6 days until Belize!... Secondary's final words before departure!

Weh di go aan, Belize?Hello from the Belize 2013 Secondary Project!It is hard to believe that in only 6 days we will be touching down in beautiful Belize, our heads full of ideas and our hearts full of hopes for the 6 exciting weeks that lie ahead! Along with our pals and partners on the Primary project, we on team Secondary have been working hard all year towards planning and organizing our health education project. On top of fundraising and meetings and logistics upon logistics, we’ve been doing everything we can to prepare ourselves for what our project is all about: educating and encouraging young adults to be leaders in their own communities, tackling issues from gang violence to HIV transmission to building healthy relationships. Brushing up on our teaching skills has been a priority to make sure we are as helpful and approachable as possible – weekly sessions with our very patient Project Director have turned awkward mumbling and vocabulary borrowed from biology textbooks into fun, clear and effective teaching. Finally, we’ve been doing our best to familiarize ourselves with the areas of Belize we will be visiting and the issues that are most important in those communities. A big shout-out is in order for Camila (the legendary Shorts Tan of Belize Project 2012), our Secondary Project Director who has been there for us every step of the way, keeping us organized, grounded and above all EXCITED!The Secondary Project is going to be very busy from the get-go. Unlike last year, we will be visiting 4 instead of 3 of Belize’s districts in efforts to broaden our reach. After our arrival in Belize City and some coordination with the Belize Ministry of Education, we will be off to the Cayo District for one week to return to a school that QHO worked with last year. We will then make our way to a school in Stann Creek District in the South of Belize– an exciting opportunity to open new doors! The next two weeks will be spent in the busy Belize City, and our last 2 weeks will be spent in the small town of Sarteneja, Corozal. We will spend one week at each school we visit for a total of 12 schools, and we will work our hardest to educate and have fun with young adults in the villages, towns and cities we will be in. We expect each day of each week to be busy and fulfilling, but we are most excited for Fridays – not because TGIF or because Rebecca Black told us so, but because of the events we plan to run! QHO Belize is partnered with the Belize Family Life Association (BFLA) – on our last Friday in each location, we will work with the BFLA to organize and run large open houses. These will be our way of bringing in as many community members as possible to learn about our mission, about the issues that are important in their communities, and to have some plain old fun!Six months learning about Belize and preparing for our trip has flown by in no time. We can’t wait to finally be heading off to do what we can to make a difference. We will keep blogging as we go to keep everyone up to date on the excitement that is in store!Much Love from Team Secondary,Taylor, Sarah, Braden and Dave (nicknames pending)