Week 4 & we still want more!!!

Wow! Can't believe we finished our first week here in Belize City. It is definitely a more bustling, fast paced scene than PG which has been exciting to explore! Everyone has been so welcoming especially our host Ana who has been hosting QHO for years. Kieran and Laura are teaching at both Maud Williams High School and the Gateway Youth Center. At Maud Williams they teach both first and second forms (grades 9 & 10) and have already started making great connections with the students! They taught conflict & discrimination as well as stigma this week which was well received and very interesting to see the students perspective on the topic. The Gateway Youth Center offers a unique educational program for at risk youth in the community who have not been able to attend a conventional high school. They offer  classes such as math, English and life skills taught using innovative teaching methods. At Gateway, Laura and Kieran have taught bullying so far and are looking forward to teaching more there! This is the first time QHO has partenered with Gateway and we are so excited to have made this connection. Mo and Avery are teaching at Sadie Vernon Technical High School as well as at the YWCA. At Sadie Vernon, they taught bullying, peer pressure and anger management to the first form students. We have found that the students at Sadie Vernon have a very artistic side, which has allowed us to incorporate more skits and role playing into our lessons. This has been so much fun! The YWCA in Belize City offers a program for young women called "HELP" (Helping Early Leavers Program). This is a 2 year program for girls who have either dropped out or who have not been able to attend conventional high school. Due to the low literacy level of some of the girls, our lessons her are more activity and discussion based. This week we taught bullying and sexual health. When we have time in our schedule, we also stick around to give one-on-one remedial help to girls struggling with math and english. This has also given us the opportunity to get to know the girls better on a more personal level. Lastly, on Friday all 4 of us went to the YWCA and ran a 1-hour team building session which was an absolute blast! We are so happy to have been welcomed in to our new schools and can't wait for what the next few weeks have in store.