Hello family and friends of the Ensworth program in Belize! 

I just spoke with Michelle Little and the group is enjoying dinner in the Atlanta airport before heading to their gate. The flight is on time and the group should arrive at 9pm into Nashville. Thank you for your support of this program! 

Erin Hawk

Director of Operations 

Just got word from our WLS instructor, Katherine, that the Ensworth Group has arrived at Tobacco Caye!!  The group will be there until their departure on Sunday!

Please feel free to call our office with any questions (303)679-3412.

Thank you!

Best,

Maria Selde

Program Coordinator

Our Final Day at St. Matthew's Government School

On Thursday, June 12^th we had a great day. We woke up and had a fabulous breakfast. After that we departed to St. Matthews to finish up our service project sidewalk, that so much time and hard work had gone into. It truly made us proud when we saw the sidewalk completed. After lunch at MBS, we returned back to St. Matthews to fill up about 50 water balloons. After that, we got to have a water balloon fight! It was super fun and exciting! We did a little bit of curriculum work afterwards, then performed some songs/dances J for our 7^th grade buddies. Corrina sang her amazing song “Vogue” and the St. Matthew’s kids and Ensworth kids LOVED it! Also, we presented the principle of the school the Belize Flag as a gift, so that it can be flown on the flag pole in front of the school. At the end of the day, we had to say our final goodbyes. L It was really sad but we were so happy to have made a difference at their school.

Work and Play in Belize

On Wednesday, we woke up to another delicious breakfast, consisting of eggs, beans, fruits and additional assortments. After the delicious breakfast, we departed to St. Matthew’s and went straight to work on the sidewalk. The two groups, consisting of four partner groups each, took shifts mixing and dumping the concrete into the mold for the sidewalk. By the end of the day, we had almost finished the sidewalk for the children. Upon returning to MBS, we got on our swimsuits and drove down to the Sibun River, one of the cleanest rivers in Belize. We swam and made divots to sit in the river, without being carried by the current. Overall, it was another great day to be in Belize.

Day Two at the School and an Ice Cream Social

On Tuesday, June 10^th, we woke up to another big day of work ahead of us. We were so excited to see our St. Matthews’ friends for another day full of service and fun! We returned to our reading buddies’ classrooms to perform a puppet show called Stone Soup. The children really enjoyed it! We also worked hard on the cement sidewalks again. We then came back to Monkey Bay for lunch and some much needed free timeJ. Next, we returned to St. Matthews’ for a fun-filled ice cream social with our affinity groups. Our affinity groups are groups of Ensworth and St. Matthews students that have come together on one topic; Health, Environment/Culture, and Equality. After our long day of service and fun, the Ensworth students came back to Monkey Bay and had yet another outstanding meal. The Ensworth students and faculty will thoroughly enjoy a good night’s rest!     

Mary Caroline, Lindsey, and Caroline:)

Our First Day at St. Matthew's and the Belize Zoo!

On Monday, June 9^th we woke up and had a great breakfast. We had a really big and fun day planned ahead of us and we were so excited. It was our first day at St. Matthew’s Government School. We met our 7^th grade buddies, talked with them for a while and then divided into two groups. One group did a service project, while another group traveled around to the lower school classes. We read to the cute, little kids and played around with them. The service project consisted of making, mixing and laying out concrete to build a sidewalk for the children between their classroom buildings. For lunch, we came back to Monkey Bay and had another scrumptious homemade meal. When we returned to St. Matthews School, we talked and created questions for a gender role discussion about our communities. After our day at the school was done, we came back to Monkey Bay and had some free time! Next, after dinner, we headed to the fabulous Belize Zoo. It was so cool! We got to hold a snake; it was scary but chill and we saw a whole bunch of animals. Some of our favorites were the tapir, black jaguar, puma, and the kinkajou (the absolute cutest!). Our day ended back at our cabins at Monkey Bay Animal Sanctuary, with cold, refreshing showers, comfy pajamas and we slept like big fat logs J!

-Corrina and the Julia

The Cave in Belize

After eating a homemade breakfast on our 3^rd day, we took an hour drive to St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park.  Following a short hike to the large entrance of a cave, we stepped inside and saw many beautiful formations. We saw stalagmites, stalactites, pillars (columns), and even a few plants! These plants can, surprisingly, survive without photosynthesis.  After our adventurous (and dark!) cave outing, we took a short drive to Blue Hole. Blue Hole is a small freshwater “lake” of sorts (“cenote”) that’s connected to the cave.  The hole had beautiful flora, animals, and dark blue water. Although it was rocky, we still had loads of fun. We played some fun water games, then we finally had to leave the refreshing water.

Upon returning to the sanctuary, we took some time off from adventure as we went straight to the hammocks and played some card games in the cabanas. Overall, it was a great day here in Belize!

-John, Eli, Jackson