The community clean-up day was mostly a gratifying success for everyone involved, beautiful even. I was amazed at how organized community leaders were in mobilizing groups of volunteers first thing Saturda
y morning. Many groups picked up trash, including a large number of kids sent by their mothers to help us. They were eager to be included once they saw us working, despite the hot sun! I think it was easier to ignore the heat when we were working together toward a common goal. I was informed that in a single day 9 dump truck loads of trash were driven out of Bella Vista!! Another group, including Scott, painted and cleaned the water tank, and parks were constructed by several other select volunteers. Already I have seen the children enjoying the parks built in different community spaces. Nurseries were planted. On Saturday night, a movie projected on the side of the water tank was enjoyed by all. It was meaningful in that it conveyed a message that resonated with the people of Bella Vista, peo
ple from many Central American countries and different plights. The movie was from El Salvador, called Innocent Voices. It caused people to think more deeply about why they came to Belize in the first place and how they will move forward for the benefit of their children.
This is the first time I can say with conviction I am proud to be a part of this community.
y morning. Many groups picked up trash, including a large number of kids sent by their mothers to help us. They were eager to be included once they saw us working, despite the hot sun! I think it was easier to ignore the heat when we were working together toward a common goal. I was informed that in a single day 9 dump truck loads of trash were driven out of Bella Vista!! Another group, including Scott, painted and cleaned the water tank, and parks were constructed by several other select volunteers. Already I have seen the children enjoying the parks built in different community spaces. Nurseries were planted. On Saturday night, a movie projected on the side of the water tank was enjoyed by all. It was meaningful in that it conveyed a message that resonated with the people of Bella Vista, peo
ple from many Central American countries and different plights. The movie was from El Salvador, called Innocent Voices. It caused people to think more deeply about why they came to Belize in the first place and how they will move forward for the benefit of their children.This is the first time I can say with conviction I am proud to be a part of this community.
3 comments:
What a great project! Congrats on a HUGE success!
I'm sure that it's indeed a great blessing to finally have a sense of pride in this community--to feel a part of a larger positive movement, to feel that you are not struggling futively against ingrained indifference and lack of vision for the future. I hope that the community values the changes enough to make them permanent--to put in the daily work necessary to keep their community limpia y bella. This is a large part of the development work, isn't it--to develop within the community a sense of ownership and desire to motivate positive change on their own. This is, to a large extent, the challenge of a teacher too: not to merely teach material and produce immediate results but to develop, to inspire a desire to learn and strive for the possibilities. Hard and thankless work though it can be, I think the glimpses of success that we see in individuals, communities, countries eventually, make it worth it. Let's keep believing in that and reminding ourselves.
beautiful. still thinking about you all. i love your pics. glad to hear about the clean-up. we need to do that in southside here. love ya.
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