Monday morning! 
A beautiful sunrise!  
Time to start the first day of classes.

 Preparation for lunch 10 PBJ sandwiches, an American delicacy....... YUM! It's a favorite in Los Tambos. We were suppose to have six for class but 10 showed up. Good think I made 10 sandwiches.

 Our morning started with no electricity at the school and 3 broken machines. That was ok because In His Will ministries donated four totes of fabric and sewing supplies and we took the opportunity to go through                                                                    everything and organize it.       

Mrs. Ramos and Mrs. Irma are hard at work sorting buttons and threads.
We have a good cross section of supplies now.

Flory Goday brought the newest and youngest member of our group. Her two month old daughter didn't really care about all the excitement around her.........just sleep.

Lunch and organizing is over so now is the time for shopping. Shopping certainly is a universal language.
Rose is trying on new Easter bonnets.This one looks like a great choice. We are all a little giddy getting to shop at Farmer's Trading for fabric. Whoo hoo!

Farmer's Trading doesn't have as much fabric as what you would find at JoAnn's
but it has enough to make the decision difficult.

Pow Wow on who is getting what fabric.
This is a unique experience for the ladies.
Their sewing fabrics usually come from leftovers and scraps that someone didn't want. Food comes before spending money on fabrics. What a privilege to be able to share this experience with them. 

I think everyone looks tired, ready to head back to Los Tambos. 

Great day! and a busy one. 

We are SO blessed!

 Generous contributions have provided sufficient funds for the materials to construct a concrete Block/Chain link fence around the perimeter of the Los Tambos compound - approx 800 linear feet. Mr. Pedro - a local resident - is the General Contractor  - and along with about 15 of us will provide the labor.  Footings have been dug and the concrete poured and a good section of the block has been put in place.  There is still a long way to go - but the goal is to have this entire block wall and fence complete by mid February.  Pretty optimistic goal - but with what they have completed in the last week..... don't bet against it! Add to this the fact that Mr. Pedro has a severely injured leg so he has to use crutches to get around and lay brick. The injury occurred on January 4th and his comment is - "I already know it is hurt, why go to the Doctor and have him tell me the same thing?"  He is quite a gentleman and a real asset to the community.

 On Wednesday the gate for the entrance was delivered to the site.  A really nice piece of metal work from Spanish Lookout.

Power lines have  been run throughout the village and hookups to the individual homes has begun.  This is going to be quite a change in Los Tambos.  The school has been wired and the access pole planted.  As soon as the proper approvals are secured - hook up will occur and the school will have electricity for the first time.  Plan is for this to occur in the next few days!!

Plenty of "STUFF" to keep Joe occupied while the ladies sew!!

Saturday is market day in San Ignacio. They offer more fruits, vegetables and other stuff than you can imagine.  Compared to prices in the States, this produce is just about free -  fresh and top quality.  Just about an every Saturday trip.

This spread from our trip on Saturday totaled US$7.50.  If you insist on spending - go to the general store and pick up a small container of Tide laundry detergent - US$16.50.  I tried to convince Linda that wearing dirty clothes is an alternative - but no go on that idea!

Saturday again

Here we are on Saturday again. Thursday and Friday slipped by doing a lot of preparation for
Monday when classes start. I have visited both schools and the ladies have put together a plan
for the projects they would like to work on. We'll have more about that later.

Friday morning was laundry day........................starting with rain. 
The dryer is not working so this is done the old fashion way.

  It's nice to have an extra room 
on rainy days. 

Speaking of doing things the old fashioned way............when you don't have a toaster and you want toast...........fry your bread. I know, I know I didn't invent this.

Officially I can say that we are now up and running and totally ready to roll. House in order, things where you can actually find them and a plan in place for our classes. God is so good.

Monday - Tuesday

We did a lot of running around to get projects put together the past two days.
It is so unbelievable to go into one of the large stores and see the children working there that were
6 years old when we first started coming to Belize. They have good jobs because they have had an education. They have had an education in part because of the on going support of Fountain City Presbyterian Church. It is so amazing to see how God works through all of us.

Wednesday
It's a beautiful day! We are getting ready to go back to Los Tambos to do some repairs. Joe is going
to have plenty to do. The school is getting a new chain link fence that will surround the entire school property.

Here we have some early construction. There is a group from Canada that is supplying the funding for the fencing, some people from the US are paying for fill dirt. The community is providing all the labor. We hope to be here when it is finished.

Photo page someone asked for more photos because they don't like to read. Here you are.......

 

The ferry holds a maximum of three cars.

The view of the river from the ferry.

Those two VERY little people on the right are Mark are I.
This is at the entrance to the Market Place.

Our guard cat in her ready to "pounce position"

Here she wants more food.

Sunday

SUNDAY MORNING AND THE ROAD TO CHURCH

We left for church at 7:30 to get there by 8:30 and church started at 8:00.....oopps.
The service was great! We haven't attended the Anglican church in San Ignacio
for several years. Happy to see some of the same faces.

Belize - Here we are!

FRIDAY:
Up at 1:30am, Tom and Tere picked us up at 3:15am, and on to the airport.
There was this little problem in security with the fudge that I had packed for
Faye. They said the block of fudge had similar properties of C4, I really don't know
what that means except everything stopped when that tote when through the scanner.

The flight went well and everything was on time.
Picked up our car and headed to "Cheers" for lunch (stewed chicken, rice and beans)
and plan our strategy for the rest of the day. We had enough time to stop at the French
bakery for some goodies and the grocery store for necessities. Checked in at the house
and the day ended shortly afterward.


GOOD MORNING SATURDAY!!!!

Good Morning Saturday!!!!!
Time to rock, roll and bounce down the roads.
We are off to the Market in San Ignacio.





The quickest route from our place to Market is to take the ferry.
This route cuts 15 minutes off the trip. If you were to carefully
scrutinize the ferry you may decide to take the extra 15 minutes.
Where is our sense of adventure you ask????  We took the ferry!! It was fun.

At the Market.................Mark is lending Joe a hand carrying bags.

We've known Mark since he
was 5 years old. We really enjoy
the time we get to spend with him while we are here.


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Our God is an awesome God! He has allowed us to continue relationships with all the wonderful people in Belize for 13 years. We are blessed!