The children of Belize are so full of life, innocence, curiosity, smiles, silliness, laughter, potential and HOPE.
There were a few opportunities where we were able to serve the children of Belize.
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We got to serve the neighborhood school and paint the outside and inside to inspire and motivate the kiddos to learn.
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We got to serve the neighborhood kids by hosting a VBS right at the Belize Basecamp.
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We got to serve a kids ministry called “Kids of Honor”
Remember the first blog post I written about Belize? Well we have been painting as much as possible to beautify and lighten up the school grounds to make learning fun! Many of the kids were so excited and watched us, and some allowed had painted with us! We did a lot of colorful art of to represent Noah’s Ark, rainbows and hearts. I painted a palm tree and a garden of flowers. We painted the words of the fruit of the spirit alongside one of the huge walls outside the school: Love, Patience, Kindness, Patience, Gentleness, Self-Control, Joy, and Peace. We painted the alphabet alongside another wall. We even drew positive affirmations on their sidewalk. One of the sentences I painted was inspired by the huge murals in Chicago that proclaim “You Are Beautiful.” At the end of our month, the principal hosted a school assembly where the kids had sung their national anthem, pledge of allegiance and the choir sung a song for us. Then Miss Sanchez, the principal, gave us each a magnet, sticker and postcard as a thank you to us for the service we gave to their school. Many teachers, staff, and kids came up to us to thank us for the work we did. Another teacher was sad to see us go, because she wanted to know if we can paint her 3rd grade class building, but unfortunately our time was up and we ran out of paint. We at first didn’t know if we were actually making an impact – especially since we are not professional painters – however, with the huge THANK YOU they gave us at the end of the month, and with many sad to see us go, I am grateful to know we were able to make some kind of impact.
All the paintings we did! 🙂
This is Juan. He’s 14, and had a hard time following the rules, but by the end of our time there, he loved us so much and I always told him to be a leader. 🙂
Some squadmates of mine painting shapes on the sidewalk.
VBS (Vocation Bible School) is another ministry we did where we dedicated an entire week toward the kids in the neighborhood. We planned lessons, games, crafts, snacks, and worship with the goal of them learning how to take the Bible knowledge they know and apply it to their daily lives. We partnered with two other teams of P Squad: Relentless Love and Agape and altogether we collaborated our assets and skills to pull off a great week of fun and Jesus with the kiddos. It was the first time we worked with kids as a group, so we definitely learned where our strengths are and where we need to work more on for future kid ministries. I was in charge of worship. For those who don’t know what worship is: worship is the opportunity to praise, give thanks through music as a group. You can often find Christians doing it in church, but you can do it anywhere. Kids love it, especially when you involve dance moves, hand movements, and jumping. Why not dance for God? So I actually did a lot of kids ministry in Chicago for the last three years with By The Hand Club, so this was totally my specialty. We did VBS after school from 4-6pm every day Monday-Friday.
Teaching the kids the next dance moves, and my favorite child Junior was such a great helper! His story is heartbreaking, but his laughter and smile was contagious. I am going to miss this kid.
Sitting and waiting for our skit.
Me teaching the story of Samson in the Bible. These children from Kids of Honor are SO smart!!!
Many of the children make it so easy to build relationships with. They all want to get to know us more and play with us. However, I will be honest, I didn’t feel comfortable building relationships with them just to leave them in a few weeks. I want to be intentional with the impact I will make on the community, and I don’t want to subliminally hurt them by making friends with the kids just to leave them and not come back for a long time. However, they are so cute and full of joy. By just observing them, it made me realize how innocent children are, and how alike they are all around the world. My students in Chicago have the same energy, curiosity, innocence, competitiveness and joy as the students here in Belize, as the students in India and in the Philippines. Kids are kids everywhere and their behavior, as well as their future, really determines how much love, structure and education are in their lives. It doesn’t matter what culture they come from. Each child has the ability to live life to their fullest potential, as long as they are provided with the guidance, resources and tools needed to get there.
Some of the stories the children told me broke my heart. Not all of the kids are have an equal support of resources or guidance. I can go all night of the many children who shared some real stories of the hardships they have gone through. If you want to know some more stories, please ask, and I will share with you. Many of the stories involved abusive fathers, single-parent homes, families fled another country and came to Belize as a refugee, family members committing suicide, drunk or addicted parents, and the list goes on. To be honest, many of these stories are not that different than the stories of the kids I served back at home in Chicago. However, the difference is that kids in Belize only have the opportunity to get free education up until 8th grade. After that, if you can’t afford high school, then you have no choice but to work at 13 years old. It made me grateful to know that Miss Mona, our host from Belize Basecamp, helps Belizean families and their children get to school by offering scholarships. These scholarships come from people who have money around the world who give and donate to nonprofits, specifically Belize Basecamp. I know that moving forward, especially after the world race, I want to always be someone who gives back to humanity, to God’s people. I am so grateful for those who gave toward my fundraiser for the World Race. Without me being here, I would have never been able to meet the people of Belize, help support the sustainable organizations and churches who are bringing light into the communities and I would have never learned of the amazing people of Belize, the potential, the hope and life they have here.
We leave for Honduras this Monday for the month of November, and in this month I still need to reach my goal of $13,000. I’m almost at $11,000, if you’d like to be a part of this journey and impact with me, please consider being a monthly donor or give again at the orange button above. Thank you to all those who have given toward this fundraiser and got me this far! I cried during worship last night with my squad, because there was a few times this summer I doubted God will get me here, but I was wrong. I surrendered to him, and he delivered. I do believe he will help me reach my goal $18,700 by the end of January. Thank you all again!!! 🙂
Jasmine Jaurigue
