Growing a Blog

I was asked by the founder of Dream Makers, to start a blog for them. I eagerly jumped at the opportunity. Dream Makers is a great organization that helps ill and disadvantaged children all over the world.

Some of the good works that they do are helping , and sending children to Disney that would never get there, helping fund an Orphanage in Rwanda, and just assisting children that really have no other alternative.

I am excited about my new opportunity to work with such a great organization!

My Holiday

As I said earlier back from Belize. I had a great time with my friends Erin, Laurie, Paul and Bronz. It was nice to see old faces from last year as well.



We sure ate a lot of seafood and drank a lot of fresh juice. A lady named Maria makes fresh juice every morning and it tasted so good.

At the beginning of the trip I stayed at Laurie and Paul's house which was beautiful, and when Bronz arrived I moved to Caribbean Villas. The villas were amazing. We had a loft, with a gorgeous view of the ocean.





Zack gave me a great recipe for Pina Coladas, and I spruced it up with fresh pineapple. We really enjoyed those!

Erin and I went on a boat ride to Captain Morgan's and then we all went back for a buffet dinner. The plantain was awesome!! We also took a tour of Reef Village. We joined a protest boat parade at 7 am, to stop the destruction of the Wetlands and Mangroves. Ironically, that is what I am currently learning about in University. Bronz and I laughed to see our faces on the front page of the paper.





I drove the cart from one end of the island to the other, and am officially the best trained and selected cart driver around. I stargazed at the end of the dock, and enjoyed watching fish.











I looked into Real Estate and Rentals for next year. It is hard to believe that I will be spending nearly 3 months there.

I was sad to come home, but was happy to see my kids and to find that the weather was mild.

Adios Amigos see you in December :) Pictures to follow.....

Joanne

Back From Belize

Well back to work, and to the cold weather of Canada. I went to the Holy Cross School a few times when I was in Belize. The kids were great as always. I met a medical group that was volunteering, and a church group from the U.S.

The medical group was taking information on all the kids and doing hearing tests, height and weight, and checking for worms. They were setting up a new filing system in the school, to track the childrens medical records.





I had the opportunity to look at the new computer centre. It is amazing. All of these kids will be able to communicate online.

I sorted donations that had been brought in for the morning, and put together snack, for which the children were appreciative of. The current school Social Worker is trying to set up a soccer team with the mom's of San Mateo. An organization her ein Canada, Dream Makers, is going to try to see if they can get a donation of hats, shoes and soccer equipment.




I learned that the AIDS rate on the island is 2%, but they estimate it to be closer to 4%. Those are scary numbers when you consider the size and population. Also there is lack of any kind of social infastructure to help people in need. It seems that you just keep finding there are so many unmet needs. I was always happy to give a few of the kids a ride home on the golf cart, especially the ones that had so far to walk.

I will post pictures later tonight of the kids.

Joanne