Who would have thought this would have happened while we were in Belize? With the approaching of the hurricane, unfortunately it was the ending of camp for the kids. I know professional development was one of the reasons for my internship, but when our second day was cancelled in Belize City, I was elated o be able to go back to the camp another day........not knowing that it would be the last day. I think I was feeling like there wasn't closure, because when I left the previous Thursday, I did not tell the kids good-bye or that it was my last day with them. Being able to go one more day was probably the closure that I needed.
So how do you prepare for a hurricane in another country?? With a lot of prayer! The kids told us all day that a storm was coming and talked about ways they prepared at their houses. I could not think of anything that I really needed from the store to be comfortable, so I focused my time on connecting with family and keeping them updated while we still had power. As it turned to night and the winds started to pick up, we thought it would be "FUN" to go to the beach to watch the waves. That was an experience for sure. As we approached the docks where we had previously walked on to go to Lamani days before, we saw others observing the swells in the waves and noticed that the waves were splashing up over the concrete barriers and that the dock was crumbling and was washing ashore. At that moment, I began to get more concerned that the storm may be a little more intense than I initially thought. After a little while of observing, a few of us walked back to the room and the lights had already gone out. A few kids were on their porch telling us to hurry and get inside where it was safe. This was another instance of where the people of Belize are genuinely caring people starting as young as the kids. Small acts of kindness like this always makes me grateful that the world still has caring individuals
The day after the hurricane, we went out walking around the town early in the morning and our
first stop was the beach. What I saw was just unbelievable. Not only was the dock we walked on demolished, but as I looked to the left and right, all of the docks were torn apart. Pieces were piled on top of each other in the little alley and on property in front of the docks. As we went further into town, the beaches were a mess! My heart dropped because these were people's businesses taken in an instant. As we talked to people we passed or that were cleaning up, we asked about their homes and about the debris left by the hurricane. AMAZINGLY, they all had that resilient attitude of...we'll clean this up and get back to business as usual. There was no negativity from what I heard or anything like that. People came together to help each other clean up their beautiful island that they take much pride in. After witnessing this, I wrote a note in my phone that I posted on Facebook once we regained internet that basically talked about how after a hurricane, the people of Belize didn't let adversity get the best of them and how we should practice being more positive in life because we are BLESSED with sooooo much that we really don't need. If I take nothing else from this experience, it will be the lesson of resiliency and overcoming fear!
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