Today was an emotional rollercoaster. It was so hard for us to say goodbye to all of these students and teachers that we have fallen in love with. We spent the weekend avoiding talking about this moment because we knew it would be hard- but today there was no escaping it.
On our way to Red Bank this morning we were already holding back tears. We knew this was the last time that all of us would be piled in the van making the journey on the bumpy road to the village. As we entered the village, it became harder to hold back the tears but we all vouched that we would not cry, at least not yet. When we pulled up to the school we unloaded all of our supplies and played outside with the children until the bell rang. We all started our days as usual.
In my classroom, I concluded my time lesson. My students have been working on telling time to the hour and half hour as well as using the vocabulary of various times of day (morning, noon, and night). All week, my students have been writing and illustrating pictures of what they like to do at various times of day. Today, I surprised them with their own time books. Their faces lit up when they saw them. I never realized that the happy faces I see daily could become any happier. My students ran up and hugged me when I told them that they could take their time books home. This brought joy to my heart. All week I had been searching for a way to give just an ounce of the happiness back to my students that they have been providing me. Who knew that me simply adding construction paper to their drawings and tying them together would be the answer. At break, a few of us bought popsicles, cookies, and sweet treats for our students. We spent the break outside enjoying our sweet treats and playing games with our students.
For lunch, our teachers prepared a delicious meal for us. Each teacher served us chicken, rice with beans, potato salad and a soda. We were so thankful, grateful, and appreciative that our teachers cooked for us, but that was not all. Each teacher surprised us with a gift of appreciation. We exchanged our gifts, took pictures, and said our thank yous. We all thought we had survived without tears until Dr. Finch stood up and gave his final words. This week has helped us realize how ungrateful we can all be. We have so much, but we are never satisfied; we are always wanting more. Being immersed in a culture of people who are so happy with what we consider to be so little at home (in America) has been life changing. We have all come to realize that it is not about what you have, but what you do with what you have. We have come to learn that teachers and the people here are so appreciative and resourceful with so little. If each of us can take a little bit of the joy, happiness, motivation, and encouragement that the people in Red Bank Village have, then we can help change the world.
At the end of the day, most of our students had to go directly to house (classroom) meetings. Since the majority of our group did not get to say goodbye to our students, we stayed in the village for about an hour and waited for our students to get out of their meetings. We spent the hour walking around the village, buying sodas, and enjoying Belizean ice cream (which is amazing!). When the students were out of their meetings, we spent every minute of time that we had with them. Kelsey C., Karima, Amber, and Ashli L. played futbol (soccer) with some of the boys from the Red Bank soccer team. Katie, Trinity, Cara, and I sat at a picnic table while children played with and braided our hair. Who knew the boys could braid just as good as the girls! Amy, Mallory, Kelsey B., and Courtney let children use the Snapchat filters on their phones (a huge hit here!) and had their last conversations with students. When 3:30 rolled around and it was time to leave we gave our last farewell hugs. We were all doing well on holding back tears until one of Cara’s students broke down crying. It immediately hit us that we may never see these amazing children again. Although it was hard to leave, we knew that they would be in good hands and that Sister Margaret (Dr. Pentecost) would be back to see them and take pictures for us soon.
On our way out of the village we picked up a villager who was heading to Independence. While talking with him, we discovered that he had known Dr. Pentecost since he was ten years old; He is now 26. He talked about how thankful he is to know her and how thankful he is that this is a partnership that has continued over the years. For me personally, this has been a life-changing experience. It will be hard for me to mesh back into a society that is materialistic and focused so much on looks rather than emotions. In the United States, our society is constantly focused on what objects you have and how you can get more of what everyone else has. Here, it is about who you are and the impact that you make as a person. Coming here to Red Bank Village has taught me that you can do a lot with a little. All you need is a smile and a positive attitude and you can produce positive results.
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