We were finishing up learning about sea horses, when with only 30 minutes left in the camp day we were told that we would no longer be hosting camp the rest of the week. 

This meaning we were to say our goodbyes to the kids who we had grown so close to over the week and had built relationships with. 

We were not at all prepared to say goodbye. Not only did we teach these kids, but they taught us. About their culture and where they came from, which is just as important as ours. 

Each school in San Pedro is run by a specific church. The one we were working at was run by the 7th Day Adventist. The minister and a few other men were taking the school desks from the second floor of the school and bringing them down into the school yard to be placed in another classroom on the first floor. 

The school will now be a storm shelter for those who are in need during the hurricane. Some parts of the island flood more than others, so the low lying sides of the island are expected to receive more flooding.

After goodbyes were said and the above ground rooms were cleared, the minister of the 7th day adventist approached us, and thanked us for our contribution in their children's lives. He then asked if he could pray for us and of course we accepted. Right then and there in the middle of the school yard. 

For about 2 minutes we all stood in silence with our arms crossed and heads bowed while a stranger wished nothing but good things upon is. This is something I will absolutely never forget. 

Once we made it over to the second camp of the day at the San Pedro library, we arrived early into a book shuffling brigade. Books from the bottom shelves had to be moved to the top along with anything else that went on the floor. This was because the library was on the beach and is guaranteed to flood during the storm. 

We also said our goodbyes to our friends at the library, and used the rest of the day and night to prepare for the storm. Our teachers and fellow colleges have made us feel safe as we prepare for the flooding and downpour that is expected late this afternoon. 

"What are you grateful for?" 

Mr. Brinkley asked as we rode for an hour down a broken road in a very old school buss. 

Passing fields and tiny houses. Some made from the trees found nearby, and some from tin scraps. We were on our way to the Lamanai, a Mayan archaeological site in Belize. 

Just because it was "in Belize" didn't mean it was close by. 

An hour boat ride from San Pedro to a small village, which actually just acquired electricity last week! 

Next, an hour buss ride to another village in Belize, which then lead us to another hour boat ride up the New River to the Lamanai site. 

The Jordan Hall history lesson of the Mayan & ,Lamanai goes something like this. 

The Mayans supposedly originated from Asia. During the last ice age, polar ice caps made it so you could walk between Siberia and Alaska, this being called the "Bering Strait Theory". 

The reason the Maya people are called the Mayans is because when the Spaniards came by boat and approached the people on land, who we now call the Mayans, the Mayan people had no clue what the Spaniards were saying because of the language barrier. They responded to the Spaniards with "Mayan". So the Spaniards then went back and began telling people that they had now found the "Mayan" people. 

The Mayan civilization collapsed in the late 18th century for unknown reasons. Some say disease, some say natural disaster, but the most common known theory is over population. Archaeologist assume around this time that there were over 1 million Mayans living in these ancient cities. 

Our tour guide pointed out something about every single tree or plant as we walked about a mile to visit each ruin. It was Kayla who then noticed something amazing about the forest. There was a use for every single plant or tree that we had passed. The Mayan people found cures for everything they ever suffered from, just by using what the forest had given them. 

As the day progressed I thought back to what Mr. Brinkley had said to us hours before on our bumpy buss ride. 

I am grateful for Elmer's glue, Otherwise I would have to go outside, climb a tree to find a cakletin plant, bring it back down from the tree, open it, and then begin gluing. 

I am grateful for North American septic systems, so that I may flush my toilet paper down the toilet. 

I am grateful for free water at restaurants, air conditioned classrooms, and completely paved roads.  

I am grateful for so much more than what I can even wrap my head around. 

Just because someone doesn't have something that you do, doesn't make them any lesser. We are given so much from the very day we are born. The people here are grateful for everything that they do have, and don't spend time wishing they had what they don't. 

When I was 6 years old, my dad would wake me up at the same time every morning for school. I would brush my teeth, sometimes my hair, and head down stairs for breakfast. Normally he would make me a toaster strudel or pop - tart because those were my absolute  favorite. He would drop me off in the carpool line and I would head up the stairs to my classroom. I would wait with my friends before the bell would ring playing a game before the day began. 

In another country, a 6 year old little girl wakes up, probably to the sound of a rooster. Has a tortilla filled with eggs for breakfast. Then walks to school with her older brother who is 10. While on a dirt road, cars and carts pass her left and right. The dust gets in her eye so she stops, winks a few times, and continues on her way. She passes a few stray dogs who bark, but she shows no reaction. There are no trees for shade, so she wipes the sweat from her forehead with the bottom of her shirt and then releases her grip. 

When she arrives at the school gate, the principle makes her wait outside because the police are "on their way".

34 minutes pass and the police arrive on site. They enter the gated school yard area, and pull their cart to the backside of the building. They escort a returning aggressive homeless man off the premises, he sits in the back of the golf cart and they then speed away. 

The little girl may now enter the school yard with her classmates and teachers because the scene is now safe.  Her and her brother can now begin their day of summer learning with the teachers from UNCW. 

In the midst of being exhausted from the first full day at the transition camp earlier in the day. I had recognised a returning student at literacy camp, which was being held at the San Pedro library. 

Sien was a 10 year old boy with a lot lighter skin than most. He was an intelligent young Boy, but also extremely quiet. 

While participating in a group activity that involved moving around the room. Sien had suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He noticed an old news paper from weeks back, headlining the fire that had just destroyed parts of the streets in San Pedro. 

"That picture is of my house, that picture is my house" 

I saw the look in his eyes switch from engaged to afraid, as he lifted the newspaper closer to his face for a better view. He pointed at the picture and looked at me as he spoke. 

I was speechless. At a loss for words at how to respond to a boy who's family had just lost everything. 

The next day I had bonded with a 8 year old Samantha. Samantha came to camp late and was actually the sister of Sien. I remembered Samantha from last year, although she did not remember me. We talked amongst ourselves because she was not ready to fully participate with the group. As she stumbled across stories about her church and school, she brought up the fire. She told me that her house was the first one to burn down. 

She picked up the same newspaper that her brother had the day before and showed me the house where the fire had started. She told me how her house was the first one to catch fire and burn completely to the ground. 

Once I knew how she was impacted I began to ask her questions as if I were interviewing her.

"Where were you during the fire?" 

"I was sleeping, everyone was asleep" 

"What did you do?"

"My mother told me and my brother and my cousin to go to my aunts house" 

Samantha's house was above a shop that her parents owned. She was unable to tell me what was sold at the shop but just that it was a "shop". 

Samantha then told me that people were passing buckets up from the ocean to middle street, where the fire was occurring. I had asked her if the fireman were there, and

she said that they had come but still didn't have a way to put out the fire. 

For those who are unaware, on Monday June 27th an early morning fire destroyed almost an entire block of buildings in San Pedro. 11 buildings were completely destroyed.  A total of 88 people and 27 families were affected. 1000 volunteers helped create an assembly line of buckets filled with water from ocean to the middle street. 

We were brought to the library to teach and run a 2- week literacy camp. However on day 2, I had learned more about the town of San Pedro from Samantha than I was ready for.



Click here to read an article about the fire in San Pedro

It's amazing the things you can remember after a certain amount of time has passed.

The littlest of things, like the way the wind feels as it brushes past your skin. Or the way the sun feels as it beats down on your cheeks. Or how about the way that the first familiar person you know acts upon your arrival.

There's an indescribable feeling you get when you return to a place you never though you would have the opportunity to return to. You immediately are reminded of the times you had in such place with the people who made it the way it was.

One picture contains a multitude of memories, stories, and even lessons. Looking back on some from last summer, I was reminded of all the things I learned from each individual child that I was impacted by.

 I learned about their families and what it was like when they left school and went home. Even this year, I noticed how most of their fathers came to pick them up. They rode home on the handle bars of bikes. I noticed a grandmother sweeping out classrooms to earn tuition for her grandson. I noticed who the troublemakers were and also the class clowns. I mostly noticed how bad each child at camp wanted to be there.

 On the second day of camp we had to turn down kids as they came ready and prepared to learn. We were over capacity. If you hadn't been present on day 1 you couldn't be for day 2. We had planned for 30 and accepted 60. With this being said we had to adapt, and quickly.

"He just wants to learn too miss", a boy exclaims to one of our professors when talking about a friend that he brought. "Im sorry sweetie we can't have any more kids".

They knew exactly who we were and what we were here for. We lined up in the streets with our neon shirts and smiling faces. Most of us traveled on golf carts while some were sitting on a (14 wheel decorated truck). Danielle, Chris, Tyler, and I walked behind the truck singing and dancing along with the parade as we made our way through the town. 

Every shop owner and person who lived above came out onto their porches to watch the event. The locals crowded around to watch the world change for a day. 

Once the parade had come to a conclusion, we were honored to have the First Lady of Belize as a special guest. The ceremony took place where camp was normally held and It had been decorated to the nines. 

Every student had their time to shine as they received their awards on stage. I also was presented with a best busy award for working so well with Jayden during the weeks. 

I saw nothing but smiles that day during the "we are more alike than different parade" and I could not have asked for a better memory to take with me as I depart from Belize. 

The experiences that I had in Belize along with the people that I met and had encounters with have taught me more than any lesson I could learn in the classroom, and I am more than thankful for the opportunity to travel far enough that I was able to find myself.