Phil and Carletta are currently volunteering for two months in the village of Las Flores, Belize with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Follow along with their many great works and experiences on the SCN Volunteer blog here.

Belize: Feb. 1 – 13, 2013

In September of 2012 Bishops Dorick Wright and Christopher Glancy issued a letter of invitation to Catholic parishes and Catholic schools in Belize to get involved in efforts and initiatives to promote a “culture of peace”. This call was issued especially in light of increased incidence of crime in the country of Belize.

One very creative response founded by Fr. Matt Ruhl, SJ and coordinated by a group of parishioners of St. Martin De Porres in Belize City (SCNs’ parish) is to walk the entire length of the country of Belize — 300 hundred miles. The walkers over a period of thirteen days will walk beginning at the northern border of Belize (borders Mexico) at the Rio Hondo river and end in southern tip in the Toledo district (borders Guatemala).

The walk will be used as a “teaching moment” and is being done to inspire, to raise awareness and to remind all Belizeans in their role in promoting peace. It is also a reminder to protect and preserve the beauty of the nation Belize — that it not be destroyed by violence.

Barbara Flores, SCN, General Manager of Catholic Public Schools is organizing with school managers and administrators the large network of Catholic schools for participation and involvement in segments of the walk as the walkers arrive in villages, town and cities along the route.

Chris Kunze, SCN will be participant in this historic venture — walking for the first three days — a total of 75 miles beginning Friday, Feb. 1.

As we pray in a special way in support of the participants and organizers of this venture in the nation of Belize let us each be inspired in our role to be makers of peace.

KYStandard.com | By Jennifer Corbett

Speaking about her parents recalls a certain type of emotion in Barbara Cecil.

It’s of their love, generosity, continuous support and their goal to always provide what’s best for their children.

For Cecil, realizing how much her parents, JT and Tootsie Cecil, sacrificed for her didn’t set in until she was older.

After they both passed away from Alzheimer’s disease, she kept searching for a way to honor their legacy.

The perfect opportunity arose after she saw Sister Luke Boiarski of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth reviewing a video of a house she helped build in Belize.

In an instant, the idea seemed clear as day to Cecil: She needed to build a house in honor of her parents.

“I asked, ‘Is there a way I could get a house built?’” Cecil said. “They said ‘sure.’ … I wanted one in memory of my mom and dad.” From the beginning, Cecil had doubts about her decision. She wondered if she was doing the right thing to honor her family.

“I went to bed and at about 4:30 in the morning, my living room was all lit up,” she said. “I thought, ‘Who in the world walked into my apartment?’” But as she sat there and thought about it, Cecil realized her mother was giving her a sign from above.

“I think my mom came back to tell me I was doing the right thing,” she said.

According to Boiarski, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth’s Mission Development Committee has been helping to build homes in Belize. Boiarski has been visiting Belize off and on for the past five years. The Sisters work closely with Hand in Hand Ministry, Louisville. To date, 15 homes have been built in Belize City. The group that was going to build a home in honor of Cecil’s parents left for Las Flores, a village in the western part of Belize, in early January 2012. While Cecil couldn’t go on the trip, she knew the house was the perfect opportunity to honor her parents’ legacy. A picture of them is hanging in the main room of the concrete house.

“I thought it was a great way to commemorate (my parents)

… to keep their spirit alive,” she added.

The house benefited the Ogaldez family — a couple struggling to support their eight children. The family’s new house was larger and had bathrooms and running water.

Cecil couldn’t wait to tell her friend, Dixie Hibbs, about the project in honor of her parents. Turns out, Hibbs was on a similar mission — she was helping to fund a house to be built in honor of her late husband, Franklin.

Hibbs also learned about the opportunity from working with Boiarski, and like Cecil, she thought building a house in honor of her husband was the perfect way to honor him.

The home would benefit Mark White, his wife and their six children, who lived in Belize City.

“It hit me that this would be a great, wonderful thing to do in honor of my husband,” Hibbs said, noting that Franklin was a civil engineer and enjoyed working on old houses.

Hibbs and her grandsons — Frankie and his fiancée, Alexandria Mills, and Jonathan and his wife, Anna — along with a group traveled to Belize City in late January 2012 to help build a home for a family. Franklin’s picture will also hang in the main room of the house.

According to Hibbs, they could only use basic equipment in the construction process: hammers, drills, nails, shovels and paint.

Hibbs joked that Mills had never held a hammer before the trip.

They were able to use an electric saw by borrowing it from a neighbor.

However, if the neighbor turned something on in their house, then it would turn off their electric saw.

“It was life simplified,” Hibbs said. “So there were lots of challenges. One of the other things that was positive from the experience was working with people of other cultures and other interests. … You look past your surroundings into the spirit in their eyes and that’s what we brought home with us: the relationship and the experience of this common goal of working together.” Overall, the Belize City home was completed in less than a week.

The group started carrying lumber 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and the project was completed by 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Hibbs also experienced a few eye-openers during her trip. “Here in America, we’re thinking that we’ve got to have a bedroom for every child and two bathrooms in a house,” she said. “You really got to change your attitude of what’s needed. We have what’s wanted and we’re giving (the family in Belize) what’s needed.” Hibbs then noted the landfill that’s located in Belize.

She saw how residents have learned to become resourceful with Styrofoam, cardboard, paper and cans.

“They utilize all the packaging they can,” Hibbs said. “They fill these vacant areas to build on them. … Everything is limited and they may never have electricity.” Hibbs touched upon how it might seem easier to just write a check and send it off. However, signing on the dotted line takes away from the experience and working with the locals one-to-one.

Each night in Belize City, Hibbs said the group had reflections about what they accomplished that day.

“My first reaction was that these are beautiful people who love their children,” Hibbs said.

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BELOW — Sister Luke Boiarski, center, shows a picture of Barbara Cecil’s parents, JT and Tootsie Cecil, to the Ogaldez family. Cecil’s picture would hang in the Ogaldez’s new home she helped fund in Las Flores.

The first young woman in her tiny Belizean village in the Toledo District to go to college as well as one of the first to go to high school, Higinia Bol, SCN, recalls how others responded to her when she dared to gently question her elders as to why girls weren’t encouraged to go to school beyond eighth grade.

As a woman of fierce determination and powerful insights, linked in large part to her village roots, it’s that same determination that is fueling Sister Higinia in her latest ministry. She sees possibilities in everyone and is determined to use her personal experiences to empower women, many of whom remind her of where she might have been destined to land had she not found her voice.

Sister Higinia is part of the grassroots nonprofit organization in Belize City, Belize, the Center for Community Resource Development. The nonprofit is reaching out to residents who live on the south side of Belize City and bringing about dramatic improvements.

Described as being among the poorest areas of the city, Sister Higinia says the community is often marginalized by people living in other parts of the country who sometimes look down upon and make snap judgments about “that section.” She shares how the residents sometimes run into discrimination when applying for jobs based on their address. Indeed the south side of Belize is a community grappling with unemployment and an increase in crime. Residents often feel hopeless or unable to bring about change. However, Sister Higinia speaks out about focusing on the many positives of that area including the strong sense of community and the way neighbors go out of their way to help out one another. And she says, that is what she hopes to inspire others to see…the possibilities.

Sister Higinia and Rev. Brian Christopher, SJ, are determined to help the residents help themselves. The nonprofit’s goals are two-fold focusing on social and economic development. Sister Higinia has been meeting with residents asking them to identify the resources in the community that already exist and to tap into individual resources as well. It’s all about focusing on the positive and building on strengths says Sister Higinia, and changing the mind-set of folks who have lived on the south side for generations.

A number of initiatives have already taken root including a program called “circles of conversation” involving a group of women that exhibit leadership skills and a history of being advocates. These women come together to brainstorm and plan, and in turn invite others to join them in making the community stronger and more forward thinking. In just a short period of time, several changes are taking place, like the back yard gardening program. Many residents in the south side are struggling to have enough food. They don’t realize the possibilities of gardening in their own yards and neighborhoods, thinking that crops grow only in more rural settings. With guidance and instruction, these families are now learning how to grow their own food, generating a bounty of vegetables in order to feed their own families and others around them.

A skills training program is also taking off. Folks who prepare traditional foods representative of the Belizean culture are working with experts in the hospitality and tourism industries to perfect their foods and to market these tasty treats to tourists. It is a win-win program as the women are engaged to help preserve Belize’s traditional foods, and at the same time, they earn an income doing something they love, using skills they already have but that just need to be further developed and honed.

Sister Higinia beams as she talks about the program and early successes and how residents are learning to focus on the positive and are becoming more self-reliant. She is philosophical as she describes the change taking place, “We can make a difference in our own lives; we have the will power within ourselves. We don’t need anybody to solve our problems for us.”

Sister Higinia’s life is a testament to that mind-set. At a time when no young women were going on to high school, she and three friends convinced their parents to let them further their education, a sacrifice that meant they had to leave their parents and friends behind, because the school was some distance. Sister Higinia then dreamed of college and convinced her parents to let her explore possibilities, despite their trepidation about her going away to school. She went on to win a scholarship to a college in Arkansas and left Belize for the U.S. where she earned her degree. She continued to dream, this time of finding a way to help even larger groups of people. Sister Higinia found herself drawn to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.

And now, after going to high school and college, making vows as a Sister, and having a fulfilling career teaching in Belize, Sister Higinia is in a new ministry, that of community development. She considers herself very blessed having been able to pursue an education and to travel many places, but Sister Higinia will be the first to say, she still she sees herself as the young woman from Toledo. She also says she sees herself in the women of the south side of Belize, adding she hopes others now believe … nothing is impossible.

SCNs Luke Boiarski, Mary Margaret Reid and Miriam Louise Hauser, along with eight lay mission volunteers, will be leaving for Las Flores, Belize, on Monday, February 14. They will be making repairs to three homes in the village. They began their time together with orientation on the Nazareth Campus on Sunday, February 13. During the morning liturgy, they were commissioned by the Sisters and all gathered. They will return from Belize on February 21. Please pray for safe travel.

From the Christian Herald, The Catholic Diocese of Belize City & Belmopan


As part of continued efforts in reform, the Roman Catholic Church of Belize is proud to announce the appointment of Sr. Barbara Flores as President of Catholic Education. The creation of this new post is just one component of a ten-year strategic plan to build on the Church’s solid foundation of excellence in education by improving communication with school managers, principals and teachers and by ensuring that core Catholic values are delivered to the thousands of students we serve, effectively and efficiently.

The President’s primary responsibility will be to offer leadership within the Catholic School system, focusing on building relationships that embody Gospel values and academic excellence. As she transitions into her new role Sr. Flores shared, “We are determined to strengthen the Catholic ethos within our schools in Belize...to enhance Catholic identity without compromising the delivery of quality education. As a church, we operate as a family and I embrace this opportunity to strengthen the relationships between different members of our family.”

Sr. Flores’ duties will also include communicating with the managers, principals and teachers of the one hundred and eighteen (118) primary schools, collaborating with the secondary Catholic schools through the Belize Association of Catholic School Principals and serving as liaison between the Catholic school system and the Ministry of Education as well as respective union representatives.

The creation of the office of President of Education comes on the heels of the appointment of sixteen individuals as members of the Bishop’s Education Commission. The Commission was established in 2009 by His Excellency Bishop Dorick Wright to fulfill his vision to create an advisory body in the management of Catholic schools. The team has been charged with implementing reforms in the organizational structure, policy, faith formation, academics and social outreach in Catholic education.

Chair of the Education Commission, Maria Elena Zabaneh says, “We are excited about our vision forward, which focuses on a renewed sense of discipleship and mission, which will unite us in our Ministry of Love and lead us to an edifying Catholic Renaissance. In education, we all have the same destination in mind but it requires finding the common denominators upon which we can build and grow. Through the Bishop’s Education Commission and in this new era of communication, we have been able to sit down, dialogue and come to mutual understanding with our key stakeholders. Today we are proud to say we have excellent partnerships with the Ministry of Education, as well as other major stakeholders such as the Belize Teachers Union and Leaders of the other denominations.”

The office of the President of Catholic Education will be housed at the Catholic Diocesan Center at the corner of North Front and Queen Streets in Belize City. For more information on these most recent developments within the Catholic Education system, please contact Sr. Barbara Flores at 223-7040 or the Bishop’s Education Commission at 223-6919.

Sr. Flores holds Master’s Degrees in both Education and Religious Studies as well as a doctorate in Theological Studies. Her previous work experience includes serving as Vice President of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Nazareth, Kentucky. Since returning to Belize in 2009, Sr. Barbara has been a member of faculty at St. John’s Junior College.

From Village View Post

When Hand in Hand Ministries began its work in Belize over 10 years ago, we were not alone — we had friends who had been helping the people of Belize for many years. Those friends are the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCNs). Their ministry in Belize began in 1975. Over the years, SCNs have worked to empower Belizeans as lay ministers in the Church, and as leaders of the community. They reach out to families living in poverty throughout the country by building homes, providing educational opportunities, and addressing the needs of children and families affected by HIV/AIDS.

The foundation of our relationship with the SCNs is solid. We both want similar outcomes for the people of Belize. It’s because of this strong bond and commitment to the people of Belize that we sought (and seek) funding from Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), in support of our Outreach Center programs in Belize. CHI, which operates the hospitals formerly run by the SCNs, is committed to building healthy communities.

Last year, because of our strong relationship with the SCNs, we received a grant of $107,350 from the Catholic Health Initiatives Mission and Ministry Fund. We used those funds to buy food and medicine for families affected by HIV/AIDS. We were able to purchase a vehicle for Nurse Leah so she can deliver services throughout the Belize district, with hopes of expanding to Dangriga soon. We hired a social worker to help address the social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. These funds have allowed us to provide better services to more people, reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS in Belize.

In March, Patsy O’Toole, Director of Advancement for the SCNs, Diane Jones, Vice President, Healthy Communities, CHI, and Marla Cautilli, Director of Development for HHM, spent a week in Belize. The purpose of the trip was to witness first-hand the impact of the CHI grant.

There were home visits with HIV patients, tours of the Belize City hospital and testing centers and powerful testimonials from women who face daily challenges because of their HIV status. The positive impact of the CHI funding was impressive, but perhaps the greatest outcome of the trip was witnessing the powerful connections between the SCNs, the SCN Associates in Dangriga and Belize City, the HHM staff, the health professionals in Belize, and a newly formed relationship with the Productive Organization for Women in Action (POWA) in Dangriga.

There is still much work to be done to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Belize. The stigma and prejudice associated with the disease creates huge challenges. Overcoming those obstacles will never be easy, but with growing collaboration, and increased funding, all things are possible.

Hand in Hand Ministries wishes to thank the SCNs and CHI for their continued support of our mission in Belize. Their financial and spiritual support gives us great hope for the future of the children of Belize.