Georgetown

First off I want to say that this trip is AMAZING. This is my second year coming to Belize and I have experienced and seen more than I ever thought I could. However, the most memorable of the trip so far was my morning trip to Georgetown. Georgetown is a small village about 30 minutes from our hotel. It is very close to the village of Red Bank where we base most of our operation here, but the people are very very different. In Red Bank the people are Mayan and are very reserved and shy. In Georgetown most of the people are creole, and everyone was very curious and eager to talk to us. Our goal today was the walk around the village and ask the people a variety of questions that were meant to help us get better aquainted with the people there. We began the day not knowing how well the people would recieve us, or even answer our questions but what we found out was anything short of rewarding. Everyone that I encountered in the village had a wealth of knowledge and shared it with us liberally. The most interesting person that I talked to was May Castillo. She was an older lady that had been live in the village since it first opened in the early 60's. She had nine grown children, all of which had completed college and worked in very rewarding professions. She told us this was the case because she valued the power of an education, and did everything that she could to make sure her children succeeded. This became a reoccurring trend in the village, and we quickly learned that most of the adults in the village highly valued education, much like how we do back in the states. It was really a profound moment for all of us because we all realized that even though we are worlds apart we all value similar things. It is encouraging to know that in a place where resources are few and far between, education and knowledge are still held in high regard. My hope for this program is that we continue to reinforce this thought and help the community to ensure that every child is offered the education that they truly need to succeed. Based on the people that I have been around so far this week, I have no doubt that it will make my hope a reality.

See you soon,
Dillon Miles

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