A Belizean construction crew began working on a house for the Salvador Martine family in San Victor by erecting the cement columns and beams on the structure that had only cement block walls in place for several years. They also began the process of applying stucco by completing the interior and part of the exterior before our team arrived. Then our stucco crew assisted by the Belizean crew completed the exterior stucco in their first day and a half on the job.

In the meantime, our carpenters began installing a roof on the house. Wood trusses were custom built in place and a zinc roof was applied to the trusses. Occasional rain disrupted the roof installation but hands were never idle. Although windows and doors remained to be installed, funds were left so the Belizean construction crew could complete the house. When rains made working on the roof unsafe, the carpenters joined the paint crew that was working on an indoor project.

That project was to repaint the interior of one of the San Victor primary school buildings. The building has two classrooms and the teachers’ office. Two coats of white latex paint were applied throughout the interior of the building and on selected exterior surfaces. The white paint applied over a dark yellow paint in the teachers’ office made the room much brighter.

While the paint crew was painting the school building, Luis Escalante, a Belizean electrician assisted by one of our team members, worked to correct electrical deficiencies in the building. Since the teachers’ office includes their computers, it was important to have proper grounding in the electrical system. One circuit had proper grounding although it had one bad outlet that had to be replaced. After repairing this circuit, it was necessary to completely replace all wiring to remaining outlets throughout the building.

The team took time out of their daily work schedule to play games with the school children on Friday afternoon. Very few children came to play due to the low attendance that day following national elections the day before. It was therefore possible to keep the games organized. It would have been chaotic if there had been more children as expected. A bolo golf game was well received as this was a new game for the kids. They wore the team out and only Seth Schlotterbeck had the energy to play soccer with the kids after the other games were completed.

Most of the team continued playing on Saturday with a preplanned trip to the Lamanai Mayan ruins. This is one of the best tourist trips available in Belize. The trip begins with a 35 mile guided high-speed riverboat ride that makes frequent stops to view the tropical birds, plants and crocodiles. A couple of our team members chose to travel to San Pedro Caye for a leisurely weekend.

Two of our team members went with their host family to Pine Ridge Mountain Reserve and Caracol Mayan ruins on Sunday while the rest of the team went to church in Corozal Town. Then the team went to Tony’s Resort for brunch followed by a day of leisure with our host families.

Monday morning the work schedule resumed at the Fernando Martinez house in San Narciso. The carpenters repaired some roof damage caused by hurricane Dean last August. They also reinforced the roof structure to reduce the risk of a repeat of the damage. Meanwhile, the paint crew painted the outside of the house. This house had been built with funding from our mission beginning during the last mission trip in February 2007.

Tuesday was our last workday and the team returned to San Victor to use the remaining paint on the interior of another school building. The painting had to be left incomplete as we were out of paint and time. The team did leave enough money so the teachers could buy a couple more buckets of paint to complete the job themselves.

Luis Escalante continued the electrical work by installing three ceiling fans that had been previously purchased. These fans were installed in another school building and he wired the building for the total of seven fans required in this building. Not allowing himself a moment’s rest, he also installed a security light on a pole standing between the pre-school building and the restrooms.

Installing four additional fans in the building now completely wired for fans and installing six fans in another school building has been identified as a good project for our next trip. Another project to upgrade the wiring in the pre-school building has also been identified for next year. These projects should complete the electrical upgrades in the school and church.

Repairing the swing sets in the park in San Victor was an unscheduled project this year. The swings had been used so much that the last link attached to the crossbar had worn completely through. A team member funded the purchase of heavy-duty chain and quick links. The swings are once again operational.