Now that the dust has settled I remembered a few things I needed to catch you up on. First one being Holy Cross Anglican School Scholarship Fund – later this week Taste of Playa info and I am pretty sure I have something about the Foths Black tie event that needs to go up will have to dig for that.

I was going to post a small bit from this email I got yesterday then decided you may as well read the whole thing. Hoping that some of you might be interested in connecting with this group and helping a great cause. Robert if you are reading this [or anyone else who has good high quality video footage of Holy Cross School] Jimmy and his wife Ippy would like to use some to help in their presentation to help get to develop a donor base that will perpetually fund much needed scholarships for Holy Cross  kids to go on to high school. Jimmy Ippy and all those who are involved with your group thanks for all your hard work and taking on such an important task.

Laurie,

I’m Jimmy Hemphill. I’m coordinating an effort to write an article about Holy Cross School for the “Texas Episcopalian” (a monthly newspaper that goes to most of the homes in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas – approximately 85,000 members and 158 congregations).

We are writing this article to help raise money for high school scholarships for Holy Cross graduates. Our church’s youth group successfully raised enough money to provide a scholarship for every qualified 2010 Holy Cross graduating student (high school costs about $500/year per student). We are also funding more than 10 students who are currently attending high school. We are going to need help from other churches to develop a donor base that will perpetually fund scholarships.

My wife, an IPPY award winning poet, is writing the article. I’m trying to put together an electronic presentation, comprised of still images and commentary, to supplement the article.

While we were in Belize to support the Holy Cross graduation and award the scholarships, we interviewed scholarship winners. We also interviewed the mother of the student my family supports, and we visited her family at their home in the swamp that surrounds Holy Cross. We have more than 6 hours of audio tape, including interviews with the Wilsons.

This is my third trip to Holy Cross and we have lots of still images. I’m attaching a few thumbnails of the photos we took this year before the graduation – I haven’t had time to start editing the pictures we took at the graduation.

If we could include some high quality video footage taken at Holy Cross, we could significantly improve our presentation and our ability to generate scholarships.

Obviously we will only use the footage to generate scholarships.
I would be delighted to talk to you about our project, or provide any other information you might need.

We can make a difference at Holy Cross,

Jimmy Hemphill
bookworm@kingwoodcable[dot]com

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I am to decorating only 2 booths now and Pedro’s for his official night. I just got done ordering decorations and while I do not mind online shopping it is always a bit time consuming and stressful to make sure I got it all and trying to keep the price down.

Miss Colette just send me some wonderful information regarding 2 different things. I will post the Be Kind Belize one today and keep you in suspense about the other till tomorrow.

Be Kind Belize Awards – Kind Kids in San Pedro

Be Kind Belize, the humane education programme, is delighted to announce that kindness is spreading in San Pedro. This year, nearly 60 children participated in the programme at Holy Cross Anglican School and Island Academy.

During the programme, the children are encouraged to understand the meaning of kindness and generosity. The children are able to choose, as part of the programme, who they believe are the kindest in their class. Through a reward system, participating students learn that kindness and generosity are good things.

In each class there is one winner and one runner up, who are able to participate in Be Kind Belize summer prize scheme. The prizes for this year’s programme have been generously sponsored by Astrum Helicopters and Sail Sports Belize. The winners will be taking a helicopter ride this summer on an Astrum Helicopter and get the opportunity to see how precious their environment is and why it is so important to protect it. The runners up will spend half a day with Sail Sports Belize learning how to sail a Hobie Catamaran and get the chance to sail one themselves so that they can get firsthand experience of the beautiful seas that surround us.

The winners of the Kind Kids Awards 2010 are:

Island Academy
Kind Kid Award Winners – Kyla Couch & Doran Sanchez
Kind Kid Award Runners Up – Doris Soriano & Faith Edgar

Holy Cross Anglican School
Kind Kid Award Winners – Renisha Mendez & Omar Gonzalo
Kind Kid Award Runners Up – Dioni Moh, Delvorene Zuniga & Julian Trapp

Last week the children from Standard IV at Holy Cross Anglican School Graduated. As part of their graduation, they were required to write and produce their own puppet play based on the things they learned during the Be Kind Belize lessons.

This year the boys put on a play about gangs, but these gangs were cats and dogs. The dogs were angry because the cats had called them stupid and so they had a big fight. They then realized that they were all the same deep down inside and decided to become friends singing ‘We are Family!’.

The girls, not to be outdone, decided to forgo the puppets they had made and used the stuffed animals in the school library instead. They put together a story about a farmer who loved his animals dearly but had run out of money to feed them. With help from his animal friends, he was able to find money again and they were all able to eat and live happily ever. They sang their own rendition of ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’.

Be Kind Belize is a free programme, designed to complement the Belize National Curriculum. It is available to any school that would like to introduce the concept of kindness to their pupils. Volunteers are always welcome. If you would like more information about how your school could participate in Be Kind Belize or if you would like to volunteer, please contact Colette Kase on 226 4366. Email: BeKindBelize@gmail[dot]com

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Thanks for your patience.

Somehow getting more pictures up this morning but fighting tooth and nail to do it – as a result I jumped at Dicks offer to go for a cart ride and step away for a few minutes so I do not go crazy. It is not even slow internet at this point but my picture gallery doing all kinds of wacked stuff like loading pictures and then not letting me fix them when  no thumbnail is showing up or loading last 2 pics from earlier yesterday and soon as they are done uploading poof they are gone and  a 0 picture(s) successfully added message

Finally got Thursday mornings pics from our trip to the school done. Lisa brought some stickers for the kids and was going to volunteer but the school is not open today so she will likely help out decorating for the big Liberty Children’s Home fundraiser at Pedro’s instead. It was Rag day at the school so kids were encouraged to pay $1 to be able to wear street clothing – one of the ways Holy Cross fundraises from within.

I am going to go sort through my underwater pics now and eventually get some up. We had a great time snorkeling Hol Chan and hit Shark Ray Alley as well. It really is nice to be a 10 minute boat ride away from all that. So far I am averaging a one out of 3 ratio for getting Hol Chan pics up.

These pics go out to Chunky and Ruthie – Sending you on a snorkeling adventure to – Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley.

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Now that school is out the kids are happy to be able to go play at the new playground by the sea. So nice to see the end result of the project Dita Ed and many others worked so hard to make happen – I remember the day when it was just a seed idea starting to be planted.

Sandra really liked Boca Del Rio beach area – she wanted a few pics to use for a her desktop background. We walked the beach to DandE’s and stopped for frozen custard treat – Sandra said it was so good. After that we puttered along front street so she could pick up a few gifts for people.

We stopped at Lime on our way out of town to pay for our phone credit we had ordered earlier. It was a triple minute day and Lime are smart cookies they always make sure to have enough credit to last the day and help keep us all topped up when others have run out.

We were lucky and caught a ride with Sharon to Dianne’s house. Paul and I had promised her we would stop by and help as she was moving and her thumbs are not in good shape. Sandra was hungry so always resourceful Dianne  handed us a copy of Shelly’s take out menu and said we could all order something and get it delivered right to her door. I was very impressed – 6am onward -free delivery – good selection for breakfast lunch and dinner – prices $12 – $13.50 – and $15 very reasonable. Paul and I split a stuffed burger which is a large bun packed with beef patty bacon cheese coleslaw fries and tomato – got our fries and slaw on the side – Dianne had same and Sandra a cheese burger no onions. If you are interested in Shelly’s service and want a menu just call her at 206-2171 or 666-3166.

As you can imagine after such a full day we were all ready for the pool and a quiet night at home.

You can see more playground pics on the school blog.

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Last night I was trying get pics off underwater digi cam so I could check out how well beach and underwater settings look and get to work blogging them. For some reason it was not working this time – so I put in the Vivitar disk to ge the driver. Instead of fixing the problem it created a whole new one. It turns out the program is too old for the newest windows service pack and I kept getting blue screen error messages.

Lucky Paul thought to Google the error code so we knew what the problem was and possibly how to fix it. He tried a few things and even acer start up disks would not work so this morning he called Extreme Geeks and sent me off with a handwritten note of what he found the problem to be. Fingers crossed it is an simple and inexpensive fix – shuffles said they are really good based on her experience. I was on my way to the school anyways and would be riding right by their shop for an easy drop off.

Walking around the school it is amazing how fast things are changing. Francis took me to check out thge library again – last time I saw it in person they were still sorting. I did see pics of a more finished state but it was great to see how nice it is looking up close. What a treat for the kids to have such a big selection of books read right at school.

The main reason for my visit was to get some kids art work a couple of t-shirts and some crosses to send back to Joanne in Canada. She is working with her friend Heather to raise donations for the school and they needed some stuff to make a couple of displays in Colleges to get students interested to come and volunteer. They are the ones who make the school facebook group many of you have joined – if you haven’t yet please check it out.

I also wanted to check out how the Land raffle was progressing and get more information on that. A local real estate agent has donated a piece of land to be raffled off for $10bzd a ticket to help raise money for the school – what an interesting idea. To find out information on the Belize Land Raffle hosted by Affordable Real Estate Belize – please visit the school blog.

While at the school another cool thing happened. I was hanging out in the office with Miss Linda aka wonderwoman and I realized I had forgot my water bottle in the Library. As I cut through the computer lab to go get it the teacher was talking to the kids about a pen-pal program they are involved with – likely the one set up by Heather who I mentioned above. She teaches at Greehholme Public in Toronto Canada and got Miss Knights grade 8 class to join pen-pal program with the older HC kids here in San Pedro Belize.

Amazing – look how many books came down in suitcases

Seating area for the kids to read

Teachers resource center

Teachers resource center

Easel with colorful learning material makes a handy door block

3 cheers Carole from Penguino for all her hard work in the library

Amazing artwork

Great artistic talent

One of the classes in school penpal program getting ready to take a test

View walking across the bridge

Heading south

Kids on bridge

Tole booth

Back roads home

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I got a chance to reconnect with John and had we an interesting conversation – he is a meteorologist and is on the foundation board for HC school so lots to talk about. I also met Nanci and Susan Jo 2 really nice people and they shared how they have all been enjoying their time at the school.

I have said it before and will say it again you could not have paid me to go to school while on vacation but St Michael’s crew did a great job of keeping the kids busy and making Easter Holidays special.

From the pics below you can see how happy both the kids and parents are making crafts for Good Friday. Today’s project was making shakers from plastic beads and paper plates. At the end of the day all kids got a special certificate for attending Vacation Bible Camp.

You can see more Good Friday fun on the school blog.

Onto the night time fun. Went to a potluck bbq and bonfire at Carole’s.

Jacques on the grill

Molly saying hi to Ruthie

Jo and Chunky chowing down – Molly waiting for something to drop

Video Paul Lara Dave and Gwen were there too

Yum

Dick and Chunky

Lyle

Looking for a small piece of Lyle’s guitar

Molly looking for playtime with Jack

Still looking

Made a replacement part from a stick

Fabuloso musicians

Molly taking a break

So much fun – what a Good Friday

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Stay tuned for more – you never know who I will meet up with on my travels through town – lots of people arriving today.

School party was off the hook and I did not even see it in full swing. They had a fantastic Dj and teachers were home made selling baked goods to raise money from within the community. There were games for the kids and a cake that was raffled off.

Ran into loads of people – saw miss Dianne 3 times – Wonderwoman – Jim and Jamilla – Walter and Steve – Rick Drummer Dan and Don to name a few. Texting with DCG she said they are at BC’s right now told her Paul is at Lime in case they want to pop over and say hi.

Travelqueen and princess arrived safely but delayed. Princess wanted to go to the beach so tI sent them in chunkyruth’s general direction. We are going to meet up with LA and company 7pm at ali baba.

Dinner ended up being LA Gela Tq and princess klc dcg and myself – Paul tried to come but made it just as we were ready to leave so he had take away. We had a nice time then La Gela tq princess Paul and I headed back to our place for a bit.

Shout outs to… Pouce Coupé, Canada – Regina, Canada – Halifax, Canada – West Babylon, United States – Hermitage, United States – Biloxi, United States – Metairie, United States – San Antonio, United States – Redding, United States – Los Angeles, United States – San Francisco, United States – San Diego, United States -Downers Grove, United States – Belize City, Belize – Slough, United Kingdom

To see more Valentines pics by Wonderwoman please visit Holy Cross blog.

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It could not have been done without help starting from everyone stateside Especially Dita and Ed who saw a need and had a hand in getting the playground and all the extra supplies donated – everyone who contributed to shipping – Reef Village’s help on getting the container here from Belize City- Tony and Kate who saw it being unloaded and stopped to offer to send a few of their crew to help after lunch.

The school is pleased to announce that because of the large amount of medical supplies they will be able to share some with Dr Daniel, Dr Lerida and Saga. Holy Cross is grateful for all the help and recognizes that when they are able to do so it is important to give back to the community – there are so many organizations and people here that need a helping hand.

Big shout out to our friends stateside who made this possible … Sandy and Ed Settle STERIS, Corporation Kathy Janis Lance Rich and Zee Medical Corp. Yellow Freight, Bob Kraemer, Dale Philipp, Nick Barczewski, Josh Boggess, and Johnny Meurer, St. Louis, Mo. Windsor Intermediate School Mrs. Patterson’s 3rd grade class at Windsor Elementary, Imperial, Mo. Windsor Elementary School Teachers, Imperial, Mo. AC Message boarders John and Toni Hancock Mike Cochran Greg and Jen Patterson Steve and Sheila Burkett Vanessa Bledsoe and the entire congregation of the Household of Faith Church in Gonzales, Louisiana Kirke White, Norfolk, Virginia Tim Tam, Trevor Samberson, and everyone at “The Word at Work”, Amarillo, Tx. Father Mal Roberts, Peace Church, New Burn, North Carolina.

Please see Holy Cross School Blog for more.

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Since his family already had a thanks giving turkey Samuel decided that it would be a good idea to give the turkey to someone who did not have one. Mario and Vicky his parents and owners of the Hungry Monkey Sub shop decided it would be a good idea to use this opportunity to teach kids about giving.

They suggested to Samuel to donate the turkey to the feeding program at Holy Cross School and made the offer to Samuel’s class to help make turkey salad sandwiches and pasta salad and bring it to the school.

The idea was to help the kids learn first hand that sharing with others is a rewarding experience and to teach them about being involved in the community. They also wanted the kids to go visit another local school and see what it was like. Ambergris Caye Elementary kids and their teacher Dora L. Hob were at hungry Monkey bright and early to start making the food. They were able to make enough sandwiches and pasta salad to feed 100 kids.

While at the school making their donation, Samuel – Joshua – Ryan – Sam and Ezzra were eager to explore and see more of what the school. They asked to see classes of kids their own age and the next grade up. They also showed a big interest in seeing the new library and computer lab.

To see pics of the ACER kids in the amazing new library and the recycled art sculptre there please check out Holy Cross School blog.

Thanks goes out to Casa Pan Dulce and Crystal supermarket for their donations to help make this happen, Samuel for coming up with the idea, Mario and Vicky of Hungry Monkey Sub shop for suggesting the feeding program, Joshua – Ryan – Sam – Ezzra and their teacher Miss Dora for coming to the school and making the wonderful donation.

Making sandwiches at Hungry Monkey Sub Shop

Kids making sandwiches

Big pot of Pasta Salad

ACER kids doing food prep

Holding up their donation

ACER kids

Waiting for a cab

Crossing the bridge

Full speed ahead

Vicky and Dora carying the pasta

Kids dropping off food before lunch

Meeting kids from Standard 3 classes

Samuel and his friend Hakim outside Standard 4 class

Holy Cross kids eating lunch

Lunch time

Acer kids checking out Holy Cross cafeteria

Lunchtime

ACER kids checking out computer lab

ACER student

ACER kids

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Just booked Dell to come this aft – that was Colette and Maya’s thoughtful birthday present. While she is here I will be up at the school taking some pics of Colette doing her first Humane Education Class teaching the kids to be kind to animals and every living thing.

Back to housecleaning and getting ready to leave.

Today’s Humane Education Class went great. Colette did 2 groups of younger students and wowed them with puppets and interactive learning fun. They were beaming as they learned some valuable life skills such as how to treat animals and greet grownups one on one.

Have to toot my own horn for saving that till right before my mom came. Now we have sparkling orange scented floors.

You can see more on Holy Cross blog.

Quicksilver sign being hand painted

Hand painted signs are not lost

Kids loved Colette’s presentation

Excited and ready to learn – so cute

Leaning to ask permission to pet someones dog

Healthy fruit snacks

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