The Finale

Today, we visited the Mayan temple site "Altun Ha." We climbed three of the pyramids and learned about the Jade Skull, a single piece of jade carved into a full-sized head representing the sun god. It was discovered in one of the pyramids and now housed in the vault at the Belize National Bank. 

A Day of Rest

Today, we enjoyed the tiny island of Caye Caulker. We began the day snorkeling on the reef, with parrotfish, eels, rays and even sharks! We had a few hours to explore the island before heading back home. Tomorrow we will explore a Mayan Temple, learn a little about the Colonial Era and enjoy some more time in the warm Caribbean waters. 

The Big Day!

We began the day visiting our brother Jesuit institution, Saint John's College. SJC is comprised of two divisions: a high school for boys and a coed junior college. It was great to experience a place that is in some ways very different from our school, while our Jesuit core makes us very much the same in the most important ways. 

Next, we were off to the new outreach center. Next month Hand in Hand's offices, preschool and health care staff will begin moving into this building. Three years in the making, BC High has set rebar for the first floor, removed temporary supports for the casting of the second floor, and now painted and dig the trench for the main water line. 

But the big story of the day was the house blessing. In a very moving ceremony, a local pastor blessed the house, we (Hand In Hand, the community, the family, and we) shared reflections on the whole experience, and then we handed over the keys. 

Hump Day!

We began today at the Outreach Center. The top floor houses a team of nurses who travel to the villages to help children infected by HIV. Downstairs houses the day care and preschool and we got to spen half an hour or so playing with the little ones 

Then, it was back to the mud! The house now has a roof and is nearly complete. We're going to have breakfast tomorrow at our brother Jesuit school - St. John's College here in Belize City. Thereafter, we'll finish the house and turn it over to the new owners!

It's a House!

We started the day in Mr. Lizama's wood shop learning how this former mayor of Belize City has dedicated the rest of his life to making faith-themed wood carvings. 

Then, we were off to the build site in the rain. It did stop raining eventually, but we are building in sometimes shin deep water. Despite the challenges everyone is in great spirits and we made amazing progress. Here are some before (at bottom) and after photos. 

Great Progress Today

We made good progress on the house today. It has rained every day so far, but the rain has arrived at about quitting time so it hasn't had much of an impact so far. In the evening, we met with Bernie Panton, the director of the Building for Change program. We learned about the process by which families are chosen, which includes a maximum yearly salary of less than $8000 US per year. Tomorrow we will build all day. 

We Made It!

We've all arrived in Belize city where we grabbed some lunch and headed out for a tour of the city.  We have a little downtime before we have dinner and then head to 7:00 PM mass (9:00 Eastern).