Belize eve eve

I should be sleeping.

I wish I could be one of those people who only blogs when there is an essential update because I think I could trick people into being interested longer. I really tried to wait until Thursday night so I could just say, I’m leaving tomorrow! And that would be that, but no. It’s my last night in Fort Wayne (again) and I can’t sleep.

My bags are packed- all four of them, three with program supplies and one little carry-on with three months of clothes. My outfit for Friday is folded and sitting on top of the laundry basket I’ve been carrying around since September. I picked up this cute little newborn hat today with floppy dog ears to give to my brother tomorrow in case Lily is born before I get back. Skype is downloaded and ready for use (skypename: brkwilson, if anyone is interested). All four seasons of the OC have been ordered and packed safely in my backpack.

It felt really strange to brave the winter storm today, to fill up my gas tank in the blowing snow and head out to Wal-Mart for sunscreen, bug spray and a mosquito net. Tomorrow I’m picking up the last of the programming supplies from the Boys & Girls club, eating as much fast food and ice cream as possible, and heading to Indy for dinner with the fam.

My flight leaves at 6am Friday.

The only thing I know about the family I’ll be staying with is that the son teaches in San Marcos at David’s school, and he lives with his mother and two sisters. I picked out some lotion and body splash for the girls and something more manly for Adam. I wrapped everything in cellophane and tied them with a cute ribbon. Obviously I’m sort of nervous.

I will be meeting up with Antonia (the principal at Santa Familia school) in Miami and sharing her flight to Belize City, then making the two hour cross-country drive to Cayo, close to the Guatemalan border.

I don’t know how the programming will pan out logistically. I mean, I’ve got a series of programs, and they’ve got lots of students. I’m not sure how the age groups are divided (grades and schooling is different than in the States) and I’ve never really facilitated without TVs and DVD players and copy machines and pre-and-post-tests, and other basic programming tools I am accustomed to, like, electricity. But I trust (I mean, I am really banking on this fact) that Jan-April 2008 was planned a long time ago and that God was already on these little details.

Just in case, two of my massive 50 pound bags are packed with paper, tape, glue, scissors, crayons, makers, pens, pencils, and lots of little prizes. If you have ever been inside a Boys & Girls Club, or participated in any program, you’d know that the key to a child’s heart is not electricity or overhead projectors or posters or pencils or anything. It’s candy. And now, in light of the childhood obesity thing, it’s little toy prizes—which I have packed, with care, in mass quantitiy to the exclusion of things like more construction paper or a second pack of scissors.

I’ll have three months, at three schools, in three villages to lend a hand. I hope to pass on everything I know about goal setting, conflict resolution, peer mediation, drug and alcohol prevention, healthy habits, decision making, and STD, HIV and AIDS education to the kids and teachers and families there. Beyond that, I hope to hand over a piece of my heart, to share what has been given to me: love and hope.

I’ll stay in touch and try to post pictures and updates weekly.
Over and out.

Brookie