Monday in Santa Elena, Belize

Santa Elena, Day 1

We made it to the small town of Santa Elena Sunday evening and got settled in so Monday was our first non-travel day in Belize. While it did get off to a slow beginning, it did end up being quite a successful first day. We visited the school and got to see the library space for the very first time. And oh boy, was it a mess. Currently, the school is built into 6 separate rooms – 3 on the ground level and 3 on top. It is my understanding that they have “finished” each room as it is needed. Fortunately, the room the library was set to go into already had the walls painted, so it ended up looking amazing once everything was finished.

So we started out taking a quick tour of the school and library location.  Then we got down to business.  We decided on book shelves, furniture, paint, and supplies.  Then it was time for shopping.

Getting started inside.

Lumber – check

paint and brushes – check

building supplies – check

teacher desk and chair – check

reading table and chairs – check

coconuts and star fruit from the hardware store – check

… wait… that last one was for us.

We had our driver pick up the lumber and supplies and then had the pre-built furniture delivered.  The pre-built stuff was beautifully built out of local wood, which just so happens to be mahogany.  Then the others were built on site so that we could then paint them to include murals on the sides.

From there it was time to wind down, enjoy the country, have some dinner, and start to get to know the group of volunteers that came to work in the school from Meredith College.

Outside the school.