Volunteering at Conerstone

Hello Everyone!

So there have been a few questions about what volunteer work we've been doing here in Belize. I guess thats a fair question since it is the reason why we're here! For people that don't know Nancy is in the HIV/AIDS program along with youth and Lee is in the Literacy program along with Environment.

Until this afternoon our schedules have not been full. Just today we visited a near by village called Succotz(which borders Guatemala). In Succotz we set up a 2 hour session, 3 days a week that will involve tutoring and offer life skills training to a family of seven children who have learning disablilties (so we're told) and are behind in school. Nancy will tutor four of the children while Lee will tutor three.

We are also working Monday and Wednesday mornings (Lee also works there in the afternoon on Monday) in a local primary school library. Lee is looking after the upkeep of the library and helping kids sign out and return books while Nancy will be teaching kids on how to use and how to act in a library (since most of the kids have never stepped foot in a library).

We are both teaching a creative writing class at another local primary school (different from the library one) an hour a day, three days a week. We are teaching two groups of eight kids who are in standard five (or grade seven).

Also we are both tutoring/reading with kids. Lee tutors/reads with a boy and Nancy tutors/reads with two others.

Nancy is also doing research for an HIV/AIDS newsletter run by another volunteer at the foundation. She is in the process of setting up a presentation for HIV/AIDS/STIs at the prison here in Belize...we'll keep you updated!

By now you might all be wondering, why is Nancy not doing very much HIV/AIDS stuff and doing more youth/literacy stuff? Well she has found, along with other volunteers, that there has been a lot of HIV/AIDS awareness going on here in Belize. That is very good and everything but there is a sense that people are getting sick of listening to it. At the same time there is a lot of need for help in education.

If there's any questions just COMMENT!

Later