Students build classrooms and relationships in Belize

This spring break, Succotz, Belize was the home of 14 MVNU students for two weeks. The

group’s mission was to build another classroom for Alvin L. Young Nazarene High School.

When we arrived the plans for the classroom had not yet been approved, so we began other projects.

One group updated the railings on the stairs of the existing school while the other built a fence for the agricultural program.

When the project plans were finalized we discovered we would lay the foundation for a two story, 12 classroom building.

Laying the foundation was not an easy task. The work was hard and tedious, and the temperature was extremely hot.

Luckily we did not have to work alone. The school hired workers from Belize to help build the classrooms.

They were patient and kind as they taught us to lay the foundation. By the end of the trip our coworkers had become our friends.

They taught us to make concrete by hand using cement mix and sand. After days of mixing and moving concrete, we successfully filled the trenches that were dug out for the building’s foundation.

It was hard work, but we are now a part of the school's history. We started building a place for students to learn about agriculture and entrepreneurship to build their own future.

It wasn’t all work, though. After a full day of manual labor it was rewarding to play with the local kids at the campground. There we built relationships with current and future students of the very school we were helping to create.

In their smiles we saw the reason we were out there working in the hot sun, carrying those 115-pound bags of cement. Their futures are important.

In Belize, not every child has the opportunity to get an education, but we were able to help increase that number.

Our group is now a part of their story and they are a part of ours. I’m glad I had the opportunity to be a part of MVNU’s history in Belize, and I look forward to God’s plans for them.