My husband and I have followed the school pretty closely since before it opened,  so I was beyond excited to get to San Pedro and see and be a part of the school that I had only seen in photos.

When I first got off the water taxi, I was taken aback by how beautiful San Pedro was.  The water was so clear and the sand was a bright white. It was just how I expected a resort island to be.

We walked a short ways down the beach and crossed the bridge entering the community of San Mateo, which is where the school is located. The stark contrast from one side of the bridge to the other was unbelievable.

I remember thinking to myself, I only walked just a few steps, why are conditions so drastically different on this side of the bridge?

During lunch, we were given a brief history of Holy Cross and San Mateo, and the challenges they face everyday.

Frances Wilson, the school’s co-founder and director, began to explain that several years ago there was a political party that was trying to gain supporters for the upcoming governmental election.

In return for those that supported them they gave away plots of land (which is now San Mateo).  In addition to this land, the politicians promised to provide roads, water, and a proper sewage treatment facility.  The political party did not win the election and did not keep their promises to the people of San Mateo.

To make matters worse, the government of Belize has a policy of taking land back if people don’t build on it. So they were left with the decision to build on a swamp with none of the promised utilities or lose their land.  As a community, they decided to build.  They are doing the best they can with what they have, but building under these circumstances has created unhealthy conditions for adults and children. 

There is a small packed sand path about 3 feet wide that winds through the community.  On each side of this path is water that serves as their sewer. From the path to their front door, children must cross over sewage-filled water on makeshift bridges made of discarded scrap lumber less than 1 foot wide.

We learned that just two months before we arrived, a 3-year-old little girl had cut her foot on a nail and, with an open wound, fell off one of the bridges into the water.  Her cut soon became badly infected.  It was several days before her family was able to take her to a doctor on the mainland, but the treatment was too late, and she passed away.  Holy Cross has hopes of somehow acquiring funds to open a small clinic at the school that would help prevent such horrible tragedies. 

The school has been a tremendous blessing to the San Mateo community.  Holy Cross not only provides education, meals and meets minor health needs; it gives the children and their families a support system that is deeply concerned for their wellbeing.

Our team visit was short, but we were able to help the school by painting two of their classrooms.  San Mateo and HolyCrossAnglicanSchool have had such a major impact on me that I will never be the same.

For more about San Mateo and Holy Cross Anglican School and how to help them, visit http://www.holycrossbelize.org/.