inspiring and I am proud of all of you!
Loved the see saw video. What a wonderful accomplishment bringing joy to those children. Especially enjoyed seeing the team in the background still working. Great job!
Mr. Conti said it all above. You represnet your school, your country and yourselves so well. Keep inspiring us!
I will be the first geeky parent ... I miss you Julia.
Thank you, Mr. Conti, for your thoughtful observations. This is sure to have been quite a growth experience for all of our girls! Hope it can become a Pegasus tradition so that future students can also benefit from all that a trip like this has to offer. I agree with Mr. Qualls- it was so powerful to see how enthusiastically all the kids piled onto your see saw- nice work girls! And I am sure they will have tons of fun with the bean bag toss game! Abbie, we love it that you were able to have a cultural exchange of dance with your hosts. Very nice! And I can tell from the photos that as predicted those children have really bonded with you girls and will be sad to see you leave today. I am so glad you were able to touch their lives in a lasting, meaningful way, both with the concrete (no pun intended haha) reminders of you in the see saws and corn holes, and in the one on one time you were able to spend with them in their classroom and on their new playground. Well done! On to the next adventure- looking forward to hearing all about it!
What a great blog/experience! Thank you Mrs. Conti, Mr. Hartwell, World Leadership School, and fantastic Pegasus students...I am sure that you will all return home with a very different view of the world and your own roles in it!
I loved the video from the top of the Mayan Temple! Can't wait to catch up with you next week!
John Zurn
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