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A labor of love
Much can be learned from traveling. Exploring different cultures helps you examine your own life and realize all that you have. These differences are especially apparent when in your travels you have the chance to help those less fortunate. This past June, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Central America on a trip with my church. I, along with 39 other youth and eight counselors from my youth group, went to the small developing country of Belize. Formerly known as British Honduras, the country gained its independence in 1981.
The moment we stepped off the airplane in Belize City, we knew that the area we would be living for the next 10 days was extremely different from our homes in Rochester, NY. Because of the humidity level, it felt as if we were stepping off the plane and into a bowl of soup. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, and the clouds looked as if they were painted in the sky. It was a tropical paradise, especially compared to Rochester's weather. Riding to our hotel in a bus reminiscent of the one in which the Muppets go to Hollywood, we saw a great level of poverty. There were shacks along the sides of the roads. I was appalled that many of them were missing doors, some even walls.
One house stands out in my memory. It was about a third the size of my bedroom and only had about three and a half walls. Inside the house, there was a small table and two small cots. Outside, there were two small children running around. It made me sad to think that these children would have to grow up living in poverty. Many homes weren't as bad as that, though they were nothing compared to our homes.
Nevertheless, no matter what the poverty level, we could sense a common emotion in the people living there. Everyone seemed to be happy! They were all friendly, and shouted greetings to us as we drove by.
The first morning there, we awoke eager to start working. Upon arriving at the school, we found that on that day, we would only be working on one of the three projects we had come to do. Feeling a need to keep busy, we headed inside the school. It was the children's lunch and recess break, and a few had stayed at the school. When we came into the first classroom, there were about three or four 6-year-old boys, playing in the back of the room. I noticed one little boy struggling to open a package of candy. When I offered to help, he stared at me and then handed me the package. After I opened it, he took one of the pieces of candy and placed it in my hand. Though it was a very simple act, that is one of my favorite memories from my trip. Within a few minutes, the other boys had made their way over to where we were sitting. Soon the whole room was full of laughter belonging to both the people in my group and the school children. We spent the better part of that afternoon playing with them.
Although we did no physical labor that day, we could tell, that to the children, our play meant a lot. In the days to come, we were able to do much work. Our group laid tile floors in three rooms of a community center being built by the church affiliated with the school. We also worked on building a fence around the building that housed the school and church offices. Our third project was to paint the interior of the school. The children's last day of school had been the second day of our trip, so they were not at school most of the time we were working. We managed to finish all the walls and desks that needed painting. There was time and paint left, so we painted pictures on the walls and desks. On our last day, some of the children came to the school. The looks on their faces when they saw our work were priceless.
We didn't work for two of our days in Belize. One day, we went to Lamanai, a Mayan ruin site. Hiking through the forest to get to the ruins, we heard howler monkeys and feasting termites. The temple ruins, some of the largest in Belize, were magnificent.
On our second excursion day, we went snorkeling around the Barrier Reef, the second largest coral reef in the world. It was neat to swim next to sharks and stingrays. We also visited one of the main islands to do some souvenir shopping. Though the excursion days were fun, my favorite memories are of when we were working and of the new friends that I made. I feel that I gained as much from this experience as the people for whom we did the work. It made me realize how lucky I am. It was a great chance to make new friends, see new places and help others. I know that it sounds cliche´, but you really do get a "warm fuzzy feeling" when you know you have done something to improve someone else's life. I have found that it is impossible to help others without helping yourself.
Stacy attends Fairport High School in Fairport, NY. Article provided by 
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