Just over a Week to Go...

We are 10 days away from the Belize trip...I am super excited because I get to go next Thursday as I usually plan a few days before and after the mission trip to spend time with family and with friends.  I fly out next Thursday and will be staying with my wonderful cousin Lourdes Gallaty who has hosted me for the past five years.   I have plans to see old (not in age) class mates.  When I lived in Belize I would get butterflies everytime I traveled to the states...now I get butterflies when I travel back to Belize...how ironic.  Which is why I believe we should cherish the people and the things around us right now because someday you may long to be in the place you are...right now. 

The Greatest Challenge the World Faces

In 2002, former President, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his accomplishments fighting poverty and disease.  Here is an excerpt from his acceptance speech..."the greatest challenge that the world faces ...the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on the earth.  Citizens of the ten wealthiest countries are now seventy-five times richer than those who live in the ten poorest ones, and the separation is increasing every year.  The results of this disparity are root causes of most of the world's unresolved problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict and unnecessary illness."  Jimmy Carter spoke to the world at a time of heightened concern with terrorism...he chose to call out poverty as our biggest challenge.  The great news is that the odds are in our favor....there is sufficient wealth to solve all of the world's poverty.    The world will be a kinder and gentler place if we all lovingly shared the cloths, the bread and the blanket we each have.  Together we can change the world. 
 

We Travel Next Month...Yikes!

Wheels up is on June 10th...and I am starting to get nervous.  I always worry about making sure all our projects go smoothly and I worry that every person on the trip having a great time.  Every year our projects get delivered with excellence...notice that I did not say they go smoothly because they never do.  One example from last year was our project to build a bike rack for Concepcion Roman Catholic School.  How hard can that be...design was simple and easy for us to build a rack that could hold half the bikes in the school yard.  How hard can that be?   Well we did not plan on the wood being hard!  We decided to make a very sturdy and strong bike rack so we purchased 2x4 to make the frame.  Again how hard can that be...well lets just say hours into the project and hundreds of nails and screws broken by the wood.  We eventually moved to plan B...use a good old hammer and beat down on the nails with precision.  It worked...but it left many frustrated and tired workers along the way.  Projects definitely do NOT go smoothly but the great experience for me on these trips is that everyone (including local Belizeans) always jump in to help solve the problem.  We alway solve the problem.  Like the time we mixed water into the oil paint or the time we were stuck without a vehicle miles from the village or the time the van roof was leaking and it was storming or the Cane Farmers Riot (I could write a book about that one)...many many problems but they always always always work themselves out.  They don't necessarily get solved the way we would like but they do get resolved and in the end ...Everyone is Happy.  Happiness it the real impact we desire.